Goodspeed Musicals' New Leaders on Their Positions and Looking Ahead For the Company's Future

Goodspeed Musicals' newly appointed leaders, Donna Lynn Hilton and David B. Byrd, are looking forward to the future, and remaining optimistic amidst the pandemic, CT Post reports.

"I think that's been really striking for me that this is the right time to be here," Byrd said. "Friends and colleagues in the field said, 'Oh! Getting a job during a pandemic! That's ... kind of ... remarkable!'"

Hilton and Byrd are the first co-leaders for the Tony Award-winning regional theater. They will share fundraising responsibilities, and Hilton leads the theater's creative aspects and he focuses on administrative and financial matters.

In a rare case, Hilton is an artistic director who is not a stage director. She is also the first woman in the position.

"I've said in other interviews that Goodspeed may have always been led by men, but it has always been powered by women," she said. "I feel that I'm representing a lot of women who came before me. ... I feel I represent the voice that they didn't always have."

The pair have a large task at hand, but are focused on getting to know each other, and the rest of the staff, while also planning for the future.

"Not to be a Debbie Downer, but there are 175-plus artists who have not been able to collaborate with us in the same way as before," said Byrd. "How can we come back safely in a way that is smart and sustainable? We don't have those answers right now. Living with that ambiguity is tough but necessary."

Read more on CT Post.