BALTIMORE: Everyman Theatre’s founding artistic director, Vincent M. Lancisi, has announced plans to retire in June 2026 at the end of the 2025-26 season, which will be the theatre’s 35th anniversary year.
“Everyman Theatre has grown from a vision and a dream in my head to a major regional theatre with a highly respected resident company of artists,” Lancisi said in a statement. “I am confident I can step down and retire with great pride at what we’ve achieved and excitement for Everyman’s promising future.”
Lancisi and current producing director Kyle Prue have been involved since Everyman’s first production of The Runner Stumbles in winter 1990. Lancisi was responsible for finding Everyman’s first dedicated space on 1727 North Charles Street in 1994. Throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, subscription numbers grew through productions, including Amadeus, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Lion in Winter, The Glass Menagerie, The Crucible, and Proof. In January 2013, Everyman expanded with a move to its current downtown home on 315 West Fayette Street. The first production in the new space was the Pulitzer-winning drama August: Osage County, directed by Lancisi.
In addition to helming the artistic team for more than three decades, Lancisi has been involved in the hiring of many current senior leaders, including managing director Marissa LaRose, who has co-led the organization with him since 2020. LaRose, along with a senior leadership team, will remain at Everyman following Lancisi’s departure to ensure consistent operations as the national search for a new artistic director begins later this year. Management Consultants for the Arts (MCA) will lead the search.
“Vinny’s commitment to artistic excellence of the highest quality through creating an artistic home for our resident company is both rare and admirable,” LaRose said in a statement. “He has built a thriving organization grounded in authenticity and meaningful connection. I am exceedingly proud to have partnered with his visionary leadership for the past five years and am confident we are poised for a bright future thanks to the foundation he has built.”
A champion of the notion that theatre must be affordable and accessible for everyone, Lancisi worked to ensure—through allocation of donations, grants, sponsorships, scholarships to every onsite education program, and discount pricing—that Everyman could keep its performances and education programs accessible. Additionally, he has been a strong advocate for the Pay-What-You-Choose program, which allocates over 4,500 seats each year and some to every performance. Lancisi was also instrumental in launching Everyman Education, a division that provides programming designed to nurture artists of all ages through art onstage, in the classroom, and in community-based learning opportunities. These education programs, including a high school matinee program now in its 28th year, serve more than 3,000 students annually in the Baltimore area and continue to expand.
“Vinny and his team have not only built a world-class theatre in one of the most vibrant arts cities in the nation but have done so with an unrelenting commitment to creating meaningful connections with the community,” Everyman board president Bryan Rakes said in a statement. “Thanks to Vinny, Everyman has made an indelible impact on the lives of so many Baltimoreans.”
In addition to his work at Everyman, Lancisi is recognized as a community leader and advocate for the arts in Baltimore. He has taught acting and directing at Towson University, the University of Maryland, Catholic University, and Howard Community College. He is a member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers and has served many years on the boards for the Bromo Tower Arts and Entertainment District in Baltimore and the Market Center Merchants Association.
Everyman Theatre is a professional Equity and LORT theatre celebrating the actor, with a resident company of artists from the Baltimore/DC area. Founded in 1990 by Vincent M. Lancisi, the theatre strives to engage, inspire, and transform artists, audiences, and communities through theatre of the highest artistic standards and is committed to embodying the promise of its name. As of 2023, its budget was around $4.9 million.
