New Cooperative to Tour to Regional Theaters Nationwide; Will Launch with Tectonic Theater Project Shows

Trish Santini, Peter Flynn and Frank Butler announced today the formation of their new company Mainspring Arts Cooperative (MAC), a not-for-profit organization that will produce and present productions that can tour regional theaters nationwide.

The company was founded in response to the industry conversation about preserving artistic scale while protecting financial sustainability, along with an increased dependence on co-productions and presentations. Santini, Flynn and Butler determined that their combined expertise in artistic development, production, organizational strategy, and marketing made them uniquely suited to address that need.

"Our goal is to bring productions to regional theaters that can be incorporated seamlessly into a subscription season or presented as a special event - and to always deliver artistic excellence and exceptional service. The theaters and arts leaders are our clients, so if we make them and their audiences happy, then we've done our job," said Frank Butler. "We recognized that there was a need for an organization such as MAC, but there was not a model that offered a consistent infrastructure in service to the values of regional theaters. MAC will present tours that allow theaters to offer alternatives to their audiences that require fewer resources from their organizations, and therefore allow those resources (artistic, financial, staff) to be fully utilized in their own productions."

MAC is pleased to announce that in the 2017-2018 season the company will tour two projects from Tectonic Theater Project under the artistic leadership of 2015 National Medal of Arts recipient, Moisés Kaufman. The Tallest Tree in the Forest by Daniel Beaty, directed by Moisés Kaufman and winner of the 2015 NAACP Theatre Award for Best Playwright will be available beginning in September 2017. Uncommon Sense by Tectonic Theater Project company member Andy Paris and Anushka Paris-Carter will also be available beginning in September 2017 following its premiere in January 2017 at the Gallagher Bluedorn Performing Arts Center. Casting for both productions will be announced at a later date.

Additionally, MAC served as producing consultants for Anna Deavere Smith's new documentary solo performance, Notes from the Field currently playing in New York at Second Stage following an engagement at American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, MA. MAC is also serving as executive producers of a new project with Cantus, the eight-member men's vocal ensemble that was hailed as "the premier men's vocal ensemble in the United States" (Fanfare) and is the winner of the prestigious Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence from Chorus America. Inspired by Romeo and Juliet, with original composition by Grammy Award winner Libby Larsen and in collaboration with the Guthrie Theater, this production will be available for touring in the 2018-2019 season.

Mainspring Arts Cooperative gratefully acknowledges the generous support of its founding donor, the Blythe Brenden-Mann Foundation.

For more information visit www.mainspringarts.org.

ABOUT THE PARTNERS:

Trish Santini

Trish was the Senior Producer at the Guthrie Theater, under the leadership of Joe Dowling, and produced shows directed by Leigh Silverman, Mark Rucker, Peter Flynn, Jeremy Cohen and Maria Aitken, and with artists including Whoopi Goldberg, Brian d'Arcy James, T.R. Knight, Jason Robert Brown, Tracie Bennett, Santino Fontana, Kate Wetherhead, Colman Domingo, Helen Carey and Kevin Kling. She also served as the Guthrie representative for the pre-Broadway productions of The Scottsboro Boys and End of the Rainbow. She joined the Guthrie in 2006 as External Relations Director, overseeing marketing, public relations, education, events, retail and visitor services, and was responsible for earning more than half of the Guthrie's $27M annual budget. Prior to the Guthrie, Trish served as Vice President, Broadway Division, at TMG-The Marketing Group, managing campaigns for productions ranging from The Drowsy Chaperone and Mamma Mia!, to WELL and Avenue Q, as well as sponsorship and marketing services for Roundabout Theatre and Manhattan Theatre Club. She was the Marketing Director for the Kodak Theatre (home of the Academy Awards) in Los Angeles and prior to that, served in The Marketing Division at Dodger Theatricals.

Peter Flynn

Peter is the former Artistic Director of the Hangar Theatre in Ithaca, New York, as well as the Artistic Director of the Perry-Mansfield New Works Festival in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. He debuted Adam Bock's play The Receptionist, as well as developed new work by Glenn Slater, Stephen Weiner, & Rinne Groff, and collaborated with guest artists Stephen Schwartz, Jeanine Tesori, and Andrew Leynse (Primary Stages). He has also facilitated new work by writers Christopher Diaz, Josh Harmon, Maury Yeston; with directors Jennifer Nelson (African Continuum, Ford's Theatre), Devanand Janki (BCTR); and worked with actors Danielle Brooks, Robert Cuccioli, Dee Hoty, Isaiah Johnson, Joaquina Kalukango, Emily Skinner, Andréa Burns, Natascia Diaz, Jerry Dixon, and Andrea Martin among others. As a freelance director, Peter's credits include Actors' Fund concert of the 75th Anniversary of Thornton Wilder's Our Town with Adriane Lenox, B.D. Wong, S. Epatha Merkerson; Lee Blessings' Two Rooms at the Lion Theatre; On the 20th Century with Douglas Sills & Marin Mazzie; Chess with Josh Groban & Julia Murney; Funny Girl with Whoopi Goldberg, & Andrea Martin; and Rhapsody in Seth - Actors' Playhouse starring Seth Rudetsky. He has created work around the country at theaters including the Guthrie Theatre, Pittsburgh's City Theatre, the Maltz-Jupiter Theatre, and the Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. where he is an Associate Artist. His work has won the Carbonell Award in South Florida and been nominated for the Lucille Lortel Award in New York. Peter is the Director of Musical Theatre at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting, on faculty at New York University's Tisch Program, a graduate of Northwestern University, and a member of SDC.

Frank Butler

Frank's background includes an eighteen-year tenure as Production Director for the Guthrie Theater, under the artistic leadership of Joe Dowling. During that time, he led a staff of eighty union and non-union full-time employees. He created partnerships with both international and domestic nonprofit and commercial producers, producing several regional and national tours as well as pre-Broadway offerings. He served as the theater liaison for the creation of the Guthrie's new home on the Mississippi River, a $125M three-theater complex designed by Pritzker-winning architect, Jean Nouvel. Prior to the Guthrie, Frank was the Production Manager for the American Repertory Theater, under the artistic direction of Robert Brustein, working with directors such as Andrei Serban, Robert Wilson, Oskar Eustis, Richard Foreman, and Anne Bogart. Frank began his career in the lighting field and has numerous LORT designs to his credit. He holds an MFA in lighting design from the University of Washington, and a Bachelor's degree in technical theater from Purdue University. He is a founding member of the Production Manager's Forum.

# # #

If you would rather not receive future communications from BONEAU/BRYAN-BROWN, please go to https://optout.cision.com/en/2XiQRAKuAKNj4d96HVBRsdixE9ConiEfcyBXUzKekLX6JGbFzN9VYJLdBELvy6WuW94NB3LsucxvJCaWYtkhTN7t9RXy3zmfimLej5Q8tFhm1pZgP5pVye4RTfWCcXJX6JE.
BONEAU/BRYAN-BROWN, 1501 Broadway Ste 1314, New York, 10036-5505 New York, United States