In The Green Room
By Derek Armstrong
Issue: June/July 2001
Industry Scuttlebutt


Victoria Bailey

TDF Names New Executive Director

Following a 15-year stint as general manager of the highly acclaimed Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC), Victoria Bailey is stepping into an even more prominent role—that of executive director of Theatre Development Fund (TDF). On April 2, Bailey took over leadership of one of the country’s foremost not-for-profit service organizations for the performing arts, which since 1968 has been providing support, financial and otherwise, to theatrical works of artistic merit and encouraging diverse audiences to attend live theater and dance. John Breglio, chairman of the TDF board, describes Bailey: “She has an enormous breadth of experience in all aspects of the theatrical industry and is respected by a wide network of colleagues and friends in the business.” TDF’s unique role in strengthening the performing arts includes filling more than 55 million theater seats, providing subsidies for over 700 plays and returning over $1 billion in revenue to thousands of theaters.


And the Winner Is...

Stage Research, Inc., was recently acknowledged for its development of SFX, the critically-acclaimed theatrical sound playback and show control software. The NorTech Innovation Awards honored the company and its founders Carlton Guc and Brad Rembielak at its annual ceremony held in Cleveland. The NorTechs typically recognize the talents of professional innovators in both for-profit and not-for-profit venues throughout northeast Ohio. Awards are given for new products, creative concepts in customer service, improvements in productivity, or any ideas designed to enhance the value of the business. Goodyear, NASA Glenn Research Center and DirtDevil were also honored this year for their contributions to the business community. For more information on SFX or Stage Research, Inc., visit their website at www.StageResearch.com, or call 800-929-1708.


A scene from ATL’s production of Anton In Show Business. Pictured left: Monica Koskey, Gretchen Lee Krich and Caitlin Miller
Critics Speak Up

The play’s the thing—at least according to the American Theatre Critics Association. This year, Jane Martin’s Anton In Show Business is the thing receiving the 2001 ATCA New Play Award with $15,000 for the playwright. A vibrant comedy about an ill-fated Texas production of Chekhov’s The Three Sisters, Anton premiered last March at the Actors Theatre of Louisville’s Humana Festival of New American Plays to glowing reviews. Two additional citations this year went to Big Love by Charles Mee and August Wilson’s King Hedley II. All three pieces will be honored as best plays in the 2000-2001 edition of the annual chronicle of United States theater. Other finalists included Fall by Bridget Carpenter, Glimmer, Glimmer And Shine by Warren Leight (Side Man) and The Dead Eye Boy by Angus Maclachlan.

The Chosen Ones

Two nationally renowned philanthropists are tying the knot in order to enrich the lives of performing arts students. The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Surdna Foundation recently announced a joint investment of over $16 million to support various performing arts programs and institutions. Under the Talented Students in the Arts Initiative (TSAI), four upper division performing arts institutions and five performing arts high schools will receive funding and support from both organizations. This year, the nine lucky recipients include California Institute of the Arts, North Carolina School of the Arts, Aspen Music Festival and School, Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation, Baltimore School for the Arts, Cleveland School for the Arts, LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Perfrorming Arts, Los Angeles County High School for the Arts and New World School of the Arts. The TSAI will grant each institution a chance to increase scholarships and internships, artist-in-residence programs and faculty development.


Regional Grapevine


Susan V. Booth
Booth Opens at Alliance

There’s a brand new booth at Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre Company, the largest regional company in the Southeast—Susan Booth, that is. Earlier this spring, Alliance announced that Booth would succeed departing Artistic Director Kenny Leon, becoming AD herself after years of experience in a variety of theatrical capacities, including, most recently, a stint at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre. Booth’s extensive directing credits, some of them at Alliance, include Shadowlands, How I Learned To Drive, Beast On The Moon and her final Goodman project, Spinning Into Butter. Booth will work closely with Alliance Managing Director Gus Stuhlreyer to lead the $10 million company, which produces a total of 11 plays each season. Says Stuhlreyer, “Susan brings to the Alliance a great combination of youthful exuberance and maturity, as well as an impressive knowledge of dramatic literature, an extensive network of contacts within the industry and experience at one of the greatest regional theaters in the United States.”


Faculty and staff attend the dedication of the William Land Mintzer Lighting Lab at Purchase College.
A State Of The Art Purchase

The future is bright at Purchase College State University of New York, where the brand new William Land Mintzer Lighting Lab was dedicated this spring. Named after the late professor who founded the Purchase lighting program and served as its head for 10 years, the lab will allow students to perfect their skills using a computer lighting system, gels and small flexible figures representing actors, to create endless visual effects that can later be replicated on a larger stage. Mintzer designed more than 200 plots for theater, opera, dance and TV and had worked with the Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York Shakespeare Festival, the Abbey Theater of Dublin and Britain’s Royal Shakespeare Company. As a tribute, his former students and collaborators donated over $50,000 of equipment for the new lab. In addition, the William Land Mintzer Award was created and permanently endowed, recognizing exceptional seniors in the lighting program who exemplify his commitment to theater. Present at the dedication were representatives from Altman Stage Lighting, City Theatrical, Electronic Theater Controls, David Grill Associates, Production Arts Lighting, Rosco Laboratories, Showman Fabricators, Strand Lighting, UF Services and Wybron.


A University of Maryland theater student works in the design area of the school’s brand new glittery jewel, the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center.
Big Things in College Park

The stage is set for the University of Maryland College Park’s unveiling of its newest theatrical spectacle, the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. After 4 years of construction, the $130 million, 318,000 square-foot performing arts center will permanently raise its curtain in September. Located on 17 acres of the college’s campus, this endeavor is the largest single building ever constructed by the state of Maryland. From traditionally extravagant concert halls to intimately small theater labs, the center features a grand total of 6 performance spaces. Executive Director Susan Farr says “The size of the performance halls and the relationship to the performing arts departments offers an opportunity for visiting artists to be closely related to instruction and for audiences to be exposed to artists as their careers grow and develop.” Other amenities include customized rehearsal rooms and a two-story performing arts library. For a full schedule of upcoming events, contact the ticket office at 301-405-7847.

Back from the Big City

Charlotte Repertory Theatre will be ushering in its 25th-anniversary season with the help of a new managing director and associate producer. Broadway producer Matt Olin recently accepted both positions, bringing with him a unique sense of depth that CRT had been searching for. While in New York, this Charlotte native was an executive producer with the Dodger Management Group, and involved in 12 Broadway productions, 18 Off- and Off-Off Broadway shows and four national tours. Within a 10-year span, Olin’s productions netted 12 Tony Awards, 41 Tony nominations and a Drama Desk nomination. According to CRT’s former producer and managing director Keith Martin, “Charlotte Rep is fortunate that such an accomplished homegrown talent is eager to bloom where he was originally planted.”

Search for Signs of Intelligent Architects

The Guthrie Theater exterior
After a yearlong international search for a master architect, Minneapolis’ illustrious Guthrie Theater can finally rest. With help from Keewaydin Real Estate Advisors, the Guthrie discovered Jean Nouvel, a gifted architect whose unique skills and ideas will serve as the foundation for the company’s new theater. Keewaydin’s involvement in the search began over a year ago, when it became project advisor to the architect selection committee. Information on 52 architects from around the world was obtained and integrated into the selection process. Through detailed reviews of each candidate and their previous designs, the committee began a process of elimination, which culminated in the choosing of Nouvel. Keewaydin President Peter Kitchak says the theater “wanted to find an architect who would help them realize their vision of the future of the Guthrie through his work.” SD

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