McCarter Theatre Names Paula Abreu New Director Of Special Programming

McCarter Theatre will welcome Paula Abreu as the new Director of Special Programming. She will begin to work with the theater's Artistic team this summer, joining the company full-time in September 2022. Abreu will replace the beloved, Bill Lockwood, who previously announced his decision to step down from the role earlier this year.

As a key member of the Artistic staff, Abreu will oversee the lineup of Presented works annually, as well as strengthen connections across departments and relationships with Princeton University, neighboring academic and arts institutions, and regional communities.McCarter's ability to attract leading artists from the classical world to the avant-garde has been made possible through the cultivation of meaningful, lasting relationships and a keen eye for talent by William W. Lockwood, who led a tenure of nearly 60 years at the helm of the organization's presented work. Lockwood will serve as a consultant through June 2023.

Abreu assumes her new role in the Fall of 2022, ahead of the recently announced 2022-23 season featuring a robust lineup of theater, music, dance, comedy, spoken word, and family programming - and a special Toni Morrison project in partnership with Princeton University.

The season will kick off with The Wolves, a fierce and funny play by Sarah DeLappe, directed by McCarter's Artistic Director, Sarah Rasmussen about a young women's competitive high school soccer team. The pack of adolescent warriors pushes and trains for their games while navigating a complicated world. More theater includes Between Two Knees, a wicked comedy and first play by The 1491s, best known for the hit FX's series Reservation Dogs; and the return of McCarter's holiday tradition A Christmas Carol.

Headliners and highlights of the Presented Series are Rhiannon Giddens, Indigenous Enterprise, David Sedaris, Davóne Tines, National Geographic Live, The Moth, and more. The season will also feature a Toni Morrison Commission Project, in partnership with Princeton University, celebrating the 30th anniversary of Morrison's Nobel Prize for Literature.