Wendy Rowden, President of Building for the Arts, is pleased to announce new leadership at Theatre Row, the Off-Broadway complex at 410 West 42nd Street. Building for the Arts is the non-profit organization that administers and programs Theatre Row.
Rowden has announced Sarah Hughes as the Director of Artistic Programming, Stephanie Rolland as Director of Theatre Operations, and Emma Montoya Hills as Associate General Manager. Rowden also has announced that Josh Landay has joined Building for the Arts as Chief of Staff.
"It is an exciting time for Theatre Row. We recently completed a transformational refresh of our historic building, and we are in the midst of launching new artistic initiatives focused on making Off-Broadway accessible to a broader, more diverse audience. We are thrilled to have this fantastic team at the helm," Rowden commented.
Sarah Hughes has more than a decade of experience directing and producing in New York City. For many years Sarah worked with acclaimed Off-Broadway theater company Elevator Repair Service, during which time she was instrumental in the NYC premieres and international tours of Gatz, The Sound and The Fury, The Select, Arguendo, and Shuffle, as well as a collaboration at the Museum of Modern Art with data-visualization studio The Office for Creative Research. She was Co-Artistic Producer of Obie Award-winning Target Margin Theater for several seasons, serving in a leadership capacity during the company's establishment of The Doxsee Theater in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. Sarah is a 2018-2020 WP Theater Directors Lab member, a 2019 National Directors Fellowship recipient, a 2019 Drama League Resident, an Affiliated Artist with New Georges and Target Margin Theater, and an alum of The Civilians' R&D Lab and the Clubbed Thumb Directing Fellowship. Her directing work has been presented at Abrons Arts Center, BAM Next Wave, The Bushwick Starr, and New Ohio, among others, and with Geoff Sobelle and Graham Sack, she's co-created AR/VR pieces and immersive installations for Tribeca Film Festival, New York Theatre Workshop and The New York Times. She teaches at Dartmouth College and NYU and lives in Brooklyn with her partner, writer Alexander Tilney. www.sarahcameronhughes.com
Stephanie Rolland served as Artistic Line Producer at McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton, NJ. As a New York City-based producer, Stephanie co-founded Interfest, a Harlem-based *arts and ideas* festival focused on intersectionality and mutual liberation. She is also a member of WP Theater's 2018-2020 Producer's Lab. Other credits include Theater Communication Group (TCG)'s inaugural Rising Leaders of Color cohort, TCG's National Awards Committee and the League of Resident Theater's Diversity Committee. She holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and an MFA in Theater Management from Yale School of Drama, where she was the recipient of the Richard Ward Scholarship. Her work as an artist is fueled by connection, experimentation and laughter. She finds her joy in bringing multi-faceted, swirling, human universes together in space to make magic.
Emma Montoya Hills was the Associate General Manager at HERE Arts Center. She has also worked in operations at Jujamcyn Theatres and as the lead Production Manager for Steeldeck NY Inc where she managed multiple shows at New York Fashion Week (including Marc Jacobs, Tommy Hilfiger, PUMA, and Thom Brown). In addition, she has been a collaborator and producer on numerous freelance projects including Period Sisters (Production: HERE), Emerson Loses Her...Miand (Production: Winterfest), Shaken Not Stirred: A James Bond Cabaret (Production: The Django), In Trump We Trust (Production: The Pit), A Thousand Variations on a Lie Told Once (Production: Midtown Theatre Festival), and I Can't Believe She Said That: A Kathy Griffith Story (Production: New York Musical Festival). She is an Alumna of Yale University.
Josh Landay built a career in arts/media strategy, nonprofit program direction, arts education, and onstage performance. He served as Director of the Eye to Eye Diplomats speakers bureau, building a program model that brought 270 public presentations to more than 45,000 students, educators, and parents nationwide - including events at the U.S. Department of Education, the Kennedy Center, the Teach for America 25th Anniversary Summit, and numerous conferences, universities, and schools across the country. As a Teaching Artist and researcher for the New Victory Theater, Josh developed curricula and led performing arts workshops for public school students throughout New York City. He also worked to implement the SPARK (Schools with Performing Arts Reach Kids) research study in collaboration with WolfBrown. As an actor, Josh performed in Disney's The Lion King on Broadway as well as in the West End, Las Vegas, and on the show's first national tour. His New York City and regional acting credits included productions with Hartford Stage, Yale Repertory Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Denver Center Theatre Company, Theatre Aspen, and Creede Repertory Theatre. Josh holds an MBA from Columbia Business School (Dean's Honors), an MFA (Acting) from the National Theatre Conservatory at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, and a BA from Brown University (Public & Private Sector Organizations). Josh is a runner - both full and half marathons - and he is dedicated to raising funds for cancer research.
Theatre Row was developed to anchor the revival of the western end of 42nd Street, between Ninth and Tenth Avenues. In 1976, Fred Papert, a former advertising executive turned historical preservationist, set out to convert the block's peep shows, massage parlors and pornographic venues into a welcoming environment of theatres, restaurants and apartments. He established the 42nd Street Redevelopment Corporation, now Building for the Arts, which reclaimed the derelict block. "42nd Street Theatre Row," as it was originally named, opened its doors in 1978. Theatre Row serves as the home for a diverse group of companies-in-residence, including Epic Theatre Ensemble, The Chase Brock Experience, Mint Theatre Company, Keen Company, New York City Children's Theatre, Ma-Yi Theater Company, New Light Theater Project, Theatre Breaking Through Barriers, Pan-Asian Rep, and United Solo Theatre Festival. Theatre Row offers theatre and rehearsal studio rentals, office space, ticketing and box office, as well as tech support to actors, producers, dancers, and musicians. Theatre Row encourages its varied mix of nonprofit theatre companies to share ideas and resources as they work in its intimate spaces. Each year, Theatre Row serves 100 companies, 3,000 artists, and over 160,000 patrons.Videos