New Production Manager Hired At Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theater Festival

The Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theater Festival is pleased to announce the hiring of Justin R. Hoffman as the Festival's new Production Manager.

Hoffman, a graduate of the Conservatory of Theatre Arts and Film at Purchase College State University of New York, currently lives in New York City, where he works as an Associate Production Manager and Co-Producer of live events for Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS.

In recent years, Hoffman has also worked as a lighting director, resident lighting designer, electrician, and production assistant. He holds a BFA degree in Theatre Design/Technology.

Hoffman joins a talented team of year-round and seasonal Festival staff from across the country who gather in Provincetown each September to produce a four-day program of shows, parties, classes, and special events throughout the seaside village, featuring artists from around the world.

"In looking to fill this important position, I knew the Festival needed someone professional and knowledgeable, yet also able to thrive and find fun in the festival adventure," says Festival Producing Director Charlene A. Donaghy, who oversees the production staff. "Justin is perfectly cast, from understanding tech and organization, to swapping stories and laughter with staff. We are fortunate and excited that he is joining the Festival family."

The Festival's Production Manager is responsible for essential logistics, scheduling, and Festival-wide organization for all productions and events. Hoffman will work with Donaghy and with scenic, electrics, and sound supervisors on a wide range of production tasks including scheduling, budgeting, production logistics, database management, staff supervision, equipment rental and purchase, correspondence, community relations, and administration. Hoffman officially begins in his new position on May 30.

"It seems like the perfect match for my skills, especially the site-specific aspects of the Festival," says Hoffman, who has visited Provincetown during the summer in recent years.

Hoffman grew up on Long Island, where he worked as a teenager - then as a college student and graduate - at the Gateway Playhouse summer theater in Bellport, NY. The seasonal nature of work there, and then at SUNY Purchase and at Broadway Cares, has shaped his love of theater.

"Theater has always been a home away from home," he says, "and the community aspect of it has always been appealing and important to me. Whether it's the Broadway community or elsewhere, you and your friends are always on an off-schedule from the rest of the world. So, you really find your tribe through this work."

He anticipates that certain facets of this new job will feel familiar to him from his work at Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS, where annual productions include Broadway Backwards, Easter Bonnet Competition, Broadway Bares, Broadway Flea Market, Gypsy of the Year, Hudson Valley Dance Festival, Broadway Barks, and Fire Island Dance Festival.

Hoffman says he looks forward to the rigors of September. "We want everything to be as planned out as possible ahead of time," he says. "But the most exciting part is when you're all really there, working out those plans together, and things come up. People have to think on their feet, and figure out how best to pull it all together and support the show."

"Whatever your discipline," he adds, "whether you're a stage manager, a lighting person, a performer, a dancer, or a ticket sales agent, we are all here on the same team - whether 'here' is at a house in Provincetown, on the beach, or in a Broadway theatre. In that moment, your skills coalesce, and you're all there for the same thing."

About the 2018 Program

The 2018 line-up of plays will feature works by Williams and other much-loved writers from around the world, produced and performed by Festival artists and collaborators both new and established.

The drama of anticipation inspires this year's programming, says Festival Curator David Kaplan. "We are all, in America and around the world, waiting for something to happen," says Kaplan. "We don't know what it is, but we can feel something is coming. Does waiting unsettle us? Does it paralyze our will to act? Does it give us hope, or cause for despair?"

The Festival will announce its full 2018 Festival program of shows at the Annual Dinner gala on Saturday, June 2 in Provincetown, and online that same night at twptown.org. Tickets to the Annual Dinner go on sale in early March, at which point premium seats, general admission tickets, and table sponsorships will be available online and by phone at twptown.org or by calling 866-789-TENN.

About the Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theater Festival

The Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theater Festival was founded in 2006 in Provincetown - the birthplace of modern American theater - where Williams worked on many of his major plays during the 1940s. The TW Festival is the nation's largest performing arts festival dedicated to celebrating and expanding an understanding of the full breadth of the work of America's great playwright. Each year, theater artists from around the globe perform classic and innovative productions to celebrate Williams' enduring influence in the 21st century, hosted by venues throughout the seaside village. For more details, visit twptown.org and follow the Festival on Facebook.

This Festival is funded in part by the Provincetown Tourism Fund, and is presented by The Pilgrim House (Sage Inn).

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