Open Window Theatre Welcomes First Managing Director, Cole Matson

Open Window Theatre has hired its first Managing Director, Dr. Cole Matson, as the next step in its "Redemption 2019" theatre re-launch after a three-year producing hiatus. Dr. Matson will work with Open Window's founding Executive-Artistic Director Jeremy Stanbary on the business management of the theatre and development of a new season of cultural events - including talks, concerts, film screenings, and new play readings - complementing the theatre's mainstage productions and youth education program.

Dr. Matson most recently served as full-time Programming Associate at The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture, the arts center of the Archdiocese of New York, where he produced theatre and talk events in the Center's 274-seat proscenium and 80-seat black box stages and expanded the artist residency and fellowship programs. His projects for the Sheen Center included co-founding the annual Sheen Center Theater Festival of Catholic Playwrights, recently featured in the New York Times; scouting Sheen's 2018 co-production of Little Rock, recipient of four AUDELCO Award nominations (including Best Musical); and producing events with John Lithgow and John Patrick Shanley, among others. Before joining The Sheen Center's programming team, Dr. Matson served on faculty and staff at CAP21 Musical Theatre Conservatory/Molloy College. He received a Ph.D. in Theology, Imagination and the Arts from the University of St Andrews, an M.A. in Theology from Oxford University, and a B.F.A. in Drama from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts/Playwrights Horizons Theater School. He is a member of AEA and SAG-AFTRA.

"I am excited to join the Open Window family because of its redemptive vision of theatre," says Dr. Matson. "Redemptive theatre is unafraid to face the darkness in our world and in our own hearts, and witnesses to the ways in which love and hope can transform darkness into light and evil into good. I am also glad to join a company that treats its artists and patrons like family, as well as one that is committed to the respect and encouragement that help create excellent work."

"Dr. Matson is everything we were hoping for in a Managing Director and more," says founder and Exec-Artistic Director, Jeremy Stanbary. "We're thrilled to have him on board as we work to rebuild Open Window on a stronger foundation than before. Cole is a perfect fit with the ethos of Open Window Theatre and he possesses the gifts, passion and experience necessary to help us grow and flourish. After three dark years, our future is bright!"

Open Window Theatre (www.openwindowtheatre.org) is a multigenerational professional theatre focused on bringing stories with a redemptive vision to the Twin Cities. Founded in 2011, Open Window produced 19 mainstage productions and 6 summer children's productions over 5 seasons, before taking a hiatus in 2016 due to a dispute over its space. Twin Cities Arts Reader columnist Bev Wolfe named Open Window's last production, Everyman, as one of the Twin Cities' "10 Best Plays and Musicals of 2016," and hoped that "Open Window will resume these daring productions in the near future." The theatre has currently raised $215,000 towards its re-launch for the 2019-2020 season and is in the midst of searching for a new permanent space.

Open Window Theatre is still seeking contributions for its re-launch campaign to reach their stated goal of $250,000. Tax-deductible contributions can be made online at https://www.givemn.org/story/Openwindowtheatre or by mail.

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