MCC Theater Promotes Will Cantler To Artistic Director

MCC Theater today announced that Associate Artistic Director Will Cantler has been promoted to the position of Artistic Director, effective immediately. Cantler will assume the role alongside existing MCC Artistic Directors and co-founders Robert LuPone and Bernard Telsey.

"Over two decades as MCC Theater's Associate Artistic Director, Will has become a formidable voice in both our artistic programming and our education and outreach efforts. We've come to rely on his astute literary sense as he has helped us drive the development and production of MCC's key works. He's been an invaluable partner who has helped shape our mission, our choice of plays, our artist compliment and, with his managerial skills, it became apparent that he was no longer acting as our Associate, but rather as our partner," commented LuPone and Telsey. "We welcome Will as a much valued and important Artistic Director of MCC."

Susan Raanan, MCC Board Chair added, "Will has been an integral part of the artistic team that has made MCC unique and exciting for 25 years. Bernie, Bob and Will bring their individual perspectives and talents to the company in a collaboration that energizes the artistic process and enhances MCC's artistic vision. They are an unbeatable trio, complimenting one another to MCC's - and the theater community's - great advantage. I am delighted that Will is assuming the title of Co-Artistic Director with Bernie Telsey and Bob LuPone."

In 1986, under the auspices of the Manhattan Class Company Theater, Will Cantler produced a small one act festival. It was the first show that MCC mounted, launching Alan Bowne's stunning and controversial play Beirut, starring an unknown young actress named Marissa Tomei. Cantler's uninterrupted partnership with LuPone and Telsey has grown steadily since then. In MCC's early days, Will did a bit of directing, including Just Horrible by Nicholas Kazan, featuring Bridget Fonda straight out of NYU, and filmmaker, author, (and current MCC Board Member) Peter Hedges. Career highlights include reading the first manuscripts and shepherding through production challenging new plays like Wit, Frozen, Grace and The Grey Zone. In addition, Will is particularly proud of the relationship MCC has cultivated with playwright Neil LaBute. Will is also an award-winning Casting Director and Partner with Bernie Telsey in Telsey+Company Casting, and has cast over 300 plays on Broadway, in New York and around the country.

MCC Theater's production of Sharr White's The Other Place, directed by Joe Mantello and starring Laurie Metcalf begins performances on March 10, 2011. Later in the season, MCC's 25th Anniversary season will conclude with Michael Weller's Side Effects, directed by David Auburn.

MCC Theater (Robert LuPone, Bernard Telsey, William Cantler, Artistic Directors; Blake West, Executive Director) is currently celebrating its 25th anniversary season as one of New York City's leading Off Broadway theater companies, committed to presenting New York and world premieres each season. When MCC Theater was founded in 1986, its mission was simple: to bring new theatrical voices to theater-going audiences. MCC Theater continues to accomplish this yearly through three programmatic areas: its mainstage works; its Playwrights' Coalition, which actively seeks and develops new and emerging writers; and its Education & Outreach Programs, including the Youth Company, which allow more than 1,200 students yearly to experience theater, increase literacy and discover their own voices through the creation of original theater pieces. Notable MCC Theater highlights include: the 2008 Tony Award-nominated reasons to be pretty by Neil LaBute, last season's The Pride, Fifty Words, the 2004 Tony-winning production of Bryony Lavery's Frozen; Neil LaBute's Fat Pig; Rebecca Gilman's The Glory of Living; Marsha Norman's Trudy Blue; Margaret Edson's Pulitzer Prize-winning Wit; Tim Blake Nelson's The Grey Zone and Alan Bowne's Beirut. Over the years, the dedication to the work of new and emerging artists has earned MCC Theater a variety of awards.