Arizona Native Chanel Bragg Named Associate Artistic Director at Arizona Theatre Company

Arizona native Chanel Bragg, an artist and passionate advocate for equity, diversity and inclusion, has been named Associate Artistic Director at Arizona Theatre Company.

A graduate of Northern Arizona University and Cortez High School, Bragg is a producer, director, teaching artist and performer whose mission is to open doors and shatter stereotypes for Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) and women in Arizona.

"My career, and life, was changed by the opportunity to be an Associate Artistic Director at a leading LORT theatre, so I have always wanted to provide that opportunity for someone else. For me that person is Chanel Bragg," said ATC Artistic Director Sean Daniels. "Also, it's time for theaters to start hiring and promoting the immense talent that lives in their own towns."

Bragg, who holds a Master of Arts degree with an emphasis in Innovative Leadership from Western International University, has worked with a range of Arizona fine arts institutions and is a three-time AriZoni Theatre Awards of Excellence recipient. Among the organizations for which she has collaborated are ATC in The Music Man and Cabaret, Black Theatre Troupe, The Phoenix Symphony, Free Arts for Abused Children, Phoenix Theatre, Stray Cat Theatre, Childsplay, Arizona Broadway Theatre, TheaterWorks, Spotlight Youth Theatre and Desert Stages.

"I have spent my career carrying the belief that our Arizona theater community rivals any place in the universe and now I've been given the illustrious platform to prove it," she said.

Bragg also is co-founder of the Soul of Broadway, an AriZoni award winner, producer of The Alexander Project Tribute Band with Live Nation, founder of United Colours of AZ Theatre and a supporting vocalist in the Phoenix Afrobeat Orchestra.

"I am inspired by the work Chanel does - onstage and off - her dedication to her community and the joy she brings to every project," Daniels said. "We are a better organization, and I will be a better Artistic Director, for having her unquestioned work ethic, high level of artistry, fierce passion for equity and inclusion and her truly remarkable and delightful sense of humor helping to lead the way. Though these are unprecedented and sometimes overwhelmingly challenging times, the future remains bright for ATC - especially with hires like this."

For more information about Arizona Theatre Company, visit www.arizonatheatre.org.

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