Matthew J. Pugliese Named New Managing Director of Connecticut Repertory Theatre

Connecticut Repertory Theatre (CRT) Artistic Director Vincent Cardinal announced that Matthew J. Pugliese is the theater's new Interim Managing Director. Pugliese is stepping in to fill the role recently vacated by Frank Mack, who served for 10 years as the Managing Director of Connecticut Repertory Theatre. Mack will stay with CRT as Management Associate, and join the Department of Dramatic Arts faculty as Associate Professor of Arts Administration, as he pilots the schools' graduate online certificate in Arts Administration and the new Master of Fine Arts in Arts Administration program.

Pugliese is an alumnus of UConn, having earned his BA in Theater Studies and his Graduate Certificate in Non-Profit Management from the university. As Interim Managing Director, Pugliese will oversee the management functions of Connecticut Repertory Theatre, the professional arm of the Department of Dramatic Arts, for the remainder of the 2013/2014 Subscription Series and the 2014 Nutmeg Summer Series. For the last five years, he served as the Executive Director of Oddfellows Playhouse Youth Theater in Middletown, CT named in 2013 by Connecticut Magazine as "Best Children's Theater". Prior to that time he served several seasons as the Production Manager at the Ivoryton Playhouse. During his time with Ivoryton the theater won two Connecticut Critics Circle Awards and was nominated for six more. In 2012 Pugliese was selected by the Hartford Business Journal as one of its "40 under 40 Young Business Leaders". He has worked professionally as an actor, director, playwright and teacher.

Mr. Mack said, "We are excited to have Matt Pugliese here as Interim Managing Director. Having an alumnus at CRT in this position is a great advertisement for Arts Administration training at UConn. Matt brings not only his education from UConn but nearly 10 years of leadership experience in the profession."

Mr. Cardinal said, "Frank Mack has done a wonderful job during his tenure as Managing Director at Connecticut Repertory Theatre, working with me to bring back the Nutmeg Summer Series, increasing the subscriber audience and patron support of CRT. We're excited that Frank will be lending his expertise to our new MFA program."

School of Fine Arts Dean Brid Grant says, "We are very happy that Frank has taken this opportunity to join the UConn Dramatic Arts faculty full-time. His service to CRT has been invaluable and we wish him well as he pilots our new Arts Administration program. Matt has a big role to fill as Interim Managing Director, but we are confident that he is the right person for the job."

An online graduate certificate in Arts Administration is set to launch in the fall of 2014 with courses in non-profit arts governance and leadership, financial management, fund raising and marketing. There will be a national search for a permanent Managing Director for Connecticut Repertory Theatre in the winter.

Mr. Mack will be joined on the arts administration faculty by Dale Edwards, who most recently worked as Associate Director of Marketing for the Metropolitan Opera in New York City and previously worked with SpotCo and Disney Theatricals on numerous Broadway and Off-Broadway productions. Mr. Edwards will also serve as Marketing Director for the School of Fine Arts.

Currently on stage at CRT is The Three Musketeers Adapted by Linda Alper, Douglas Langworthy and Penny Metropulos from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, with shows from December 4 through December 8 in the Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre, Storrs. For tickets and information, call 860-486-2113 and visit www.crt.uconn.edu.

Alexandre Dumas' classic novel gets an adventurous staging as this tale of adventure and romance follows young d'Artagnan upon his arrival in Paris in search of fame, fortune, and a place among the King's Musketeers. Befriended by the three legendary swordsmen: Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, he is immediately put to the test. His acts of bravery catch the eye of the French King Louis XIII, but ensnare d'Artagnan in the deadly schemes of Cardinal Richelieu and the villainous Milady Clarik. The young d'Artagnan must weigh his loyalties and question the meaning of honor in a gilded age of moral ambiguity. Loaded with dazzling swordplay, intrigue and swash-buckling comedy, this adaptation of Dumas' brilliant novel is directed by Shakespeare & Company Artistic Director Tony Simotes and features Obie-Award winning actor Rocco Sisto.

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