Olney Theatre Center Names Hallie Gordon As Senior Associate Artistic Director And Pope Jackson As Director Of Production

Olney Theatre Center announced it has hired Hallie Gordon as Senior Associate Artistic Director and T. Pope Jackson as Director of Production. Gordon takes up her duties as of November 15, and comes directly from Kansas City Repertory Theatre where she was most recently Director of Artistic Development.

Jackson comes to Olney from The Shed, where he has worked as Production Manager since 2018 and oversaw the opening of the high profile NYC venue in 2019. He officially begins at Olney Theatre on December 12, 2022. Photos are available here with the password press.

"I'm thrilled to be able to add two such experienced and talented professionals to our leadership team," said Olney Theatre Artistic Director Jason Loewith. "Hallie and I overlapped time in Chicago where she was nationally-regarded for her innovative commissioning and producing at Steppenwolf Theatre. To have the benefit of her knowledge as a producer, artist, educator and mentor will strengthen Olney Theatre in countless ways."

"And in Pope Jackson," he continued, "Olney Theatre gains rockstar expertise in everything from theater to concerts, dance and multimedia exhibition. The cross-disciplinary talents he displayed both opening and producing at The Shed are a perfect fit as we continue to expand our program offerings and embark on the second phase of our Staging the Future Capital Campaign."

Hallie Gordon said, "I am thrilled to be an artistic partner with Jason Loewith at Olney Theatre Center. I look forward to supporting and ensuring the highest quality of excellence in the company's full range of artistic productions, marketing, communications, audience engagement, and educational programs! I'm excited to be a part of such a dynamic and culturally rich area, surrounded by some of the best performing arts in the nation."

As Director of Artistic Development at Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Gordon recently produced and dramatuged the world premiere of Ms. Holmes and Ms. Watson in Apartment 2B by Kate Hamill, Flood by Mashuq Mushtaq Deen, and started a new playwrights residency program "American Crossroads", commissioning Native-American Playwright Mary Kathryn Nagle as the inaugural playwright of the program. During Gordon's tenure as Artistic Director for Steppenwolf for Young Adults, Education Director, and Artistic Producer, she programmed and commissioned Eve Ewing's book of poems 1919 adapted for the stage by J. Nicole Brooks, she has also commissioned/dramatrug/directed the following World Premiere productions at Steppenwolf Theatre: Lydia Diamonds The Bluest Eye, and Harriet Jacobs; Markus Zusak's The Book Thief adapted for the stage by Heidi Stillman, Animal Farm adapted for the stage by Steve Pickering and Alice Austen Lawton; Monster by Walter Dean Myers adapted for the stage by Aaron Carter, Sandra Cisneros's The House on Mango Street adapted for the stage by Tanya Saracho, HIR by Taylor Mac, The Rembrandt by Jessica Dickey and many others. As a freelance director she has worked with Writers Theatre, Northlight Theatre, Goodman Theatre and Rivendell Theatre Ensemble in which she is a proud ensemble member. Hallie has created and facilitated many educational programs including the nationally recognized Young Adult Council. She is the recipient of The Helen Coburn Meier & Time Meier Achievement Award.

On his new position, Pope Jackson said, "I'm tremendously excited to join the team at Olney Theatre Center and contribute to its goal of being a diverse and inclusive powerhouse of arts & culture. Olney Theatre's ambition to try new things and expand community through theatre and other artistic disciplines aligns with my values as an artist and professional. I can't wait to get started with my new team."

Jackson is a producer, designer, and production and technical manager with over two decades of experience in the theatre, film, and events industries. A Harlem native and founder of the consultancy firm Pope Solutions, he served as Production Manager at The Shed from 2018 to 2022. There, Pope managed The Shed's 2019 opening program, Soundtrack of America, with Steve McQueen and Quincy Jones and produced new works and events by luminaries including Björk, Arca, John Legend, Alicia Keys, Sting, Shane Oliver and Boots Riley. Before that, he served as Production Supervisor for BRIC-Celebrate Brooklyn, where he worked on the standout project of the organization's 40th-anniversary year, Grimanesa Amorós's sculpture HEDERA. He also previously served as Assistant Operations Manager for New World Stages, Theatrical Operations director for Urbintel Productions, Executive Program Director for the Williamsburg Music Center in Brooklyn, founder of Actuator Inc., and a co-founder of La Reina Del Barrio Productions.

These two hires replace Senior Associate Artistic Director Jason King Jones, who departed Olney over the summer to become the Artistic Director of the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, and Josiane Jones, the current Director of Production who will also be relocating to Pennsylvania.

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