Theatre Communications Group Announces new appointments to Board of Directors

Philip Himberg begins term as Board President

New York, NY - Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for theatre, announces new leadership of its board of directors and seven new members. Philip Himberg, producing artistic director of the Sundance Institute Theatre Program, will assume the position of board president. He succeeds Martha Lavey, artistic director of Steppenwolf, who concluded a two year term in June. He will be joined by returning vice president, James Bundy, artistic director, Yale Repertory Theatre and newly appointed vice president Rachel Kraft, executive director, Lookingglass Theatre Company. Roche Schulfer, executive director, Goodman Theatre will serve as treasurer and Olga Sanchez, artistic director, Miracle Theatre Group, will serve again as secretary. Lavey will remain on the board as immediate past President.

“TCG’s board is an extraordinary assemblage of theatre artists and practitioners that represent the aesthetic, cultural and geographic diversity of the theatre community,” said Teresa Eyring, executive director of TCG. “The insight and knowledge that these forward-thinking leaders bring to the table help TCG stay on the pulse of issues, trends and innovation in the field.”

New TCG board members include: Cynthia Fuhrman, director of marketing and communications, Portland Center Stage, Portland, OR; Michelle Hensley, artistic director, Ten Thousand Things Theater Company, Minneapolis, MN; Ed Herendeen, founder and producing director, Contemporary American Theater Festival, Shepherdstown, WV; Chris Jennings, managing director, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Washington, DC; Tim Jennings, managing director, Seattle Children’s Theatre, Seattle, WA; Kevin Moriarty, artistic director, Dallas Theater Center, Dallas, TX; Ralph Peña, artistic director, Ma-Yi Theater Company, New York, NY.

“It is a privilege to continue to serve the American theatre field, as President of TCG, an organization that provided me my first grant as a young artistic director in the 1970’s, and helped to launch my own career path,” said Himberg. The American not for profit theatre field is at a dynamic and transformative moment and this will challenge the staff and board of TCG to think creatively about the culture of contemporary theatre and its vital role in American democracy and throughout the world.”

Members of TCG’s board serve three two-year terms. Board officers serve terms of one-year, concurrent with the fiscal year of July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2012.

Returning board members include: Douglas R. Brown, president and CEO, Cambridge Homes, Inc., Libertyville, IL; Ralph Bryan, managing director – investments, Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC., La Jolla, CA; James Bundy, artistic director, Yale Repertory Theatre and dean, Yale School of Drama, New Haven, CT; Dawn Chiang, lighting designer, Bridgeport, CT; Debbie Chinn, consultant, Towson, MD; Mark Cuddy, artistic director, Geva Theatre Center, Rochester, NY; Lydia Diamond, playwright, Boston, MA; Teresa Eyring, executive director, Theatre Communications Group, New York, NY; Joseph Haj, producing artistic director, Playmakers Repertory Company, Chapel Hill, NC; Andrew Hamingson, principal, AD Hamingson and Associates, New York, NY; Aimee Hayes, artistic director, Southern Rep, New Orleans, LA; Philip Himberg, producing artistic director, Sundance Institute Theatre Program, Sundance, UT;Robert Hupp, producing artistic director, Arkansas Repertory Theatre, Little Rock, AR; Morgan Jenness, creative consultant, Abrams Artists Agency, New York, NY; Marshall Jones III, executive director, Crossroads Theatre Company, New Brunswick, NJ; Rachel Kraft, executive director, Lookingglass Theatre Company, Chicago, IL; Martha Lavey, artistic director, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Chicago, IL; Marc Masterson, artistic director, South Coast Repertory, Costa Mesa, CA; Jonathan Moscone, artistic director, California Shakespeare Theater, Berkeley, CA; Lynn Nottage, playwright, Brooklyn, NY; Diane Rodriguez, director of new play production, Center Theatre Group, Los Angeles, CA; Olga Sanchez, artistic director, Miracle Theatre Group, Portland, OR;Sean San Jose, program director, Intersection for the Arts, San Francisco, CA; Roche Schulfer, executive director, Goodman Theatre, Chicago, IL; Mark Shugoll, CEO, Shugoll Research, Bethesda, MD; Megan Wanlass Szalla, executive director, SITI Company, New York, NY; Mark Valdez, national coordinator, Network of Ensemble Theatres, Los Angeles, CA; Clyde Valentin, executive director, Hip-Hop Theater Festival, Brooklyn, NY; Kate Warner, director/producer, Cambridge, MA; Angel Ysaguirre, director of global community investing, The Boeing Company, Chicago, IL.

For 50 years, Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for the American theatre, has existed to strengthen, nurture and promote the professional not-for-profit American theatre.  Founded in 1961, TCG’s constituency has grown from a handful of groundbreaking theatres to nearly 700 member theatres and affiliate organizations nationally and more than 13,000 individuals worldwide.  TCG offers its members networking and knowledge-building opportunities through conferences, events, research and communications; grants approximately $2 million per year to theatre companies and individual artists; advocates on the federal level and serves as the US Center of the International Theatre Institute, connecting its constituents to the global theatre community. 

TCG is North America’s largest independent publisher of dramatic literature, with 11 Pulitzer Prizes for Best Play on our booklist; it also publishes the award-winning AMERICAN THEATRE magazine and ARTSEARCH®, the essential source for a career in the arts.  In all of its endeavors, TCG seeks to increase the organizational efficiency of its member theatres, cultivate and celebrate the artistic talent and achievements of the field and promote a larger public understanding of, and appreciation for, the theatre.

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