The Acting Company Names New Senior Management Leaders

The Acting Company has named two seasoned arts executives to further bolster its commitment to bringing audiences across the country excellent live theatre. Erik Schroeder will serve as Managing Director and Deborah Steinglass will become Director of Advancement. They join the recently appointed, Artistic Director Kent Gash at The Acting Company.

In announcing the new executive positions, Earl Weiner, Chair of the Board at The Acting Company, said, "We are thrilled with the strong senior leadership team we have assembled, as Erik and Debbie join forces with Kent. I am confident that this talented trio will build upon our storied tradition with their extraordinary combination of experience and vision and help create exciting theater as we continue to develop young, talented American actors."

"It is my pleasure and privilege to be joined in leading The Acting Company by our exciting new Managing Director Erik Schroeder," said Gash. "Erik is a talented leader who brings a strong record of innovation and success."

"I am thrilled to join this historic organization," noted Schroeder. "I look forward to building on The Acting Company's legacy of providing talented artists with the resources to deliver innovative live performances and making a transformative impact on students and audiences in New York and across the nation."

In welcoming Deborah Steinglass, Gash expressed, "Debbie will play a pivotal role as a member of our senior team. She is a charismatic leader who has a proven track record building support and attracting resources for theatre excellence."

"As The Acting Company celebrates its fiftieth anniversary this year, it's an honor and inspiration to work alongside Kent Gash, Erik Schroeder, our board, and staff, and to have the opportunity to drive the engagement of others in supporting our work and making the vision for our next fifty years a reality." said Ms. Steinglass.

Schroeder and Steinglass were hired after a national search led by Management Consultants for the Arts.

Erik Schroeder

Erik Schroeder served as managing director of The House Theatre of Chicago from 2017 to 2021. Prior to The House, he worked at the Manhattan Theatre Club under executive producer Barry Grove and general manager Florie Seery and received the "Leadership U" fellowship, funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and administered by the Theatre Communications Group. He is a graduate of the Commercial Theatre Institute, and is a co-producer of the Broadway musical Hadestown, winner of the 2019 Tony Award and Drama League Award for Best Musical. In Chicago, Erik was director of marketing at Chicago's Lookingglass Theatre Company for 2008 to 2015, during which time the company received the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre. He has also held positions at the Madison Repertory Theater in Wisconsin, The Children's Theater Company in Minneapolis, and Chicago Children's Theater. He was a participant in the University of Chicago Booth School Rustandy Center Executive Coaching Program, and for six years he served as secretary of the board of directors for the Chicago storefront theater company, The Hypocrites. He sat on the TCG Annual Conference programming advisory committee, and for several years served on the National Arts Marketing Project Conference planning committee. Erik holds a BA in Interdisciplinary Fine Arts with a Management Studies concentration from St. Olaf College.

Deborah Steinglass

Deborah Steinglass' career spans thirty-five-years as an arts leader. Most recently Deborah was Director of Development at New Music USA for seven years, where she also served as their Interim CEO from October 2018 through August 2019. During her time at New Music USA, she created two major initiatives: The New York City New Music Impact Fund, and a national donor network, New Music Connect. Prior to that, Deborah served as Executive Director of The Jazz Gallery, a non-profit jazz venue and incubator of emerging jazz musicians. At The Jazz Gallery she successfully relocated the organization to a new venue in Manhattan, expanded their commissioning program into a residency program, and launched The Woodshed at The Jazz Gallery, which provided free rehearsal space for musicians. At the beginning of Deborah's career, she served as the Program Director for American Music Week at the American Music Center and later became their first Director of Development, where she won major grants from the Wallace Funds and the Ford Foundation to expand the Center's representation of jazz in its library of scores and recordings. Deborah also won a major grant from the Arts Forward Fund in 1992 that supported exploring and modeling the creation of an online service for distributing new American music information and scores. After leaving The American Music Center in 1993 Deborah went on to serve as Director of Development for organizations including Concert Artists Guild, From the Top, and Creative Arts Team. In August 2020 Deborah expanded and refocused her offerings toward coaching organizational leaders and artists. Currently she serves on the board Executive Committee of Boulanger Initiative and is a board member of Sparks & Wiry Cries, and an Advisory Board member Arts for Art. She majored in piano performance at SUNY Albany.

2022-2023 Season:

The Acting Company's 2022-23 touring and New York season will begin with a world premiere adaptation of Alexandré Dumas' The Three Musketeers by Kirsten Childs under the direction of Gash. The troupe will also perform William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet in repertory, directed by Leah C. Gardiner.

To post a comment, you must register and login.