Fuse Theatre Ensemble Names Ruby Welch Assistant Artistic Director

Fuse Theatre Ensemble announced the appointment of Ruby Welch as Assistant Artistic Director. Welch will work alongside Artistic Director Rusty Tennant to help guide the company's artistic vision, oversee press and social media communications, and support Fuse's continued growth as a home for queer and trans-led work.

The position was created to support Tennant in the day-to-day work of running the company, and to provide Fuse with a clear path for future leadership. The appointment builds on Fuse's founding mission to center the people its stories are about, extending a track record that includes 20 original works developed in-house and the company's annual OUTwright Theatre Festival, the country's longest-running festival dedicated entirely to LGBTQIA+ theatre.

'Over the years, Ruby has proven herself to our company and our audiences as an extremely talented, multi-hyphenate artist who can act, sing, produce and direct, but what I have witnessed offstage is that Ruby is also a natural leader of people,' said Tennant. 'When we were working on Freud on Cocaine together, the cast adopted a phrase: WWRD (What Would Ruby Do?) because, frankly, it is usually the best way forward. Beyond that, Ruby has become someone I trust implicitly, both personally and artistically. She continues to approach her art with an authenticity that deserves a platform, and Fuse is happy to provide it.'

Welch is an actor and director working in the Portland theatre community since 2012 and has worked with Fuse across a range of productions, including Freud on Cocaine (Anna Freud), Assassins (Emma Goldman) and Blonde on a Bum Trip (Candy Darling), as well as Ernie Lijoi's The Pursuit of Happiness. She directed Magnetic Electric, a new musical by Mikki Gillette, developed with composer Ash based on a concept created with Katherine Goforth, and works with the Portland chapter of Trans Voices Cabaret, co-directing its annual show in 2024. Welch also co-hosts Your Favorite Musical is Problematic, a late-night sing-along series with pianist Matt Katz.

'When I transitioned, I didn't know if there was a place for me in theater. Then I found Fuse,' said Welch. 'I'm proud to build on Fuse's years of ground-breaking work, creating opportunities and telling new stories in innovative ways. Trans actors and theater-makers deserve to see accurate depictions of themselves onstage, and we should be a beacon for how it's done.'