POSITION PROFILE – EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR the Eugene O'neill Theater Center Waterford, Connecticut the Search the Two-Time Tony

POSITION PROFILE – EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center Waterford, Connecticut

The Search

The two-time Tony Award winning Eugene O’Neill Theater Center has initiated a search for its next Executive Director. The O’Neill’s Board of Trustees intends to name the successful candidate by this spring with full-time employment to commence at the earliest practicable date thereafter.

Background

The Launchpad of American Theater, the O’Neill is the country’s preeminent organization dedicated to the development of new works and new voices for the stage.

Founded in 1964 by George C. White and named in honor of Eugene O’Neill, four-time Pulitzer Prize-winner and America’s only playwright to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, the O'Neill has launched some of the most important voices and works in American theater and has revolutionized the way new work is developed O’Neill programs include the National Playwrights Conference, National Music Theater Conference, National Critics Institute, National Puppetry Conference, Cabaret & Performance Conference, National Theater Institute – which offers six credit- earning undergraduate training programs – and more.

The O’Neill’s Connecticut 11-acre campus includes a collection of renovated 19th-century mansions, farmhouses and barns overlooking the Long Island Sound. The historic grounds include four performance venues, two libraries, administrative offices and residences for staff, faculty and artists. A recent multimillion dollar expansion created new dormitory cottages, laundry facilities, dance studios, rehearsal rooms and a state-of-the-art composition classroom for the National Theater Institute.

From its campus in Waterford, Connecticut, the O’Neill has been home to more than 1,000 new works for the stage and thousands more emerging artists. Writers, directors, puppeteers, performers, students, and audiences alike take their first steps in exploring, revising, and understanding their work and the potential of the theater they help create. All focus remains on the writer and script: Performers work with simply rendered sets and costumes, script-in-hand, revealing for the first time the magic of a new play or musical, puppetry piece, or cabaret act.

Scores of projects developed at the O’Neill have gone on to full production at theaters around the world. Works first performed at the O'Neill regularly play Broadway, regional theaters, film, and television, while students and professionals who have honed their skills at the O'Neill can be seen in these venues every day across the nation and world. Others work as playwrights, directors, stage management, administration, and hundreds of other roles that the public never sees but are nonetheless essential to every production.

Staff and alumni from the O'Neill have won every major award in theater arts. The O'Neill itself is the recipient of two Tony Awards, in 2010 for Regional Theater, and in 1979 for Theatrical Excellence. Additionally, the O’Neill has received the National Opera Award, the Jujamcyn Award of Theater Excellence, and the Arts and Business Council Encore Award. In September 2016, the O'Neill was awarded the National Medal of Arts from President Obama in a White House ceremony celebrating the O'Neill's contribution to American culture.

Among the hundreds of plays and musicals developed and premiered at the O'Neill are such notable works as In the Heights by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Quiara Alegría Hudes; August Wilson's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Fences, and The Piano Lesson; Avenue Q by Robert Lopez, Jeff Marx, and Jeff Whitty; Jeremy O. Harris’ Slave Play; John Guare's The House Of Blue Leaves; Brian Crawley and Jeanine Tesori's Violet; Wendy Wasserstein's Uncommon Women and Others; Lee Blessing's A Walk In The Woods; Nine by Arthur Kopit, Mario Fratti, and Maury Yeston; [title of show] by Jeff Bowen and Hunter Bell; and Jennifer Haley's The Nether.

The O'Neill also owns and operates the Monte Cristo Cottage, O'Neill's childhood home, and the setting of his Long Day’s Journey Into Night located in neighboring New London.

The Community

Waterford consists of 33 square miles surrounded by water on three sides. The shoreline town offers a variety of attractions including beautiful parks, theaters and great travel options. There are plenty of beaches within Waterford and nearby that offer a variety of recreational opportunities during the summer and fall with the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center attracting theater lovers from all over the world. The O’Neill itself is within a 90-acre town park with a beach, and next door is a major state park, Harkness, with stunning water views.

Similarly, the adjacent city of New London – home of the O’Neill’s Monte Cristo Cottage - sits along the Long Island Sound. The city seat of New London County, the city has a rich history as a trade center and commercial port for the whaling and sealing industry in the 19th century. Today it is home to Ocean Beach, Connecticut College, Fort Trumbull, the Coast Guard Academy and Main Street, the latter part of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s “Main Street” program. Additionally, Electric Boat nearby is in a major hiring phase, and new apartments and amenities are being added to accommodate the over 10,000 new positions.

Although Waterford is a classic New England town, it offers convenient access to world-class urban centers from its location two hours from New York City to the south and Boston to the north, along with easy commutes to Hartford and New Haven, among other cities. Waterford has developed over the years from a rural farming community in the 1700’s to a thriving suburban community with approximately 20,000 residents. In addition to being an active member of a vibrant cultural community of theaters, museums, music organizations and educational institutions in the region, the O’Neill benefits from Waterford’s location in a wonderful place to raise a young family that is home to both active professionals and retirees.

2 The Opportunity

The O’Neill operates with a singular leadership model, and offers an exceptional creative administrator and organizational leader the opportunity to work in concert with a talented team of artistic directors and a committed board and staff in leading the O’Neill through its next era of accomplishment. With the O’Neill’s long history of success as the country’s leader in developing new work and new writers for the stage, ample opportunities exist for its next Executive Director to help shape the O’Neill’s growth and achievements well into the future.

The O’Neill’s Executive Director will work with the board and senior staff to guide the larger vision for its overall direction and to advance a dynamic, supportive environment for artists, students and audiences alike. The O’Neil’s next Executive Director will have a passion for the O’Neill’s long- standing mission to serve as the preeminent leader in the development and support for students, playwrights, musical theater creators and more recently, those developing work for film and television.

They will also take a lead in ongoing efforts to ensure the O’Neill’s financial stability and sustained growth by broadening and deepening the company’s contributed income base by engaging as an active leader for the development department and Board in all fundraising efforts.

In conjunction with each program’s Artistic Director, the Executive Director will oversee the development and implementation of the O’Neill’s various artistic, training and educational offerings to ensure continued excellence and financial sustainability. They will also look to lead staff in continuous efforts to achieve “best practices” in all areas of organizational management while building expanding financial support for the O’Neill by establishing and maintaining relationships throughout the theater profession and the community, with major individual and institutional donors who have an interest in supporting the O’Neill’s ongoing work.

Qualities and Qualifications

The Board of Trustees is focused on identifying an accomplished executive leader whose experience and organizational leadership skills have been in evidence over a significant period of time. The Executive Director will report to the Board of Trustees, principally through its Chair and Executive Committee, and will play a central role in planning and overseeing implementation of the O’Neill’s vision for the future, while supervising the company’s near and long-term operational and programmatic initiatives.

The O’Neill is seeking an Executive Director who has: • Demonstrated leadership skills and the ability to guide the larger vision of activity on the Waterford campus and broader community; • The collaborative skills and desire to successfully partner with the O’Neill’s Artistic Directors, board, staff and key stakeholders to plan and secure the O’Neill’s long-term administrative, programmatic and financial health; • Extensive experience working with a broad range of theater production and specifically developing new work and writers in a manner that attracts and inspires a growing contemporary audience and expanding donor support;

3 • A history of success in strategic fundraising and personally cultivating and securing major individual and institutional contributions in support of the O’Neill’s programmatic, educational and capital initiatives; • A passion for advancing diversity throughout the organization and for alleviating barriers for those who might not otherwise be able to regularly work in or access theater; • A dynamic public presence that will enable them to function as a compelling public spokesperson who inspires growing support for the O’Neill’s mission and goals; • The ability and commitment to establish a collaborative partnership with the O’Neill’s Board and team of Artistic Directors in order to provide unified leadership, oversight and direction for the company; • A commitment to the highest levels of organizational excellence; • A commitment to supporting innovative artistic and educational initiatives; • Demonstrated success in leading and managing a performing arts organization of similar scope and budgetary scale; • A passion for finding mission driven revenue opportunities • The ability to consistently analyze the O’Neill’s operational status in order to develop strategies in support of continuous organizational success and sustainability; • An understanding for the need for transparency and timely reporting in working with the Board of Trustees; • The desire and ability to motivate staff and form an effective team that is committed to a collaborative approach to programmatic, operational and community engagement initiatives; • The capability and commitment to take a leadership role in long-term strategic planning, board development and major donor cultivation and solicitation; • The interest to develop a clear understanding of the O’Neill’s relationship to the stakeholders it serves and a passion to continuously strengthen those relationships over time; • A desire to participate in all aspects of institutional advancement; • A commitment to balance artistic initiatives and risks with responsible fiscal management while maintaining the centrality of the O’Neill’s mission and core values.

Core Responsibilities – Among other responsibilities that may be assigned by the board as appropriate, the successful candidate will: • Set and supervise the O’Neill’s overall administrative, creative, financial and operational direction; • Support the Artistic Directors and staff in defining annual season planning assumptions and lead the planning process in a manner that will contribute to both the O’Neill’s continued artistic and financial success; • Work with and supervise the Development Department and Board in all fundraising efforts and the preparation of periodic reports on such efforts; • Expand and deepen scholarship opportunities for the O’Neill’s core educational offering, the National Theater Institute, • In conjunction with senior staff, develop annual budgets, assume direct responsibility for determining realistic income and expense assumptions and controlling those revenue and expenditures to ensure pre-approved fiscal outcomes;

4 • Actively engage in ongoing long-range planning processes; • Participate in fundraising activities, including the cultivation and stewardship of major donors; • Select and supervise administrative, artistic, financial and operational personnel; • Partner successfully with the Artistic Directors to provide unified artistic and executive leadership and ensure complimentary operations among the various artistic and educational programs; • Serve as a principal spokesperson throughout the profession and the community at large; • Collaborate/assist in developing annual financial, fundraising and marketing strategies to ensure long-term financial success and sustainability; • Attract/inspire financial and community support for the O’Neill’s mission; • In conjunction with the Artistic Directors, work to develop and maintain programs to increase audience growth, diversity and engagement; • Participate in board development and recruitment activities as appropriate; • Develop, nurture and refine a long-term organizational vision that energizes staff, board, artists and the community in pursuit of the O’Neill’s near and long-term strategic goals.

The Board is seeking candidates with vision, passion and commitment. The committee will look for evidence of deep professional experience and success, and the ability to attract and retain talented artists, staff and volunteers to serve the O’Neill’s ongoing programmatic goals and long-term financial success.

The successful candidate will embrace the opportunity to implement the O’Neill’s vision for the future and be an effective representative of the O’Neill locally, nationally and internationally.

Learn more about the O’Neill’s programs and activities at www.theoneill.org.

Compensation

Compensation and benefits will be commensurate with the leadership role that this position represents for the O’Neill and within the national theater community.

To Apply

The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center is committed to diversifying the future of the American theater through the stories we tell, the artists telling those stories, the staff supporting our work, and the audiences in our theaters The O’Neill encourages applicants from populations underrepresented in the theater field to apply.

The consulting firm retained to assist in the search welcomes qualified applications. To obtain further information or apply, send letters of interest, resumes, and references electronically to:

Thomas Hall, Managing Partner Christine O’Connor, Principal AlbertHall&Associates, LLC Email submissions to: [email protected]