POSITION PROFILE – ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Goodspeed Musicals East Haddam, CT

The Search

Goodspeed Musicals, one of the nation’s most iconic musical theatre companies, is searching for its next executive leadership team. Michael Gennaro has announced his intention to retire and Goodspeed’s board intends to name his successors, an Artistic and Managing Director partnership, by late summer of this year with full-time employment to commence at a mutually agreeable date as soon as is practicable thereafter.

Background

William Goodspeed built the Goodspeed Opera House in 1876 for his shipping and banking business and to provide a venue for his love of theatre. The opera house opened on October 24, 1877 and, after Mr. Goodspeed’s death, the building went from serving as a militia base during World War I to a general store to a storage depot for the State of Highway Department. In 1959, Goodspeed Musicals restored the building, and the Goodspeed Opera House was rededicated on June 18, 1963, with the opening of the musical Oh, Lady! Lady! Since then, Goodspeed has produced over 280 musicals, exported 21 productions to Broadway – most famously , , and – and produced over 85 world premieres.

At first Goodspeed’s commitment was to discover rarely produced musicals from the repertoire, reworking them and bringing them to life. It was also intent on adding to the repertoire by discovering and nurturing promising new musicals presented at its Norma Terris Theatre in neighboring Chester. While these commitments remain in place today, Goodspeed’s main stage productions are more often contemporary works created during the lifetime of its audience.

Goodspeed Musicals stands as the first regional theatre in America to earn two special , one in 1980 for outstanding contributions to the American musical and a second in 1995 for distinguished achievement for a regional theatre.

Goodspeed mounts six new and newly revived musicals each year on its main stage at the Opera House and on The Norma Terris Theatre in Chester – for a total of more than 400 performances during the April to December season attracting 130,000 patrons to the Valley. It stands at the forefront of producing and preserving the American musical, simultaneously reinventing the classics and inventing new ones, attracting well-known icons of the theatre world and fostering emerging talent among composers, lyricists, and librettists. Each year, thousands of actors, directors, choreographers, and technicians aspire to come to Goodspeed to practice their

craft. Among millions who know and love this art form – and those who appreciate its history and enduring appeal – Goodspeed is widely recognized as “The Home of the American Musical.”

Throughout the year, and intensively during the winter months, Goodspeed addresses issues unique to the field by offering innovative and highly sought-after programs through its Max Showalter Center for Education in Musical Theatre, including the celebrated Musical Theatre Institute providing programs for aspiring musical theatre professionals. The Arts Education Collaboration provides programs for underserved Connecticut youth. The Festival of New Musicals features students from the Hartt School and the Boston Conservatory performing staged readings of three brand new musicals, industry-related seminars, a symposium and cabaret performances. Each winter, Goodspeed also hosts the Johnny Mercer Foundation Writers Colony that invites musical theatre writing teams to retreat from daily life for a four-week residency and concentrate solely on writing new musicals. In addition, Goodspeed serves as a resource for the preservation of the art form through its Scherer Library of Musical Theatre, the second most extensive musical theatre research library in the .

In addition to its two theatres, Goodspeed has developed a campus of facilities in East Haddam and Chester that serve to enable it to develop and produce musicals of the highest standards while housing artists in the comfort of the recently developed Artists’ Village located just blocks from the Opera House. Additional Goodspeed facilities include state-of-the-art production facilities, rehearsal studios, and a musical library, all located in close proximity to one another.

With an annual operating budget of over $12M and a full-time staff numbering over 65, Goodspeed Musicals is one of the largest employers in the region and the mainstay of East Haddam’s economy.

Mission

The mission of Goodspeed Musicals is to be the leader in preserving and producing musical theatre of the highest quality by: • Rethinking, restoring and producing works that are valued and significant in the history of musical theatre; • Developing new musical theatre works; • Nurturing the talents of new composers, lyricists and librettists; • Encouraging and developing the talents of artists, technicians, and administrators; • Inspiring future audiences through education programs and outreach efforts; • Preserving and expanding the archival collections of its Scherer Library of Musical Theatre and making them available for professional use; • Maintaining the Goodspeed Opera House, a national historic landmark.

The Opportunity

Goodspeed Musicals will offer an exceptional artistic leader the opportunity to form a dynamic partnership with Goodspeed’s Managing Director, the board and staff to lead the organization into the future by both building upon its legacy as a pre-eminent creator and producer of classic and new American musicals and helping create a programmatic and business model that will ensure Goodspeed’s artistic and financial health well into the future.

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Goodspeed is seeking an experienced artistic leader from the national and/or international theatrical community who has a passion for and experience in the American musical form, and who is excited at the prospect of helping to shape Goodspeed’s future and to realize its potential to define new models of production, education and outreach that place musical theater at the center of a community’s artistic, social, and civic interaction.

The successful candidate will encounter an engaged Board of Directors and dedicated staff committed to Goodspeed’s artistic and organizational success. S/he will have the opportunity to make a substantive contribution to the company by working to further develop an artistic approach to the near and long-term vision that addresses the challenges and leverages the opportunities of a dynamic and ever-changing external environment and audience.

S/he will also play a key role in building upon Goodspeed’s artistic legacy by developing strategies to advance the art form and enhance Goodspeed’s stature as a center for the development and performance of musical theatre, the training of the next generation of musical theatre artists and consistently deeper engagement of the communities and stakeholders that Goodspeed serves.

Goodspeed’s long record of consistent and sustained accomplishment is impressive and, in many respects, singular among its peer institutions. While its past accomplishments are remarkable, ample opportunities remain for the new Artistic Director to help shape the next era of artistic achievement and growth.

Goodspeed’s incoming Artistic and Managing Directors will be prepared to embrace the classical underpinnings that have been the cornerstone of Goodspeed’s musical offerings, while continuing to build upon its long history of developing and producing new works within a financially sustainable business model. The successful Artistic Director candidate will recognize the opportunity to expand Goodspeed’s artistry by ensuring that it remains in the vanguard of those companies and producers exploring the ever-changing nature of the way in which musical theatre is created, produced and presented to audiences of all ages and backgrounds. S/he will also value the importance of enhancing the sense of community that exists throughout the organization, including stakeholder relationships with artists, artisans and technicians, staff, board members, volunteers, the audience and members of the general public.

The successful candidate will be an individual who is looking forward to becoming a full-time resident and an active participant in the Middlesex County and Connecticut communities. S/he will find East Haddam to be a charming community nestled on the east bank of the Connecticut River in Middlesex County - a unique setting that combines physical beauty and cultural amenities with small town warmth and charm. The town recognizes the enormous positive impact both culturally and economically that Goodspeed Musicals has on the life of the region, and the incoming Artistic Director will find enormous support for the work of the company and encouragement to become an active participant in community life, both local and statewide.

Qualifications and Qualities

The Search Committee is focused on identifying an accomplished musical theatre artist and/or producer whose talents and accomplishments have been in evidence and nationally or internationally recognized over a significant period of time. Goodspeed’s Artistic Director will report directly to the Board of Trustees and will be jointly responsible, with the Managing Director, for

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developing and implementing strategies that ensure the theater achieves its artistic and financial goals within an operating plan and budget formally approved by the Board.

The successful candidate will have demonstrated skills and professional experience in directing and/or producing musical theater and in the artistic leadership of similar organization(s) focused upon the advancement of the American musical form.

S/he will have principal responsibility for articulating artistic priorities, ensuring strong hiring and retention practices, aligning the theater’s artistic programming and core values with its business practices and empowering its key stakeholders to contribute to the success of its essential efforts. S/he will also have a demonstrable history of success working within the national musical theatre community.

The search committee and Board of Trustees will view most favorably candidates who are committed to continuing Goodspeed’s efforts to expand its diversity initiatives at every level and who have demonstrated success in leading and/or managing the successful long-term artistic, educational and community engagement initiatives of organization(s) of similar scope and capacity.

Responsibilities

The Artistic Director will be responsible for defining and supervising Goodspeed’s artistic direction, helping to define and execute its strategic organizational goals, supervising its day-to-day artistic initiatives and overseeing the theater’s key artistic output through her/his direct reports. S/he will have exceptional artistic acumen, significant experience in the development and performance of musical theater offerings and a collaborative, transparent leadership orientation.

Specific responsibilities will include, among others: • Actively supporting Goodspeed’s artistic mission through onstage programming, developmental initiatives and community engagement efforts; • Setting and supervising Goodspeed’s artistic direction and overall aesthetic, actively advancing Goodspeed’s artistic mission while working with the Managing Director and others to effectively manage organizational risk; • Working effectively with the Managing Director and board in strategically guiding the theater to the realization its fullest artistic potential; • Developing, nurturing and refining a long-term artistic vision that energizes staff, board, artists and the community as a whole; • Defining annual season planning assumptions and leading the planning process in a manner that will contribute to both Goodspeed’s artistic and financial success; • Selecting and supervising artistic personnel, both staff and visiting artists; • Developing and producing work appropriate to Goodspeed’s core mission; • Developing and maintaining artistic and educational programs designed to increase audience growth, diversity and engagement; • Partnering successfully with the Managing Director to provide unified executive leadership; • In conjunction with the Managing Director, developing and assuming direct responsibility for determining annual artistic and programmatic functional expenses and controlling those expenditures through her/his direct reports to ensure pre-approved fiscal outcomes; • Actively engaging in ongoing long-range planning processes;

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• Identifying and assessing all substantive internal and external issues that affect the theater’s artistic performance and, in conjunction with the Managing Director, keeping the Board of Trustees continuously informed as to their ongoing and potential impacts; • Promoting quality assurance and accountability at all organizational levels; • In conjunction with the Managing Director and board, lead strategic efforts to further develop the resources necessary to ensure programmatic success and ongoing financial sustainability; • Participating in fundraising activities as appropriate, including the cultivation and stewardship of major donors; • Collaborating/assisting in developing marketing strategies as they relate to artistic content and execution of artistic programming; • Inspiring broad community support for the mission; • Participating in board development and recruitment activities as appropriate; • Contributing to a work environment that attracts, develops and retains skilled, committed people; • Establishing and maintaining positive professional relationships with peers from other theaters and with representatives of the various agencies and professional associations with whom Goodspeed regularly interacts; • Acting as a principal spokesperson and representative to Goodspeed’s constituents.

Experience and Skills

Goodspeed is seeking an Artistic Director who is: • A skilled musical theater director and/or producer with the demonstrated ability to guide the larger artistic activity throughout Goodspeed’s performance venues, its campus and the broader community; • Known for a significant body of work and success in the creation of musical theatre; • A collaborative artist and leader with a desire to successfully partner with Goodspeed’s board, staff and key stakeholders to plan and secure the company’s long-term artistic and financial health; • Experienced in working with distinguished and emerging artists who are skilled in musical theater development and production; • Skilled in programming work that attracts and inspires a growing contemporary audience; • Committed to the highest levels of artistic excellence; • Active in the field and has an existing network of distinguished artists and collaborators; • Able to consistently analyze the theatre’s artistic status in order to develop artistic strategies in support of continuous organizational success and sustainability; • Dedicated to advancing diversity throughout the organization and to alleviating barriers for those who might not otherwise be able to regularly access theatre; • A dynamic public presence that will enable her/him to function as a compelling public spokesperson who inspires growing support of Goodspeed’s mission and goals; • Committed to establishing a collaborative partnership with the Managing Director, board and staff in order to provide Goodspeed with unified leadership, oversight and direction; • Known for her/his ability to motivate artists and staff and form an effective team that is committed to a collaborative approach to both artistic and organizational initiatives; • Capable and committed to taking a leadership role in long-term strategic planning, major donor cultivation and solicitation and ongoing board development;

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• Interested in developing a clear understanding of Goodspeed’s relationship to its audience and community and has a passion to continuously strengthen those relationship over time; • Skilled as a community and artistic leader with the demonstrated ability to create a “sense of community” within and outside the organization; • Open to participating in all aspects of institutional advancement; • Committed to balancing artistic initiatives and risks with responsible fiscal management while maintaining the centrality of Goodspeed’s mission, vision and core values.

Goodspeed’s Artistic Director will be an energetic, collaborative leader who is passionate about strengthening musical theater as a unique American art form. S/he will be a recognized leader in the musical theatre field with established working relationships among a broad and diverse network of established and emerging artists. S/he will embrace the opportunity to share her/his artistic vision for Goodspeed’s future and serve as an effective representative for the importance of the art of musical theatre and most particularly, the art of Goodspeed Musicals.

The successful candidate will exhibit personal maturity and an eagerness to act as a leader in the local and national theater community and specifically the musical theater community. S/he will be passionate about an organizational culture of inclusion and will successfully collaborate with both internal and external stakeholders in representing Goodspeed as a state and national arts leader.

Compensation

Compensation will be commensurate with the leadership role that this position represents for Goodspeed Musicals and within the national theatre community. Goodspeed offers a comprehensive range of benefits including medical and dental insurance, paid vacation and sick leave, and a retirement plan.

Goodspeed Musicals is committed to diversity in all areas of its work, and encourages women and persons of color to apply. Learn more about Goodspeed Musical’s programs and activities at www.goodspeed.org.

To Apply

The consulting firm retained to assist in the search welcomes qualified applications. Send letters of interest, resumes and references to:

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

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