Arena Stage Names Judy Leventhal As Chief Financial Officer

Arena Stage has appointed Judy Leventhal as Chief Financial Officer, effective August 12, 2024. Leventhal is an arts administrator and financial strategist who has dedicated her career to supporting and achieving the financial goals of multiple non-profit arts and cultural organizations, including Symphony Space, McCarter Theatre Center, and Big Apple Circus. 

“Judy's experience and temperament make her ideally suited to hit the ground running,” said Arena Stage Executive Producer Edgar Dobie. “She joins us at a time of change and rebuilding not only at Arena, but across our field. We are confident that she is poised to play a significant role leading the financial operations of our enterprise.”

As Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of the Corporation, Leventhal will have direct reporting responsibilities to Dobie. With the successful retirement of all outstanding building debt this past June, she will focus on new and innovative ways to further secure the organization's financial capacity and resilience well into the future.

“It's a pivotal time for Arena—not just artistically, but financially—so I am eager to join this trailblazing organization as it begins its 74th season,” said Leventhal. “I have been impressed with the theater's focus on the future, specifically about securing its financial backbone and ensuring the longevity of its reserves, so it can continue its role as an industry leader for the next 75 years and beyond.”

Leventhal succeeds Joe Berardelli, who recently retired after 23 years of service to Arena Stage. The theater is indebted to Berardelli for his skillful and passionate financial management over the past two decades.

About:

Judy Leventhal has a proven success record as an arts administrator and financial manager for achieving cost savings for multi-million-dollar organizations and developing and implementing efficient processes. She has worked with large and small organizations for over a decade, offering expert strategic planning, budgeting, compliance, and grant writing. Throughout her career, Leventhal has led teams and worked with the Board of Trustees' Finance, Audit, and Investment Committees. She has served as Director of Finance at both Symphony Space (New York, NY) and McCarter Theatre Center (Princeton, NJ), as well as Vice President and CFO at Big Apple Circus (New York, NY). Leventhal has also worked with The New 42nd Street/The New Victory Theater, Brooklyn Children's Museum, ArtConnection, USC Radio, WNYC Communications Group, New York City Department of General Services, and Arthur Andersen & Company. She holds an MPA from Columbia University and a BA from the University of Pennsylvania.

The first racially integrated theater in our nation's capital and a pioneer of the regional theater movement, Arena Stage was founded on August 16, 1950, in Washington, D.C., by Zelda Fichandler, Tom Fichandler, and Edward Mangum. Today—nearly 75 years later—Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater is a national center dedicated to American voices and artists. We produce plays of all that is passionate, profound, deep, and dangerous in the American spirit, and present diverse and ground-breaking work from some of the best artists around the country. Consistently contributing to the American theatrical lexicon by commissioning and developing new plays, Arena Stage impacts the lives of over 10,000 students annually through its work in community engagement and serves a diverse annual audience of more than 300,000. arenastage.org

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