Robert Chelimsky

Robert joined Epic Theatre Ensemble as the company's first Managing Director in 2011. In that capacity, he as served as Executive Producer of Epic's Off-Broadway productions of MACBETH, DISPATCHES FROM (A)MENDED AMERICA, HOLD THESE TRUTHS and BORN WITH TEETH. Prior to joining Epic, Robert spent five summers managing Chautauqua Theater Company at the historic Chautauqua Institution. He has worked as a theater manager and arts management consultant for more than 20 years. He began his management career with American Stage in St. Petersburg, Florida, serving in various positions between 1991 and 1993, moving to public relations director through 1995. That same year, he co-founded Gryphon Productions in Knoxville and served as Executive Director until 2003. During his tenure, the company developed from a fledgling operation to the producer of the largest in-school arts outreach program in the state: The Bard of Education Shakespeare-in-the-Schools Tour. The program reached more than 20,000 students annually. He also produced the critically-acclaimed Smoky Mt. Shakespeare Festival. Robert served as managing director of Virginia Stage Company in Norfolk before returning to his native New York City in 2005. As an arts management consultant specializing in new and emerging organizations, he has steered organizational development and strategic planning with half a dozen companies, including the Naples Philharmonic Center and The American National Theatre. For more than seven years, he served on Chapter Boards for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.