Aurora Theatre Hires New Director of Education

Aurora Theatre is delighted to announce the newest member of its full-time staff. Larry Ruth has been hired as Aurora Theatre's Director of Education, having succeeded Susan Reid who established the department three years ago.

Larry Ruth brings extensive theatrical, academic, and corporate experience to Aurora Theatre. Mr. Ruth received his Master of Fine Arts degree in theatre directing at the University of Minnesota in 1988 and has directed theatrical productions across the nation. In addition to teaching, acting and directing at the university level, Mr. Ruth has also taught classes for middle school and high school students, and has coached many professional actors. As an educator, he has developed acting and directing curricula, started a radio theatre company, and created college orientation plays based on current student issues. At Aurora Theatre, he will hit the ground running, directing Aurora's upcoming educational production of Gary Grinkle's Battles with Wrinkles and Other Troubles in Mudgeville. This production is geared for elementary school students and is a part of Aurora Theatre's acclaimed Learning Library Series. Gary Grinkle's will be seen by 5,000-10,000 local school children beginning in January of 2011.

In the corporate arena, Mr. Ruth used his theatrical background for success in the position of Director of Creative Services for M2Creative, a multi-million dollar events management firm located in nearby Duluth, GA. While there, he conceived, wrote and directed corporate theatrical events and created dynamic sales presentations for high profile clients.

On what the community can expect from him in his new position, Larry said, "I'm excited to draw upon my unique mix of experience to provide dynamic and enriching educational events to Aurora's students and to create vibrant and fascinating children's theatre that makes a real impact on its audiences."

Aurora Theatre Producing Artistic Director Anthony Rodriguez on Larry Ruth: "I am thrilled to have Larry Ruth on board. What Larry brings to the table is the ability to make every show we produce a learning experience. With the success of the GGC Lab Series, we need to expand our education outreach, in order to have the same critical impact on our community's elementary and middle school students that we are having on our university level students. One of our chief goals is to strengthen the relationships with our education partners. Gwinnett County Public Schools, Georgia Gwinnett College and AIU are creating our leaders of tomorrow and Larry will help guide us into the future."

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