FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Cindy Moran, Public Relations Director, 414-224-1761

June 10, 2009

Milwaukee Repertory Theater announces
Dawn J. Helsing
New Managing Director

(MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin) Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s Board of Trustees is pleased to announce the appointment of Dawn J. Helsing as its new Managing Director. Ms. Helsing was named Managing Director on June 8, 2009 and will begin work on August 15, 2009. She will also be attending Rep meetings and functions as needed prior to her start date.

“I am thrilled to have this opportunity to help lead Milwaukee Rep at such an exciting time, as we celebrate the extraordinary vision of Joe Hanreddy and prepare to welcome the theater’s next artistic leader. I have been an admirer of The Rep both institutionally and artistically for many years. It is an incredible honor to be a part of one of this country’s finest theater companies. My fiancé and I look forward to making Milwaukee our home in the coming weeks and to immersing ourselves in its vibrant cultural community.”

Ms. Helsing comes to Milwaukee Rep via Chicago, where she most recently served as Executive Director of Court Theatre. Chicago is known for its dynamic theatrical community. Milwaukee and The Rep are eager to have Dawn join the burgeoning arts and cultural scene in Milwaukee and share her expertise. At Court Theatre she helped achieve strategic plan goals for growth and stability working with the Artistic Director and Board of Trustees as well as helped build the theater’s profile, nurturing fruitful collaborative relationships locally and nationally.

Prior to that role, she served as Director of Development for Baltimore’s Center Stage. Other professional experience includes: Yale Repertory Theatre (Associate Managing Director); Ensemble Company for the Performing Arts (Managing Director); Center Stage (Telemarketing Manager and Marketing Associate) and Arena Stage (Communications and Special Events Associate). Dawn has a Bachelor of Arts – English from Grinnell College (Grinnell, IA) and a Master of Fine Arts – Theater Management from the Yale School of Drama. She also brings extensive past experience as a grant review panelist for the National Endowment of the Arts, as a member of the Executive Committee for the League of Resident Theaters (LORT), as a Board Member of the League of Chicago Theatres and as a participant and leader in a variety of other theater-related roles.

She will replace former Managing Director Timothy J. Shields, who left The Rep in December 2008 to become Managing Director for McCarter Theatre in January, 2009 and William P. Prenevost, who has been Interim Managing Director for The Rep since December of 2008.

As Board of Trustees President John Kordsmeier recently commented, “This is an important time of transition for The Rep, with the need to replace the previous Managing Director and to begin the process of hiring someone to succeed Joe Hanreddy as Artistic Director in mid-2010. Dawn’s talent and experience will be valuable in her role as Managing Director as we plan for the success of The Rep for many years to come. After months of a diligent national search process, led by Gregory Kandel with Management Consultants for the Arts, and The Rep’s Search Committee, chaired by Rob Manegold, The Rep’s Board is delighted to have Dawn join what we believe to be one of the “crown jewels” of regional theater.”

Rob Manegold, Milwaukee Repertory Theater Board of Trustees Past-President and head of the Managing Director Search Committee stated, “I have great enthusiasm for Dawn as The Rep’s new Managing Director. I also want to express my great appreciation to the entire Rep Company of Board of Trustees, staff and artists who approached the selection process in such a careful and thoughtful manner.”

Milwaukee Repertory Theater has a rich record of accomplishment – including consistently high artistic standards, outstanding management, effective public/private partnerships and creative solutions to problems – which has led it to be admired by its peers. It has also maintained a steadfast commitment to a resident company of actors performing across a broad range of work. Indeed that ongoing commitment is enshrined in its mission statement:

Milwaukee Repertory Theater plays a vital role in the cultural life of our region through: creating theatrical productions of the highest standard which explore and illuminate the human condition; providing an artistic home for a diverse company of theater professionals, including a resident acting company and providing a variety of educational programs for all ages.

In pursuit of this mission, The Rep has engaged throughout its 55-year history in international collaborations, commissioning of work and an active citizenship within its community. Milwaukee Rep is proud to be a cornerstone member of UPAF (United Performing Arts Fund). The Rep’s organizational success can be measured in many ways: It owns a building in which all of its shops, offices and three theaters are situated so that communication and a sense of shared effort are enhanced. It boasts one of the highest earned income ratios in the country. The Rep regularly achieves high subscription renewal rates, well above the national average; the 2008/09 number of subscribers was 19,200. A full-time permanent administrative team of 29 oversees up to as many as 170 personnel overall each season. The staff takes great pride in the art and accomplishments of The Rep, thereby generating a sense of collective ownership within the professional team. Its Board of Trustees of 38 community leaders is recognized nationally for their understanding of The Rep’s historical place in American theater, the trends of importance to the entire theater community and the very real local factors that impact The Rep specifically.

Milwaukee Repertory Theater will be celebrating its 56th season for the 2009/10 season. Subscriptions for The Rep’s Quadracci Powerhouse Theater, Stiemke Theater and Stackner Cabaret as well as Flex Passes and Build Your Own subscriptions are available for purchase at milwaukeerep.com or by calling The Rep’s Ticket Office at 414-224-9490. For more information about any of The Rep’s offerings for next season, please visit the website at milwaukeerep.com.

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Milwaukee Repertory Theater is a nationally recognized theater company that presents a critically-acclaimed selection of compelling dramas, powerful classics, award-winning contemporary works and lively Cabaret shows on three stages from September through May. The Rep also produces an annual production of A CHRISTMAS CAROL. The Rep's home, the Patty and Jay Baker Theater Complex, accommodates the Quadracci Powerhouse Theater, the Stiemke Theater and the Stackner Cabaret. The Rep is also home to a Resident Acting Company of 10 actors who perform with The Rep throughout the season.

The Rep is proud to be a member of the United Performing Arts Fund (UPAF), which provides major annual financial support. Through community support of the United Performing Arts Fund, UPAF Member and Affiliate Groups are able to provide education and outreach to over 400,000 children, provide over 2,000 live performances and reach over 1,000,000 people every year. When everyone supports the arts through UPAF, they help our local economy, improving education and strengthening outreach programs to the disabled and elderly – all while adding culture to their own life. Support of UPAF is critical to UPAF Member Groups’ ability to continue to offer exceptional live performances, award-winning education and outreach programming and substantial economic impact to our region. To learn more about UPAF or to donate, go to www.upaf.org.

The Rep is supported in part by a grant from the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the state of Wisconsin. The Rep is a member of the League of Resident Theatres (LORT), a management association of some of the nation's largest non-profit professional theaters that collectively bargains with the unions that represent the actors, directors and designers that work at The Rep; a constituent of Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for the nonprofit professional theater; and a member of Theatre Wisconsin, the statewide association of non-profit professional theaters. This theater operates under an agreement between the League of Resident Theatres and Actors' Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States. The set, costume and lighting designers are members of United Scenic Artists, a national labor union. This theater is an equal opportunity employer. Except in plays where race itself is an issue, casting is decided based on ability, not race.

Milwaukee Repertory Theater
Patty & Jay Baker Theatre Complex
108 E Wells St Milwaukee, WI 53202
Ticket Office: 414-224-9490 Ticket Office Fax: 225-5490
Administrative: 414-224-1761 Fax: 414-224-9097

milwaukeerep.com