Isa Goldberg Elected Drama Desk President

Isa Goldberg, theater critic and journalist, has been elected the new President of the Drama Desk by its membership voting electronically in approval of the projected Officers and Board of Directors slate for 2010-2011. She assumed the Presidency at this evening's annual membership meeting, held from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Travel Inn, 515 West 42nd Street. Ms. Goldberg was introduced as the incoming President by outgoing President William Wolf, who was elected to remain on the Board as a Member-at-Large.  

Following is list of elected officers and Drama Desk Board of Directors for 2010-2011:

President: Isa Goldberg  (Syndicated columnist, Stamford Advocate/Greenwich Times, Albany Times Union, Greater Philadelphia Newspapers, Middletown Times Herald Record and Pocono Record; Contributing columnist, Financial Times and Jerusalem Post);

Vice President: Leslie (Hoban) Blake (Contributing Writer, TheaterMania.com; Recurring Guest Critic, Two on the Aisle, MNN);

Treasurer & 2^nd Vice President: Charles Wright (A&E Television Networks; Essayist & Editorial Board member, Best Plays Theater Yearbook (published annually by Limelight Editions);

Secretary: Richard Ridge (Broadway Beat TV); Members at Large:

Arlene Epstein (Theater critic, arts columnist, South Shore Record/Herald Community Newspapers; LIherald.com;

Elysa Gardner (Theater critic, USA Today);

Randy Gener  (Senior Editor, American Theatre; Founding Critic, New York Theatre Wire; Editorial Board, Critical Stages/Scènes critiques, www.criticalstages.org);

John Istel (Free Lance Arts Editor and Writer;  Best Plays, Contributing Editor);

David Kaufman  (Free Lance; Author);

Sam Norkin (Free Lance artist; past Drama Desk president);

and William Wolf (wolfentertainmentguide.com)

The voting was tabulated and reported by Stuart F. Margulis, Drama Desk accountant.

Isa Goldberg, a long-standing member of the Drama Desk and a member-at-large of the Board of Directors, had this to say in response to her election as President of the organization: "I'm honored to be elected president of the Drama Desk and look forward to continuing in the footsteps of William Wolf who has been so effective in sustaining and growing the organization. This season I hope to see the Drama Desk develop more of the panels for which we are known, and to help us build on our important role in the theater community."

In a letter to the membership, outgoing president William Wolf wrote, "After four years of serving as Drama Desk President, I must now move on from these presidential responsibilities to attend to various personal projects. During my tenure I have done my best to serve our organization, uphold its traditions and move it forward in the face of new challenges and opportunities. I want to thank you for having given me the honor of being President these last four terms and joining the long line of those who served as previous Drama Desk Presidents."  

He also expressed great enthusiasm for Isa Goldberg as his successor in the office: "She has the qualities of an excellent leader," he wrote. "Isa has good judgment, interacts well with colleagues, is principled, respects the views of others, has fresh ideas and has the ability to follow through with dedication on what needs to be done to continue to move the Drama Desk forward. She has earned the respect of our Board members, and I know this will be the case with the membership at large. I greatly admire Isa and pledge to her my complete support."

The Drama Desk (www.dramadesk.org) is an organization of professional theater writers, editors, critics and columnists who cover all areas of professional theater in the greater New York area, including Broadway, off Broadway, off-off Broadway and not-for-profit theaters.  The organization was founded in 1949 to explore key issues of the theater community. Each year the Drama Desk produces a series of panel discussions to explore areas of concern and then to educate the public about these matters. Guest panelists have included theater reporters, editors and critics as well as working actors, directors, producers, composers, lyricists, authors and producers.  The Drama Desk is unique in that Broadway, off Broadway and off off Broadway shows compete in the same categories for its annual Drama Desk Awards which were first given in 1955. The 56^th Annual Drama Desk Awards will be presented on Sunday, May 22, 2011.