Williamstown Theatre Festival's Michael Sag Joins WP Theater as Managing Director

WP Theater (formerly Women's Project Theater), under the direction of Producing Artistic Director Lisa McNulty, has announced that Michael Sag has joined the company as Managing Director.

Michael comes to WP Theater with a wealth of experience, most recently serving as the General Manager for Williamstown Theatre Festival's 62nd season. Sag will head up fundraising and general management duties and will work alongside McNulty to ensure the fiscal success and bright future of WP Theater.

"I have known Michael for almost ten years, as both a colleague and friend, and am so excited to welcome him to WP," says McNulty. "His deep love of theater and artists, his warmth and integrity, and true devotion to our company's mission, make him the perfect addition to our team. He is a brilliant manager and leader, and I can't think of a better partner to take WP into the future, and we look forward to breaking new ground for female-identified voices onstage together."

"I am thrilled and honored to join Lisa and the incredibly dedicated Board and staff of WP Theater, on the cusp of their 40th Anniversary," says Sag. "I am passionate about the company's mission to develop, produce and promote the work of female-identified theater artists who are tremendously under-represented and under-served in the American theatre. At this time, and in this political climate, this institution and its directives have never been more relevant nor more necessary and I am grateful to Lisa and the Board for trusting me to help guide the organization during this historic period."

In addition to his work with Williamstown Theater Festival, he has over 15 years of working in commercial theatre on and off Broadway, including for It's Only A Play; Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella (Broadway/Tour), The Visit; Blithe Spirit (Broadway/ Tour), You Can't Take It With You, All The Way, Mothers and Sons, Bullets Over Broadway and more and also running a representative office in Shanghai, China as the Senior Manager for Broadway Asia Entertainment. He takes over the role of Managing Director from Maureen Moynihan, who worked at WP for over two years and is moving upstate.

The 2016-17 WP Theater season kicked off in the fall with first time playwright Lisa Lampanelli's hit play, Stuffed, which extended its run at the McGinn/Cazale Theater. This spring, WP Theater joins forces with the acclaimed and adventurous theater company Ars Nova to present the world premiere of award-winning playwright Rachel Bonds' latest offering, SUNDOWN, YELLOW MOON, featuring music and lyrics from Brooklyn indie-rock duo The Bengsons (Hundred Days) and additional lyrics by Rachel Bonds, and directed by Drama Desk Award, Lortel Award and two-time OBIE Award winner Anne Kauffman (The Nether). Previews will begin on February 28, 2017 at the McGinn/Cazale Theatre, casting and additional creative team soon to be announced. This season WP is also working with contemporary dance/theater company Monica Bill Barnes & Company (Happy Hour) and site-specific, immersive theater company PopUp Theatrics (Broken City Trilogy) as part of their newly launched Domestic Partner Program, which focuses on supporting fellow organizations developing work by female artists.

For more about WP Theater, follow them on Twitter @wptheater or visit them online at www.wptheater.org.

Michael Sag was most recently the General Manager for Williamstown Theatre Festival's 62nd season which included four world premieres, one American premiere and two revivals. Prior to that, Michael worked in commercial general management on and off Broadway since 2001 including: It's Only A Play; Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella (Broadway/Tour), The Visit; Blithe Spirit (Broadway/Tour), You Can't Take It With You, All The Way, Mothers and Sons, Bullets Over Broadway, Under My Skin; The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess (Broadway/Tour), Bronx Bombers, The Glass Menagerie; Becoming Dr. Ruth; Anything Goes (Tour), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Glengarry Glen Ross, The Anarchist, A Life in the Theatre, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, Enron, Born Yesterday, La Bete, The Mountaintop, The Pee-Wee Herman Show, The Scottsboro Boys, Relatively Speaking, Chinglish, Driving Miss Daisy, Gore Vidal's The Best Man, Race, Superior Donuts, August: Osage County (Broadway/Tour), The Producers, Hairspray, Little Shop of Horrors, Sweeney Todd, Company and Stomp. In addition, from 2006 to 2009, Michael headed a representative office in Shanghai out of which several Asian touring projects were launched including I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change, Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, The King and I, The Sound of Music, SpongeBob Square Pants Live! and a project with Universal Studios Los Angeles titled Creature From The Black Lagoon.

WP Theater (Formerly known as Women's Project Theater) is the nation's oldest and largest theater company dedicated to developing, producing and promoting the work of female-identified theater artists at every stage in their careers. For nearly four decades we have served as leaders at the forefront of a global movement towards gender parity, and the example we set and the artists we have fostered have grown into to a robust and thriving community of female writers and directors in theater and beyond.

WP empowers female-identified artists to reach their full potential and, in doing so, challenges preconceptions about the kinds of plays women write and the stories they tell. As the premiere launching pad for some of the most influential female theater artists today, our work has had a significant impact on the field at large. Nearly every prolific female theater artist has been through our doors, including Eve Ensler, María Irene Fornés, Katori Hall, Pam Mackinnon, Lynn Nottage, Leigh Silverman, and Anna Deveare Smith. These powerful female artists found an early artistic home at WP, and are a testament to our role as a driving cultural force.

WP was founded in 1978 by visionary producer, Julia Miles, to address the significant under-representation of women in theater. Today, WP accomplishes its mission through several fundamental programs, including: the WP Lab, a two-year mentorship and new play development program for women playwrights, directors, and producers; the Playwright In Residence commissioning program; the Developmental series; and the Main Stage series, which features a full season of Off-Broadway productions written and directed by extraordinary theater artists.