SAN FRANCISCO: Elizabeth Williamson, currently the artistic director of Geva Theatre in Rochester, New York, has been named the new artistic director of American Conservatory Theater (ACT) in San Francisco. Williamson will remain at Geva through the end of December and begin her tenure at ACT on Jan. 4, 2027.
Williamson’s background includes work on Broadway, London’s West End, Off-Broadway, and regional theatres, serving as a dramaturg for Broadway’s The Inheritance, Some Like It Hot, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, and Anastasia. She’s led Geva since 2022, previously serving as associate artistic director and director of new-play development at Hartford Stage.
Williamson succeeds Pam MacKinnon, who served as ACT’s artistic director for eight years. Since MacKinnon stepped down in June, Andy Chan Donald has served as acting artistic director alongside interim executive director David Schmitz.
CHICAGO: Lookingglass Theatre Company has appointed David Catlin and Ericka Ratcliff as two new co-artistic directors, succeeding Kasey Foster upon the completion of his three-year term. Philip R. Smith, longtime Lookingglass ensemble member, has been appointed as the company’s executive director. Actor David Schwimmer has been named producing director, a role that involves fundraising, marketing, and board development, in attempts to find new partners interested in co-productions with Lookingglass.
Previously, in addition to his tenure as an ensemble member of the company, Catlin has worked as a faculty member at Northwestern University where he serves as an associate professor and head of the university’s acting program. His acting and directing credits include Lookingglass’ productions of Frankenstein, Lookingglass Alice, and Moby Dick. Ratcliff is a storyteller and arts advocate who served as the literary manager of the Chicago Shakespeare Theater and the artistic director at Congo Square Theatre. Schwimmer, most famously known for his work on the TV show Friends, is a co-founder of Lookingglass.
LOS ANGELES: David E. Shane has been appointed as the first executive director of Theatre Commons LA (TCLA), a community-run nonprofit created in the support of the Los Angeles theatre ecosystem. In this role, Shane will be in charge of creating services and programs for L.A.’s nonprofit theatre community, as well as diversifying the organization’s fundraising strategy, building up the core infrastructure of the organization, and implementing new kinds of programming. Previously, Shane served as the director of program services at the Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York, where he was in charge of the strategy, vision, and goals for more than 450 nonprofit theatres in New York.
TCLA was founded in August 2021 by 12 L.A. theatres interested in creating, negotiating, and establishing the objectives for a citywide theatre service organization.
CINCINNATI, OHIO: The Educational Theatre Association (EdTA) has announced Jay Gerlach as its new executive director. Gerlach, who has served as interim executive director since March, will be the eighth executive director in the association’s history. Gerlach comes to the role through experience as a theatre educator, school administrator, and national association leader, at an organization he first joined as a student Thespian at age 14. Gerlach will also serve as president of the Educational Theatre Foundation (ETF), connecting EdTA’s work supporting theatre educators and students with philanthropic efforts to expand access to theatre education.
During his interim tenure from April to June, Gerlach held more than 40 listening sessions with chapter directors, staff, members, board representatives, and other stakeholders. He also established a student-led committee of International Thespian Society members that reports directly to the executive director, to help inform organizational decisions. Gerlach’s priorities include relevant classroom resources, meaningful professional learning, strong advocacy, and initiatives that directly reach teachers and students, including a new printed edition of Dramatics magazine.
Gerlach studied theatre education at Illinois State University before beginning his career as a theatre teacher in New York City public schools. He later served as a drama teacher and chair of the drama and dance department at Rye Country Day School. At Norwalk Public Schools, his work expanded into school leadership and district administration, with roles in the visual and performing arts, grants, and strategic initiatives.
