new york city centera nonprofit known for its star-like short-lived musical revivals and contemporary dance programs, has named a New Jersey arts administrator as its new leader.
The City Center Board of Directors has elected Michael S. Rosenberg, currently managing director of the McCarter Theater Center in Princeton, New Jersey, as its next president and chief executive officer. Rosenberg will take office on November 1st, replacing Arlene Shuler after 19 years.
“The City Center is the only performing arts center not only in New York City, but in the United States, that combines dance and musical theater,” Rosenberg said in an interview. “
Rosenberg said he had seen multiple programs at the City Center over the years, and the 1988 show he saw there, Bill Irwin’s Largely New York, had a major influence on his thinking about theater. I thought I gave
Founded in 1943 by Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, Municipal The neo-Moorish theater in Midtown is a fairly large institution. It currently has an annual budget of $29 million and employs 157 people, some part-time.
CityCenter board chair Richard E. Witten said the organization was in good financial shape and had multiple applicants to choose Shuler’s successor. “I met a lot of people along the way, but many times Michael stood out,” Witten said.
Rosenberg, 54, has been with the McCarter Theater since 2018. He previously served as Managing Director of his Playhouse, a theater in San Diego, La Jolla, where he was for nearly a decade.
City Center is best known for its two annual programs. Encore! is a series of concert-style productions with minimal renditions of old Broadway musicals. An unrevivable, Fall for Dance, and affordable festival of international dance companies.
Encore! is in the early stages of its own transition — Lear deBessonet took over the program during the pandemic, and the first season of in-person programming has been bumpy: the first of his two shows, “The Tap Dance Kid” and “The Life.” was not particularly well received, but encore! But then Debessonne directed a revival of ‘Into the Woods’ which was enthusiastically received and soon moved to Broadway where it became popular and successful. The program also has a new musical director, Mary Mitchell Campbell, and a producing and creative director, Clint Ramos, who is working with deBessonet.
Both Rosenberg and Witten have said they fully support the encore. program. “Not all the shows were critical hits, but it was a successful year in terms of what was planned and what Leah wanted to do, and it was a huge success,” Witten said. I am very excited for.”
Before the pandemic, City Center also hosted an encore! That program has yet to return, and Rosenberg said its future has not been decided, but “this is another interesting way to open up the canon and allow more projects to choose from.”
City Center has already outlined plans for the 2022-23 season, which has been slimmer than usual due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The Fall for Dance Festival includes a wide range of dance acts including Twyla Tharp, Alvin Ailey, Canadian National Ballet, Harlem Dance Theater and Ballet Hispanico. much more.
The theater’s programming includes a fundraiser for the musical “Parade,” starring Ben Platt and Michaela Diamond. And next spring, encore! “Light in the Piazza” “Dear World” “Oliver!