Kathy Evans Will Depart Rhinebeck Writers Retreat

The Board of Rhinebeck Writers Retreat has announced that Kathy Evans will be leaving her position as Founding Executive Director later this year, and the search for the new Executive Director is underway. After fourteen years, Kathy has decided to turn Rhinebeck Writers Retreat over to a successor and will pursue personal projects. She will remain with the organization for a transition period of several months, working with the new Executive Director through the end of this summer's residencies.

Board Secretary and Search Committee member Daniel Egan said, "Kathy was a visionary to start Rhinebeck Writers Retreat and has been an extraordinary advocate for musical theatre writers and the development of new musicals. We are grateful for all she has done. We look forward to finding the person who can build on her vision and make Rhinebeck Writers Retreat the premiere residency to accelerate the development of new musicals."

Kathy Evans said, "I am so proud of what we created at Rhinebeck Writers Retreat - a safe place for musical theatre writers to come to the Hudson Valley, collaborate, live together for one week, and focus on writing their musicals. We have always believed that writers should have no financial burden to participate. I am so grateful to our Board of Directors and the donors, foundations, and government funders who have made our work and the support of incredibly talented writers and musicals possible. It feels like a perfect time to pass the torch, as we are in strong shape artistically and financially, and, for the first time, we have a show that we developed in Rhinebeck coming to Broadway - OPERATION MINCEMEAT."

A search committee from the Board of Directors will conduct the search. All information regarding the position can be found at www.rhinebeckwriters.org. Interested applicants should submit resumes by February 23. Questions can be addressed to searchcommittee@rhinebeckwriters.org.

Created in 2011, Rhinebeck Writers Retreat provides weeklong residencies in the Hudson Valley for musical theatre writers to focus solely on writing their musicals. Triple R gives one team two readings and a residency to accelerate the development of their musical. Many musicals developed at Rhinebeck Writers Retreat have received world premieres: A.D. 16 at Olney Theatre Center (MD); BHANGRA NATION at La Jolla Playhouse (CA); NOIR at The Alley Theatre (TX); ON THIS SIDE OF THE WORLD at East West Players (CA); MEXODUS at Baltimore Center Stage (MD) and TL; DR: THELMA LOUISE; DYKE REMIX at Diversionary Theatre (CA). OPERATION MINCEMEAT won the 2024 Olivier award for Best New Musical and is opening on Broadway in February 2025, starring the writers who were in Rhinebeck. All costs are covered by contributions, including New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), with the support of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, the National Endowment for the Arts, The ASCAP Foundation Bart Howard Fund, The Noël Coward Foundation, The National Foundation for Musical Theatre, the Howard Ashman Trust for Theater Arts. Major individual support comes from Liz Armstrong, Paul Feuerman and Bruce Grivetti, Liz and Bill Mills, Molly McEneny, and Steve and Paula Reynolds. www.rhinebeckwriters.org

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