American Conservatory Theater Names New Associate Artistic Director

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) Artistic Director Carey Perloff is thrilled to announce the appointment of Andy Donald as the company's new Associate Artistic Director. Andy will take on producing and presenting duties within the artistic department, as well as taking the lead in the commissioning and development of new work. Andy will begin his role as Associate Artistic Director on July 5, 2016.

"We had an overwhelming number of remarkable candidates apply from all over the country for this position, but Andy quickly rose to the top," says Perloff. "With the advent of our new Strand Theater, A.C.T. has many exciting new producing, presenting, and curating opportunities, all of which Andy is uniquely poised to engage with. He has been both an artistic director (at Naked Angels) and a creative producer (at New Jersey Performing Arts Center), he is an experienced teacher, and has incredible knowledge of the field. His deep connection to artists of many disciplines and his appetite to work on multiple stages as well as to teach and engage with our Conservatory made him a natural fit for A.C.T. In addition, Andy has a passion for community engagement and has done remarkable work in the city of Newark with diverse populations. We can't wait to welcome him to A.C.T."

"As a California native, it's been a dream of mine to head back to the west coast and return to my roots," says Donald. "A.C.T. was a major influence in my life growing up in the arts, so it feels almost surreal to finally land here and collaborate with some of the world's finest artists under Carey Perloff's inspired leadership. With the recent opening of the Strand Theater, A.C.T. is in position to have an even greater impact on both the San Francisco community and the American theater, which makes it a most exciting time to join Carey and the team in continuing to shape this premier artistic home."

From teacher and producer to director and company manager, Andy brings an impressive range of experiences to A.C.T. Prior to A.C.T., Andy was the Producer of Artistic Development and Community Programming at New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark, New Jersey, where he oversaw long-range creative projects, new musical series, the commissioning of works, television broadcasts, co-presentations, free community programming and more. Some of his highlights at NJPAC include: The Hip Hop Nutcracker (commission, international tour); Carefree: Dancin' with Fred & Ginger (commission with RKO Stage, national tour); annual evenings with Stephen Colbert and special guests Jimmy Fallon, Steve Carell, and J. J. Abrams; John Leguizamo's Ghetto Klown (filmed for HBO); American Songbook (with Ted Chapin, filmed for PBS); Amiri Baraka's Blues People at 50; Meredith Willson's The Music Man (with Two River Theater, directed by Robert O'Hara).

Previously, he served as Artistic Director of Naked Angels in New York City for four seasons, where his producing credits included Next Fall (Broadway, Tony Award nomination), This Wide Night (with Edie Falco and Alison Pill, five Lucille Lortel Award nominations), Outside People (Vineyard Theatre), Naked Radio (weekly podcast), Oh the Horror!, and Armed and Naked in America. He also started the "3-Step Formula," a bi-coastal new play development series in Los Angeles and New York, and spearheaded the merger of Naked Angels with the New School for Drama, establishing the company as the resident professional theater inside the university's graduate program. Andy has also served as producing associate at NYSF/Public Theater and Second Stage Theatre, and as Co-Founder/Artistic Director of the Charlie B. Theater Company for four seasons (Los Angeles).

Andy is originally from Santa Monica, California. Both his parents grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. He holds a bachelor's degree in fine arts from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts (Directing) and a Master of Fine Arts (Theatre Management/Producing) from Columbia University.

Photo by Ben Arons

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