Roberta Pareira Will Serve as the Library for the Performing Arts' New Executive Director

The New York Public Library has announced that Roberta Pereira, a highly respected theater and publishing professional with decades of experience opening up the arts to diverse audiences and professionals, will be the new Barbara G. and Lawrence A. Fleischman Executive Director of the Library for the Performing Arts.

Roberta’s impressive resume includes developing and producing plays, musicals, and event theater on Broadway, Off-Broadway, regionally, in the West End, and on tour. She produced the world premiere of The Wolves by Sarah DeLappe, the Tony-nominated play Mothers and Sons by Terrence McNally, and  the Olivier award-winning revival of Stephen Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along. She is currently the Executive Director of The Playwrights Realm, a launchpad for early-career writers. 

Roberta, who is originally from Brazil and has lived in New York City for 15 years, will be the first Latinx director of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. 

“I am honored and excited to be joining The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. I have spent my career working to make theater and the arts accessible to all, which is at the heart of the Library’s mission as a public institution. The breadth and volume of performing arts history that live within the walls of the Library for the Performing Arts is incredible—to know that all of this is available to anyone is inspiring. There’s nothing else like it, and I’m thrilled to be a part of the team that is dedicated to helping even more people access these world-class collections. I am excited to build upon this powerful legacy and continue serving the next generation of New Yorkers and creatives. I’m also an avid reader and a regular at the Library’s St. Agnes branch, so to say this is a dream job for me is an understatement,” said Roberta. 

Roberta also acts as a programming consultant for the Miranda Family Fellowship. Pulitzer Prize, Grammy, Emmy, Tony Award-winning composer, lyricist, and actor Lin-Manuel Miranda created the fund to support emerging artistic talent from underrepresented communities. Pereira has known playwright Miranda since they were students at Wesleyan University, where they were two of the only Latinx theater majors.

Along with fellow producer Brisa Trinchero, Roberta launched Dress Circle Publishing, the only book publishing company dedicated solely to Broadway. They have published fiction and nonfiction books, including the best-selling series, The Untold Stories of Broadway, by theater historian Jennifer Ashley Tepper, which tells the chronological history of Broadway theaters through personal stories and Tepper’s research. The series was partially researched at the Library for the Performing Arts.

Roberta has passionately worked to make the performing arts industry more diverse and welcoming to a range of communities. To that end—alongside Stephanie Ybarra, Jacob G. Padrón, and David Roberts—Roberta co-founded the Artists Anti-Racist Coalition, a grassroots group working to make the theater industry more diverse in every aspect, from actors to theater assistants. The Playwrights Realm offers a range of programming that serves as a launchpad for a wide variety of writers, including residencies, an incubator for Native American and Indigenous artists, and more.

“We are a public institution dedicated to sharing knowledge with all and to nurturing the next generation of scholars, artists, and performers. Roberta is a proven leader and visionary voice in the arts whose unique career aligns perfectly with our mission. We are thrilled to welcome her and excited to see what she will accomplish as the head of one of the greatest performing arts research libraries in the world,” said Brent Reidy, The New York Public Library’s Andrew W. Mellon Director for the Research Libraries.

Pereira takes over from Linda Murray, who has led the Library for the Performing Arts as interim director since May 2022, while maintaining her position as Anne H. Bass Curator, Jerome Robbins Dance Division and Associate Director for the Library for the Performing Arts’ collections and research services. The Library is profoundly grateful to Murray for her extraordinary leadership.

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