Dad's Garage Theatre Has Announced Jon Carr as New Artistic Director

The board of directors of Dad's Garage announced that Jon Carr will be stepping into the Artistic Director role, starting February 1. Jon has been serving as the Interim Artistic Director since November 2019. Dad's Garage has a co-CEO model, with the Artistic Director in charge of the creative direction of the theatre, in close collaboration with the Managing Director, Lara Smith, who handles business operations.

The theatre launched a search in August. After the nationwide search, four candidates from around the country each came in for a full day of interviews. Every candidate had the chance to meet with the board, staff, performers, and even watch a show. With input from all these stakeholders, Jon Carr stood out as the perfect fit for the role.

"We had so many impressive candidates and when we looked at where the organization is and where we want to head, it became clear that Jon possesses all the skills we need to build on our foundation of success, to take us even further," Derin Dickerson, Board Chair and chair of the search committee said of the hire.

Prior to serving as Interim Artistic Director, Jon worked in the marketing and artistic offices at the Alliance Theatre as well as serving as the Marketing Director of Dad's Garage for four years. Jon has been an ensemble performer at Dad's since 2014.

"This is my dream job," said Jon. "Dad's was started by young artists who wanted to create and be in work they were excited about and weren't seeing elsewhere. That stands true to this day, almost 25 years later. As an artist, I've come to realize how vital Dad's is to the city and I'm eager to bring the same opportunities Dad's gave to me to all our current and future generations of talent."

Jon takes over for Kevin Gillese, who stepped down from the role in 2019 to focus on new projects with Dad's Garage TV. Kevin still performs on the Dad's Garage stage as an ensemble member, and will be releasing a feature-length film in collaboration with DGTV.

On Saturday, February 8 at 10:30 pm, our TheatreSports show will be a celebration of Jon Carr. He'll host, we'll have his favorite drink at the bar, and you'll get to see some of his favorite improv games!

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