Gamm Announces Departure Of Managing Director

W. Lynn McKinney, president of the board of directors of The Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre (The Gamm), announces that Oliver Dow is leaving the organization after five seasons as managing director to pursue other interests.

Dow joined The Gamm in 2014 and has led the non-profit theater company through a period of substantial institutional growth. While producing five seasons of plays, he spearheaded the theater's move last summer from its longtime location in Pawtucket, RI to its permanent home in Warwick, RI. He simultaneously launched a capital campaign to help fund the move and ensure the organization's stability, raising 65% of goal to date. Dow created the annual David Wax Award for Outstanding Commitment to the Arts in honor of its first recipient and Dow's predecessor, the late David Wax.

Subsequent honorees have included Barbara J. Dreyer, Maureen and Tom Moakley, Leon C. Boghossian III, and Steve Durkee. He also instituted The Gamm's first programming for young audiences and their families, now entering its third season. The theater closed its first season in Warwick with a 16% increase in season subscriptions.

During Dow's tenure, the theater's annual budget grew by more than $500,000.
Before moving with his family to Rhode Island, Dow worked for 15 years in professional and non-profit theater in New York City including Atlantic Theater Company, The New Group, and LAByrinth Theater Company.

"Oliver hit the ground running right from the start, leading the search for a badly needed new space for The Gamm. Oliver's persistence and dogged determination made it happen. I want to personally thank him on behalf of Artistic Director Tony Estrella, our board, staff, and all the artists who have worked with him over these past five seasons. We wish him the best in his future endeavors and are grateful to him for helping to make The Gamm's future brighter," McKinney said.

"It has been an honor to work alongside Tony, the Gamm board and the most dedicated and hard-working staff I have ever known," Dow said. "The highlight has been the joy on the faces of our professional artists as they created world-class theater in their new facility. The sky is the limit for Tony and the entire organization. I wish them the very best."

The Gamm will initiate a search for a new managing director.

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