Arizona Theatre Company Appoints Mark Cole as New Managing Director

Arizona Theatre Company announced today that the Board of Trustees has appointed Mark Cole as the new Managing Director. Cole was formerly the General Manager of Miami City Ballet which performs in four cities in South Florida. A veteran of both the theatre and ballet world, he will begin full time duties on August 15, 2011. He succeeds Interim Managing Director Jessica L. Andrews, who has been filling the position since former Managing Director Kevin Moore left in October 2010 after 10 years with ATC.

"The Board of Trustees is excited to announce that, after a national search, Mark Cole has agreed to become the Managing Director of Arizona Theatre Company," said ATC Board Chair Michael Seiden. "Mark has had a distinguished career as General Manager of Miami City Ballet, which has just completed a month of performances in Europe. We are delighted that he is coming back to his roots in the theatre. We are firmly convinced that Mark has the knowledge, experience and motivation to take our already outstanding company to even higher levels of accomplishment."

Mark Cole holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Theatre from Auburn University and a Master of Fine Arts Degree in Acting from the University of Minnesota. After two years of performing in Manhattan, Cole began his corporate career in New York working at E.F. Hutton as a Manager of Word Processing, Barclays Bank as Manager of Special Projects implementing Barclay's first electronic mail network, and Wang Laboratories as a Marketing Manager selling Wang integrated imaging systems. Cole then returned to the theatre working as a Stage Manager on the Broadway production of Cats, the National Tour of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, the Off-Broadway productions of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare: Abridged, Picasso at The Lapin Agile, New York Rock and many others. He joined Miami City Ballet in 1998 as Production Director and assumed the role of General Manager in 2006. Miami City Ballet is a $15M company of 50 dancers and 55 staff which performs four programs and The Nutcracker in four South Florida Counties, as well as touring nationally and internationally. Founding Artistic Director Edward Villella is considered the finest ballet dancer ever produced in America, and George Balanchine created several roles for him in major masterworks performed around the world today. Under Edward Villella's artistic direction Miami City Ballet has become known as the preeminent interpreter of the Balanchine Repertoire. As Edward Villella's business partner Cole has been responsible for leading the day-to-day operations of Miami City Ballet, has served as the face of the ballet in four South Florida counties, stewarding a multi-county board of trustees, and has led successful annual fundraising campaigns of $5.5 - $6.7M. He currently sits on the City of Miami Beach's Collins Park Cultural Oversight Committee and is a board member of the Collins Park Neighborhood Association.

"Arizona Theatre Company's national reputation for creating and producing Broadway-quality work makes ATC the gold standard for professional theatre in the state of Arizona," said Mark Cole. "I'm looking forward to partnering with Artistic Director David Ira Goldstein, whose work I admire very much; the deeply committed Board of Trustees; and the talented ATC staff."

"This is a wonderful moment for ATC," commented Artistic Director David Ira Goldstein. "Mark Cole is one of America's top managers in the ballet world, and he is eager to return to his roots in the theatre. His deep experience onstage, backstage and in management will help ATC take our mission of creating great theatre to new artistic heights, new audiences and new community partnerships. With his experience managing a major multi-city company, he brings a set of talents to ATC's Tucson/Phoenix operation that makes him uniquely qualified. I look forward eagerly to beginning our partnership."

"We are honored to have a figure of Mark Cole's expertise join ATC," said Board President Rob Glaser. "ATC deserves a wonderful Managing Director, and Mr. Cole's extraordinary skills precede his national reputation in the performing arts community.

The process for recruiting the new Managing Director began when the Board of Directors formed a search committee to conduct a nationwide search that contracted the services of BHK Arts Consultants, Inc., an executive search firm specializing in the arts, led by Benita Hofstetter Koman.

"I'm delighted with the selection by Arizona Theatre Company," said Benita Hofstetter Koman. "Mark Cole has shown keen insight into fundraising and financials and promises to be a strong organizational leader. I hope this begins a wonderful new chapter for Mark, David Ira, Arizona Theatre Company and the entire Tucson and Phoenix communities."

Cole will work in close collaboration with ATC Artistic Director David Ira Goldstein. The Managing Director is responsible for strategic planning, financial management, external affairs in both marketing and development, and human resources.

Arizona Theatre Company is Arizona's leading professional not-for-profit theatre company engaging over 130,000 audience members each season. Producing shows in the Temple of Music and Art in Tucson and the Herberger Theater Center in Phoenix, ATC has been at the forefront of a thriving community of professional regional theatres outside the confines of Broadway, and the only regional theatre in the country to operate full seasons in two cities.

For more information about Arizona Theatre Company please visit www.arizonatheatre.org.

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