New Team Announced at The Ivoryton Playhouse

With its continued commitment to excellence, the Ivoryton Playhouse, named "Best on the Shoreline" in 2022, welcomes husband and wife Ben Hope and Katie Barton to the Playhouse staff. Hope will serve as Executive Producer alongside Executive Artistic Director Jacqueline Hubbard and Managing Director Krista May, and will be a prominent figure at the Playhouse as the company continues to grow and build towards the future. Barton has been brought on as the Director of Special Projects.

Many Ivoryton regulars will remember Hope playing George Jones, opposite Barton as Tammy Wynette, in the Playhouse's 2015 production of Stand By Your Man. Both have returned to the Playhouse stage on several occasions since then, with Hope most recently seen in last season's new musical Star of Freedom. As Executive Producer, Hope, who holds a degree in theatre administration, will collaborate as a member of the Playhouse's producing staff; Barton will oversee, among other things, the Ivoryton Women's Playwright Festival.

Hope and Barton have traveled the world for the past two decades performing - sometimes together, sometimes apart. But upon welcoming their first daughter last year, and looking forward to the birth of their son in the coming months, the couple has set aside their excursions for the time being and relocated to the Connecticut shoreline to raise their family.

"When we met in 2005," Ben and Katie say, "we discovered a shared desire to one day be a part of an arts organization that would cherish the creative work and treat each person involved as family. We're happy to say that we have realized that dream together here at Ivoryton Playhouse."

The Playhouse could not be more thrilled to have Hope and Barton contributing to Ivoryton's future.