Patricia Cox Named Goodman Theatre Chairman-Elect

Goodman Theatre's Board of Trustees proudly announces Patricia Cox as the new Chairman-Elect. Cox, whose involvement with the Goodman spans two decades, is currently its Vice Chairman. A founding member of Chicago's legendary St. Nicholas Theatre Company (with Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Mamet and actors William H. Macy and Stephen Schachter), Cox was among the city's first performing arts marketing, development and management leaders to emerge under the late, great Lyric Opera impresario Danny Newman. She has since worked with and consulted for a wide range of not-for-profit arts organizations in Chicago and across the country. Cox will assume chairmanship in the fall, as current Chairman Shawn M. Donnelley concludes her two-year tenure.

"Robert Falls and I are thrilled that Patricia Cox has become Chairman-Elect. Her work in Chicago theater provides her with a unique perspective and skills to lead the Goodman's Board of Trustees," said Executive Director Roche Schulfer. "For more than 20 years with the Goodman, she has brought an extraordinary breadth of experience and an unparalleled enthusiasm to our productions and programs. I know Patricia will be an inspired leader, and the Goodman artists, staff and Trustees look forward to working with her."

Of Cox, playwright David Mamet noted, "In 1970-something, Billy Macy, Steve Schachter and I had the great fortune to meet Patricia Cox, and the four of us founded the St. Nicholas Theatre Company. She was the brains of the outfit and 'were it not for her'..." he said. "In the years since, many individuals and organizations have applied to her for her wisdom and her secret. She has always described it as a 'lack of knowing any better'-but it was, and is, determination, intelligence, patience and grace."

Cox has served as the Executive Director of the Chicago Alliance for the Performing Arts and was the Director of Marketing for Manhattan Theatre Club and the Boston Ballet. As a consultant, she has worked for the National Endowment for the Arts, the City of Boston, the Atlantic Theatre Company (founded by Mamet, Macy, Felicity Huffman and others), The National Jewish Theatre, City Lit and regional foundations such as the Chicago Community Trust and the Cleveland Foundation.

In addition to her work in the arts, she is a member of the Women's Board of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, and sits on the Board of Directors of High Jump, an academic enrichment program for talented, economically challenged middle school students. She taught Arts Marketing for Columbia College, and has lectured on marketing and development in the arts at Columbia University, New York University and Adelphi University. In addition to the cultural arena, Cox's work in the not-for-profit sector extends to urban education, environmental concerns and poverty issues on a local and national level-including work with the Global Fund for Children and CARE's Women's Initiative.

"As an ebullient fan, a savvy proponent, a wise observer and a charming ambassador for theater in Chicago, they don't come any better than Patricia Cox," said Richard Christiansen, the Retired Chief Theater Critic and Senior Writer of the Chicago Tribune, who praised Cox's contributions to Chicago theater in his book A Theater of Our Own: A History and A Memoir of 1001 Nights in Chicago. "She is a marvel."

Named the country's Best Regional Theatre by Time magazine (2003), Goodman Theatre is a leader in the American theater, internationally recognized for its artists, productions and educational programs since its founding in 1925. Artistic Director Robert Falls and Executive Director Roche Schulfer's forward-thinking leadership has earned the Goodman unparalleled artistic distinction, garnered hundreds of awards-including the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre (1992) and Pulitzer Prizes for Ruined by Lynn Nottage and Glengarry GLen Ross by David Mamet-and moved dozens of plays from Chicago to stages in New York and abroad. Central to its commitment to the reinvestigation of classics and development of new plays and artists is the Goodman's Artistic Collective, including Brian Dennehy, Frank Galati, Henry Godinez, Chuck Smith, ReGina Taylor and Mary Zimmerman. The largest not-for-profit theater in Chicago, the Goodman moved in 2000 into a brand new state-of-the-art complex which houses two principal theaters: the 856-seat Albert Ivar Goodman Theatre and the 400-seat flexible Owen Bruner Goodman Theatre. Board Chairman is Shawn M. Donnelley and Karen Pigott is president of the Women's Board. American Airlines is the Exclusive Airline of Goodman Theatre.

Currently playing in Goodman Theatre's 2008/2009 season is The Crowd You're In With by Rebecca Gilman, directed by Wendy C. Goldberg (through June 21 in the Owen Theatre). The final play of the season is Boleros for the Disenchanted by José Rivera, directed by Henry Godinez (June 20 - July 26, 2009 in the Albert).

The upcoming 2009/2010 season includes Animal Crackers, book by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind, music and lyrics by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby, directed by Henry Wishcamper (September 18 - October 25); Brian Dennehy in the Broadway-bound double-bill of Hughie by Eugene O'Neill, directed by Robert Falls and Krapp's Last Tape by Samuel Beckett, directed by Jennifer Tarver (January 16 - February 21, 2010); the world premiere of A True History of the Johnstown Flood by Rebecca Gilman, directed by Robert Falls (March 13 - April 18, 2010); The Good Negro by Tracey Scott Wilson, directed by Chuck Smith (May 1 - June 6, 2010); The Sins of Sor Juana by Karen Zacarías, directed by Henry Godinez (June 19 - July 25, 2010) which launches the Goodman's 5th Latino Theater Festival (offerings TBA). World premiere offerings in the Owen Theatre include Joan D'Arc created by Tanya Palmer and Aida Karic, directed by Aida Karic, adapted from Friedrich Schiller's Die Jungfrau Von Orléans, a co-production with the Linz 2009 European Capital of Culture (September 11 - October 11); High Holidays by Alan Gross, directed by Steven Robman (October 31 - November 29); and The Long Red Road by Brett C. Leonard, directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman (February 13 - March 14, 2010).