Boston College Alumni Lead Artistic Directors’ Panel, 4/26

The Boston College Theatre Department, in partnership with the University's 2012 Arts Festival, presents tonight - April 26 - a free, public symposium on artistic leadership in the American theater. It will feature three prominent artistic directors of important theater organizations, all Boston College alumni.

Participants include Tony Taccone (Class of 1972), artistic director of Berkeley Repertory Theatre in Berkeley, California and recipient of the 2012 BC Arts Council Alumni Award for Distinguished Achievement; Kate Maguire (Class of 1978), artistic director and CEO of the Berkshire Theatre Group in Western Massachusetts; and Paul Daigneault (Class of 1987), producing artistic director of SpeakEasy Stage Company in Boston and the BC Theatre Department's 2011-2012 Rev. J. Donald Monan S.J. Professor of Theater Arts.

Titled "Tough Decisions: Leading the American Theater in the 21st Century," the conversation will focus on the many challenges of artistic leadership in the current economic and cultural climate, including balancing artistic vision with practical management strategies.

The event will take place on Thursday, April 26, 2012 from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in Gasson Hall (located on BC’s Chestnut Hill Campus at 140 Commonwealth Avenue) in Room 305, followed by a brief reception. The panel discussion will be led by David Dower, co-leader with Polly Carl of the newly formed Center for the Theater Commons at Emerson College.

"BC alums are out there-- in major positions--shaping the American theater," says Scott T. Cummings, chair of BC’s Theatre Department. "I want our students, the entire BC community, and the national theater community to know that. We have much to learn from Tony and Paul and Kate."

"Tough Decisions: Leading the American Theater in the 21st Century" is part of the Theatre Department's celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Robsham Theater Arts Center, the home of the performing arts at Boston College. That celebration includes the final production of the anniversary season, Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, directed by BC Adjunct Associate Professor of Theatre Luke Jorgensen on the Mainstage Thursday-Sunday, April 26-29.

For more information about the "Tough Decisions" symposium or the production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, see www.bc.edu/theatre or contact Sean Murphy in the Theatre Department at 617-552-4012.

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