Jake Speck Leaves Studio Tenn for New Job In Houston

Studio Tenn announced today that Jake Speck will leave his position as Managing Director in August, to assume the executive director position with A.D. Players, a professional theatre company in Houston, Texas.

A driving force behind Studio Tenn, Speck - in partnership with artistic director Matt Logan - has led the company to new heights with a blend of performance experience and business acumen.

Following his success in the Broadway hit Jersey Boys, Speck joined Studio Tenn as the company's managing director shortly after the founding of the company by Philip Hall, Marguerite Hall and Matt Logan.

Under Speck's guidance and alongside Logan, Studio Tenn has grown exponentially in just seven years., Studio Tenn has served a regional audience of more than 100,000 patrons and has provided 16,000 students and underserved families the opportunity to experience live theatre through education and community outreach initiatives. Studio Tenn has also been listed three times as one of the top five highest attended performing arts organizations in middle Tennessee, and voted three times as the "Best Local Theatre Company" in the region by the readers of the Nashville Scene.

Studio Tenn also marked a milestone this year as the only local theatre company to be invited by Tennessee Performing Arts Center (TPAC) in its 34-year history to produce Evita for the opening of their long-standing HCA/TriStar Health Broadway Series.

"I am beyond grateful to the Studio Tenn Board, staff, donors and everyone in the Studio Tenn family for their astounding level of support," Speck says. "It's difficult to walk away from something you helped build, but I feel it is precisely the experience of building Studio Tenn that has prepared me for my new assignment. Studio Tenn will always be a part of me and for that I am eternally grateful."

Speck also commented on his collaboration with Logan, describing him as one of the most brilliant artistic visionaries he has ever encountered and who will no doubt continue to raise the bar for middle Tennessee audiences.

"For years, it was just Jake and myself giving life to this dream, but now that this company has become a staple in the Tennessee arts landscape, the time for a new chapter has arrived," Logan responded. "He was and is my business partner, my co-star, and my brother. I will continue to carry on with the support of my incredible staff in the fashion that it was built and am certain that this company will continue to flourish and pay homage to Jake's great legacy with Studio Tenn."

"Though there are big shoes to fill, Studio Tenn is thrilled with the amount of interest we've received in the Managing Director position," said Studio Tenn co-founder Marguerite Hall. "Because of the vision that Jake and Matt have created, the company's most exciting days still lie ahead."

Philip Hall, prresident of the Studio Tenn board of directors and a co-founder of the company, said: "On behalf of the Board of Directors, I want to thank Jake for the personal sacrifices he has made and his tireless dedication in helping to make Studio Tenn what it is today. We will certainly miss Jake, his passion for theatre, his leadership, his tenacity, and his amazing talent on stage. He will always be considered part of the Studio Tenn family and we wish Jake, Emily and their children only the best."

Studio Tenn will begin a nationwide search to fill the position of managing director. In the interim, Logan and the Studio Tenn board will continue to oversee the executive leadership of Studio Tenn.

A.D. Players is one of Houston's oldest and largest resident theater companies and Speck will assume leadership of the company that was founded by actress and playwright Jeannette Clift George in 1967.

"We are incredibly fortunate to have a theater professional of Jake Speck's caliber and character poised to step into this key role," said A. D. Players Board Chairman Susan Santangelo. "With our move into the new Jeannette and L.M. George Theater for our 50th season, we have celebrated the A. D. Players' rich history and Jeannette's long legacy. And with Jake's arrival we look confidently and expectantly toward the many opportunities before us to serve this great community through the medium of theater."

As Executive Director, Speck will oversee all business and community-related functions of the company. Like his A. D. Players predecessor, he is no stranger to the challenges of launching a theater company from the ground up. Speck joined Nashville's nationally renowned Studio Tenn in 2010 for the company's first full season, and has served as its President and Managing Director for the last six-and-a-half years. During that time Studio Tenn has become one of the leading regional theater companies in the Southeast. The company was recognized three times by the "Nashville Business Journal" as one of the top five highest-attended performing arts organizations in Middle Tennessee, and designated three years in a row by the "Nashville Scene" as Best Local Theatre Company in the region.

A.D. Players' 2017-2018 Main Stage theater lineup includes productions of Harvey, Mary Chase's 1944 Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy about an imaginary, 6'3" rabbit; Barbara Robinson's delightful The Best Christmas Pageant Ever from the young adult novel by the same name; Best of Enemies, a true story of the unlikely relationship forged between a Ku Klux Klan leader and a civil rights activist; Lilies of the Field, the story of a traveling handyman convinced to build a chapel for a small band of immigrant nuns; and God's Favorite, Neil Simon's hilarious, contemporary comedy reimagining the biblical man of woe, Job. Children's Theater productions for 2017-2018 include Balloonacy, Rock Nativity, A Wrinkle in Time and David, the Best Slinger in the West.

About A.D. Players Theater The A. D. Players is a professional theater ministry communicating through various mediums under the creative signature of God. Founded in 1967 by Jeannette Clift George, A.D. Players has pioneered a unique style of theater committed to producing plays and programs that uphold human value, celebrate creativity, and promote literacy and education. The company is one of Houston's largest resident theater companies, impacting more than nine million people over its lifetime. Annually, the company produces Mainstage and Children's Theater performances, fields a Regional Touring Unit, and maintains a year-round Theater Arts Academy. A. D. Players became an Actors' Equity Association (AEA) theater in 2017 and is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization.

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