Update from the interim Artistic Director
by Jennifer Avery on 7/29/2010 03:44:00 PM 

Dear Next Theatre supporters,

What a month we've had! Since my appointment as Interim Artistic Director on June 30th, I've received a tremendous outpouring of support, warm wishes and great ideas from all of our communities: artists, audience, and donors have all input valuable information that is shaping Next Theatre's future.

I am putting together three wonderful productions, deserving of a place in our 30th Anniversary Season. With so many variables in season planning, each offering an exciting opportunity for Next , these first few weeks have been like putting together a puzzle with all white pieces! It has been overwhelming at times, yet I feel a great responsibility to the audience and to the theater to produce the most exciting work available to us. So I've stayed open to every possibility.

This week, some important pieces have found their place. We are extremely fortunate to bring on board three of Chicago's most exciting female directors, all of whom have an important history with Next. Joanie Schultz returns to Next having joined us as the Associate Director on The American Dream Songbook. Lisa Portes (Artistic Associate) has helmed some of Next's most adventurous work including Suzan Lori Parks' Chicago debut, In The Blood, as well as Caryl Churchill's Far Away. Kimberly Senior (Artistic Associate) is the director behind The Busy World is Hushed and our most successful production in recent history, The Overwhelming. Her collaborative method and incredible energy are sure to thrill us once again.

I have been reading two to three plays a day and attempting to find the best stories possible for Next and for these talented directors. I am looking for plays that are smart, engaging and provocative - the kind of plays that the Next is known for and the kind of plays our audience dives into wholeheartedly. We've narrowed it down to some of the best new scripts around; we will be announcing the season very soon. I can't wait to share the line-up of mainstage offerings as well as a slew of alternative programming that will be offered this year.

As always, my door is open. Please share your thoughts, concerns, ideas and dreams about Next. Stop by our office in the Noyes Cultural Arts Center, email me at jenny@nexttheatre.org or call me at 847-475-1875 x14.

All the best,

Jenny

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