TheatreWorks Announces New Director of Advancement

TheatreWorks, the nationally acclaimed theatre of Silicon Valley, announces Jodye Friedman's appointment as TheatreWorks' new Director of Advancement. Having previously served as Director of Advancement for Brandeis Hillel Day School in San Francisco, Ms. Friedman has over 20 years of development and strategic fundraising experience, with positions in the arts and culture communities at One World Theatre in Austin, Texas and the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra.

As the first Development Director for One World Theatre, a performing arts venue featuring a broad range of music performances and a cooperative educational program, Ms. Friedman developed community outreach projects to expand the reach of both One World Theatre and One World KidsReach programs. During her three-year tenure as Regional Development Director for the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra, she helped increase fundraising revenue by 330 percent, and established long-lasting relationships between the orchestra members, Board of Directors, and members of the South Florida community. Ms. Friedman is a graduate of St. Thomas University and Nova University.

Said TheatreWorks Managing Director Phil Santora, "After an extensive national search, we are thrilled to welcome Jodye to the TheatreWorks team. She brings a wealth of experience, a strong vision, and a passion for the performing arts and TheatreWorks that is inspiring."

TheatreWorks is an Equity/LORT theatre, producing eight shows annually with a $8 million budget, employing 36 staff, 27-member board, 300+ volunteers, and 200+ professional actors, directors, and designers each season, playing to more than 100,000 patrons. TheatreWorks has captured a national reputation for artistic innovation and integrity, often presenting Bay Area theatre-goers with their first look at acclaimed musicals, comedies, and dramas, directed by award-winning local and guest directors, and performed by professional actors cast locally and from across the country. Community and educational outreach programs include TheatreWorks for Schools (reaching 24,000 youngsters annually with in-class workshops and underwritten matinees), the lauded Young Playwrights Initiative (forging artistic links within the community), the TELL Project (Theatre for English Language Learners) and Oskar Project, an award-winning trilogy of in-school plays that deal with issues confronting today's youth including bullying and stress.

Since its founding in 1970, under the continuing artistic direction of founder Robert Kelley, the company has become one of the nation's leaders in cultivating and producing new musicals, particularly through its New Works Initiative and Writers' Retreat, two funded programs which attract composers and lyricists of national stature (Joe DiPietro, Marsha Norman, Henry Krieger, Stephen Schwartz, Bob Weir, Taj Mahal, and many others.). The company has presented 63 world premieres, and more than 120 regional premieres, and developed scores of other works which have gone on to productions both Off-Broadway and regionally. It was at TheatreWorks that Memphis, the 2010 Tony Award-winning musical that played on Broadway for three years before embarking on its current national tour, was first workshopped and received its World Premiere.

TheatreWorks continues its 43rd season with its current World Premiere of the musical Being Earnest, by Paul Gordon and Jay Gruska. The season closes with the West Coast Premiere of Colman Domingo's raucous comedy Wild with Happy June 5-30, 2013. The 2013 - 2014 season launches in July with the World Premiere of sizzling romantic comedy The Loudest Man on Earth, also developed at TheatreWorks, starring Deaf actor Adrian Blue, followed by the Regional Premiere of gripping Pulitzer Prize finalist Other Desert Cities by acclaimed playwright Jon Robin Baitz, then the California Premiere of Kenneth Lin's searing political drama Warrior Class. For the holidays, the company presents the exuberant Broadway musical adaptation of Little Women, based on the beloved novel by Louisa May Alcott. The season continues in 2014 with the January Regional Premiere of Silent Sky from local playwright Lauren Gunderson, and the heartwarming award-winning musical Once on this Island in March. Rounding out the season is the Regional Premiere of raucous physical comedy Hound of the Baskervilles, an adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's celebrated mystery featuring three actors in over 20 roles, followed by Stephen Sondheim's intimate musical Marry Me a Little, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, conceived and developed by Craig Lucas and Norman Rene.

For information visit www.TheatreWorks.org.

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