Berekely Rep Kicks Off Theatre Conference this Weekend

This weekend, professionals from across America convene in the Bay Area for a national conference that will engage and mobilize the emerging leaders of American theatre. The event - New Leaders for a New Century - has been convened by three nationally respected organizations: Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Theatre Bay Area, and Theatre Communications Group. Participants meet on Sunday, October 5 at Berkeley Rep's Roda Theatre and on Monday, October 6 at the War Memorial and Performing Arts Center in San Francisco.

"When we originally started planning this, we hoped to draw a crowd of 50 people," said Rachel Fink, associate general manager at Berkeley Rep and co-chair of the event. "With over 100 leaders from around the country now attending, we're even more certain that this is an issue people are burning to explore. We have worked diligently to put together a program that balances individual career reflection with collective dialogue. The two days should offer a compelling blend of information on personal career advancement, reflections on similar challenges faced by other fields, and the opportunity to participate in setting a national agenda for next steps. We hope that this weekend will be only the beginning of ongoing dialogue and new professional relationships."

New Leaders for a New Century is designed to address the needs of mid-career professionals who have decided to devote their lives to the arts (either administratively or artistically) and who have the drive and passion to become industry leaders, given the right opportunities. The conference has attracted a diverse cross-section of theatre professionals from freelance artists, directors, and producers to employees at prominent regional theatres who specialize in development, education, marketing, and production. In addition to local residents, participants come from Boston, Chicago, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, Portland, Washington, DC, and other cities nationwide. Observers will also attend from the Irvine Foundation, National Arts Strategies, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

On the first day of the conference, Daniel Alexander Jones will lead participants in a strategic planning process before community engagement consultant Ashley Boyd helps the group set a national agenda for changing the field. On Monday, the New Leaders participate in the annual TBA Conference where Executive Director Brad Erickson speaks about "Leading the New California." Then Lynne Lancaster, a generational expert from BridgeWorks, discusses "Navigating the Multigenerational Workplace" and arts researcher Alan Brown addresses "Making the Intangible Tangible: Measuring the Intrinsic Value of the Arts."

The event also includes two high-profile panels. Lancaster joins a group of experts to talk about "Drawing Back the Curtain: An Insiders' Look at the Executive Search Process" with Stephen Albert of Albert Hall Associates; Len Alexander of Management Consultants for the Arts; Teresa Eyring, executive director of TCG; David Goldsmith, board president of California Shakespeare Theater; and Bruce Thibodeau of the Arts Consulting Group. The other panel, which investigates the idea of "Looking Outside the Stage Door for Leadership Development," includes Emilya Cachapero of TCG, Linda Marks of the Center for WorkLife Law at UC Hastings College of Law, Marjorie Randolph of Walt Disney Studios, and Lee Stapleton of Sony Computer Entertainment.

"Much has been said recently about a pending ‘leadership crisis' in the nonprofit world, especially for theatre and the arts," remarks Rebecca Novick, TBA's development manager and co-chair of New Leaders for a New Century. "Organizations are facing the retirement of their Boomer founders and are looking around for successors. At the same time, many in the next generation are facing challenges advancing along traditional paths. They are wondering whether those paths will work for them as they seek meaningful opportunities, try to balance work and life, and seek a place where they can realize their aspirations. More and more members of this generation of artists and administrators are opting out of the theatre entirely, which does indeed represent a leadership crisis. We believe we need to change the conversation and engage this group of emerging leaders to develop new solutions and forge creative new paradigms for our field."

For these reasons, New Leaders for a New Century proudly welcomes representatives of the following respected organizations: Active Arts Theatre for Young Audiences, American Conservatory Theater, AMS Planning & Research, Atlantic Theater Company, Aurora Theatre Company, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, California Shakespeare Theater, Center Repertory Company, Center Theatre Group, Children's Musical Theater of San Jose, City Lights Theater Company of San Jose, Columbia University School of the Arts, CounterPULSE, Court Theatre, Crowded Fire Theatre Company, Curious Theatre Company, Dell'Arte International, Denver Center Theatre Company, Dramahaus, Endangered Species Project, FoolsFURY Theater Company, Golden Thread Productions, Huntington Theatre Company, Hypatia Theatre Company, The Inkwell, Just Theater, Killing My Lobster, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, LA Stage Alliance, LEVYdance, Lord Leebrick Theatre Company, Manhattan Theatre Club, Marin Theatre Company, New Conservatory Theatre Center, New York University, North Coast Repertory Theatre, Playwrights Foundation, Portland Center Stage, Rising Phoenix Repertory, Rough & Tumble, Sacramento Shakespeare Festival, San Francisco Opera, San Jose Repertory Theatre, Shakespeare's Associates, Shotgun Players, Stage Directions Magazine, Teatro Visión, TheatreFIRST, TheatreWorks, Ticketmaster, University of San Francisco, viBe Theater Experience, Virago Theatre Company, Virginia Stage Company, Woman's Will, World Arts West, and Writers' Theatre.

ABOUT BERKELEY REP
Born in a storefront on College Avenue, Berkeley Rep has moved to the forefront of American theatre - and is still telling unforgettable stories. Founded in 1968 by Michael Leibert, the Theatre quickly earned respect for presenting the finest plays with top-flight actors. In 1980, with the support of the local community, Berkeley Rep built the 400-seat Thrust Stage where its reputation steadily grew over the next two decades. It gained renown for an adventurous combination of work, presenting important new dramatic voices alongside refreshing adaptations of seldom-seen classics. In recognition of its place on the national stage, Berkeley Rep was honored with the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre in 1997. The company celebrated by unveiling a new 600-seat proscenium stage in 2001, the state-of-the-art Roda Theatre. It also opened the Berkeley Rep School of Theatre, a permanent home for its long tradition of outreach and education programs. The addition of these two buildings transformed a single stage into a vital and versatile performing arts complex, the linchpin of a bustling Downtown Arts District which has helped revitalize Berkeley. In four decades, four million people have enjoyed more than 300 shows at Berkeley Rep, including 50 world premieres. The Theatre now welcomes an annual audience of 180,000, serves 20,000 students, and hosts dozens of community groups, thanks to 1,000 volunteers and more than 400 artists, artisans, and administrators. In the last three years, Berkeley Rep has helped send five hit shows to New York: Bridge & Tunnel, Brundibar, Eurydice, Passing Strange, and Taking Over.

ABOUT THEATRE BAY AREA
Theatre Bay Area is the nation's largest regional performing arts service organization with some 370 theatre and dance company members and nearly 2,900 individual members in nine Bay Area counties. Founded by theatre workers in 1976, TBA is a nonprofit organization with a mission to unite, strengthen, and promote theatre in the Bay Area. TBA works on the conviction that the performing arts are an essential public good and critical to a healthy and truly democratic society. Theatre Bay Area's most prominent programs include TIX Bay Area (the half-price ticket booth on Union Square), Theatre Bay Area magazine (the central source for information on the Bay Area's theatre industry, reaching 10,000 readers), granting programs for emerging theatre companies and local theatre artists, and leadership in advocacy efforts for the theatre and dance communities on the local, state, and national levels. Theatre Bay Area also provides an array of resource guides for the theatre industry, professional development opportunities for theatre professionals, and a variety of services for both theatre artists and theatre companies. For more information, visit www.theatrebayarea.org.

ABOUT THEATRE COMMUNICATIONS GROUP
Theatre Communications Group's mission is to strengthen, nurture and promote the professional, not-for-profit American theatre. TCG initiatives include a variety of artistic, management, international, and advocacy programs. Its many publications offer a national resource for reference, opinion, and debate on theatre and the performing arts today. Over the last 45 years, TCG's constituency has grown from a tiny network of groundbreaking theatres to over 460 members across the country, as well as over 17,000 individuals nationwide. Today, its programs further its core values of fostering connection, embracing diversity, and supporting artistry in the American theatre. In all its endeavors, TCG seeks to increase the organizational efficiency of its member theatres, cultivate and celebrate the artistic talent and achievements of the field, and promote a larger public understanding of and appreciation for the theatre. In 2005, TCG received the Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre in recognition of our impact on the national field. TCG and our member theatres are major contributors to the American theatre sector, which employs more than 113,000 artists, administrators, and production staff, and produces over 172,000 performances each year, reaching 30 million people. The sector contributes over $1.6 billion annually to the U.S. economy.

 

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