Mike Schleifer Named New Managing Director of Alliance Theatre

The Alliance Theatre announces today the appointment of Mike Schleifer to Managing Director. Schleifer has been serving the organization in the capacity of General Manager since March 2014, having arrived from a thirteen-year run at Baltimore's Center Stage. The promotion comes ahead of three transformative years for the Alliance as the organization embarks on an exciting renovation.

While Schleifer's title changes, his role and responsibilities do not dramatically change. While Susan V. Booth, Jennings Hertz Artistic Director, at the helm since 2001, remains the architect and advocate of the institution's mission and vision, Schleifer is poised to vet, support, and execute those ideas and plans. The Alliance has one season left in the current space (2016/17); will spend the following season performing off-campus and around Atlanta (2017/18) while the renovation takes place; and return to a state-of-the-art venue to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the institution (2018/19). The 2017/18 season will be a challenging season with a full slate of productions happening all over the metro Atlanta area and a major renovation happening on-campus, simultaneously. Schleifer is the perfect fit to lead the charge.

"The Alliance has a pretty extraordinary few years on the horizon, as we complete a new building design, move off-campus for twelve plays in twelve venues, and return to a gorgeous new home for our 50th anniversary. It will be a time that requires all of us to be at the very top of our game, and in Mike Schleifer, I've found a leadership partner who deeply loves this theater and this art form and who is a great collaborator," says Booth. "We are fortunate to have an exemplary staff of theater professionals, and Mike has an abiding respect for that group that is palpable."

Reade Fahs, the Chair of the Alliance Theatre Board of Directors, remarked, "Since coming to the Alliance, Mike has made a huge impact on our ability to bring great art and educational offerings to life in a way that concurrently honors the art and the budget. As importantly, he has both assimilated to and enhanced the vibrant Alliance culture. Many great theaters across the country have adopted the model of 'two at the top' and we believe this approach will prove to turbo-charge the Alliance's momentum as it progresses toward both its off-campus season and its emergence into a new theater. We consider ourselves lucky to have someone of Mike's talents taking on this new role during such an exciting time at the Alliance."

The Alliance Theatre has been the incubator to many Broadway productions over many years, garnering a regional Tony Award, and is the thought-leader in theater education with its groundbreaking Kathy and Ken Bernhardt Theatre for the Very Young program. In the upcoming off-campus season, the company expects to explore new partnerships, reach new patrons, and produce exciting work in unexpected places. All while executing a multi-million dollar renovation back home.

"The Alliance Theatre under Susan Booth's leadership regularly reinvents the wheel in how we educate, engage, and entertain our local audience, while putting a loud and clear field-leading stamp on the national conversation," stated Schleifer. "I'm flattered and humbled to be recognized in this way, and I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to continue to support the mission of the Alliance in this elevated role. I look forward to the challenge that the next three seasons brings."

Mike Schleifer joined the Alliance Theatre in March, 2014 as General Manager. Prior to Atlanta he spent 13 years at Baltimore's Center Stage working in a number of roles including Associate Producer, Production Manager, and Resident Stage Manager. Before Center Stage, Mike was the Production Manager at Playwrights Horizons Theater School at NYU, and Company Manager and Casting Director at the Hangar Theater in Ithaca, New York. Mike began as a Stage Manager in New York and was at the helm of productions at The Public Theatre, Lincoln Center Theater, Second Stage, Playwrights Horizons, among others. He has over fifty stage management credits between his time in New York and working regionally. While in Baltimore, Mike was an adjunct faculty member at Towson University for seven years and guest lectured all over the East Coast. Mike served for several years on the board of directors for Pumpkin Theatre, a not-for-profit children's theater in Baltimore. Mike is married to theater director and educator Laura Hackman and is the proud father of two boys, Jack and Ben.

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