Sag Harbor, NY - August 13th, 2013 - Bay Street Theatre is pleased to announce that Scott Schwartz, a leading voice of the next generation of American theater, has joined Bay Street as its new Artistic Director. His tenure at Bay Street will inaugurate a new vision for the theater beginning with the 2014 season, to ensure an exciting and sustainable future for our cultural community. Schwartz is an internationally acclaimed artist whose work has been seen on and off Broadway, across the United States, in Great Britain, and Asia. Over the past twenty years, he has built a reputation for pursuing and embracing a wide range of works for the stage, from new plays to classics to musicals and opera.
A graduate of Harvard University and a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, Schwartz directed the longest running one-woman show in Broadway history, Golda’s Balcony, William Gibson’s one woman play about Golda Meir, starring Tovah Feldshuh (Lucille Lortel Award: Best Actress, Best Solo Performance, Drama Desk Awards). He also directed the hit off-Broadway musical Bat Boy: The Musical at the Union Square Theatre (2001 Drama Desk Award Nomination: Outstanding Director of a Musical, 2001 Outer Critics Circle Award, and Lucille Lortel Award: Best Off-Broadway Musical), Jonathan Larson's tick, tick... Boom! at the Jane Street Theatre (2002 Drama Desk Award Nomination: Outstanding Director of a Musical), Kafka’s The Castle at Manhattan Ensemble Theatre (2002 Outer Critics Circle Nomination, Outstanding Director of a Play), Rooms: A Rock Romance at New World Stages and most recently Murder for Two at Second Stage Uptown. He directed Séance on a Wet Afternoon starring Lauren Flanigan at New York City Opera, as well as its world premiere at Opera Santa Barbara for which he won a Santa Barbara Indy Award as Best Director. He is an Associate Artist at the Alley Theatre in Houston, and his work has been seen at major regional theaters across the country, including ACT, Alliance Theatre, Berkshire Theatre Festival, Dallas Theatre Center, Denver Center Theatre Company, Goodspeed Opera House, La Jolla Playhouse, The Old Globe, Papermill Playhouse, Philadelphia Theatre Company and Westport Country Playhouse among others.
“We are delighted to welcome Scott Schwartz as our new Artistic Director, says Tracy Mitchell, Executive Director of Bay Street, and Ana Daniel, Chairman of the Board of Trustees. “His remarkable talent, experience, and passion for theatre will help lead us to an incredible future of programming and new artistic alliances. We couldn’t be more thrilled.”
Producer Gary Hygom concurs. “Scott is an exceptional choice as our new Artistic Director. He is a dynamic, innovative director and ideally suited to lead Bay Street. His fresh perspective will have a galvanizing effect and reinvigorate our tradition of producing great theater that appeals to our diversified audience.”
Currently, Mr. Schwartz is directing the new musical Secondhand Lions with book by Rupert Holmes and music and lyrics by Michael Weiner and Alan Zachary. The production will open at the 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle on September 26, 2013 and is being produced in association with Warner Brothers Theatre Ventures.
“I am thrilled and deeply honored to be appointed Artistic Director at Bay Street Theatre,” says Schwartz. “I have long admired the work done by this great company, dating back to its earliest days. I still remember how taken I was when I traveled to Sag Harbor to attend Cynthia Ozick’s Blue Light, by the excitement of seeing first-class performers doing their work so close in this intimate and beautiful theater. I look forward to working with Executive Director Tracy Mitchell, Producer Gary Hygom, and the whole Bay Street family as we build on the rich tradition begun by Sybil Christopher twenty two years ago of presenting entertaining, innovative and thought-provoking productions for the East End of Long Island. While we’ve been frequent visitors for many years, my wife and I are now delighted to make a new home in Sag Harbor and to begin to be a part of this vibrant region.”
“At its core,” continues Schwartz, “I believe theater is a social art form, and that a theater company is most vital when it is a focal point for its community. I am excited to bring the best and brightest theater artists working today to Sag Harbor, and to continue to make Bay Street a gathering place and center for the arts where artists and audiences alike will have the opportunity to enrich and enlighten each other.”
For more information about Bay Street Theatre, log on to www.baystreet.org or call the Box Office at 631-725-9500.