At the ripe old age of four, the century certainly has been tumultuous. One needn't recount all that has occurred since Y2K, but for actors and the industry, it's been a stressful time of gains and losses, of battles fought, of triumphs scored, of worries growing and allayed. For 2004 in particular, is there any doubt that the presidential election was the year's top story? Looking at the year's top films, plays, and controversies, everything seemed refracted through that lens -- activism was in, being ostrichlike was out. It was a year in which a top-grossing film was a variation on the Passion plays that saturated Europe during medieval times; a year in which Broadway's best play, "I Am My Own Wife," concerned a German transvestite surviving Nazism and Communism; a year when Broadway's top tuner, "Avenue Q," wedded the silliness of "Sesame Street" with the same savage satirical sense that screamed nightly on late-night TV, especially as the campaign grew nasty. On the one hand, President Bush enticed the cognoscenti with more money for the National Endowment for the Arts, but alienated them with a party platform devoted to constitutionally banning gay marriage. If you were an apolitical actor in 2004, you missed most of the action.
To be a 2004 actor meant other things, too, for one had to survey America's changing sociological landscape with wary eyes; one had to stay savvy regarding selling one's talent and learn how to ride new trends and technologies. In a year that saw the red state/blue state divide threatening to leave America less united than at any time since Vietnam, it was also a year when more states adopted economic incentives so that the film industry -- and jobs -- would stay stateside. How ironic: The same conservative states that reject some actors' lifestyles -- objecting even to the idea that free speech is sacred -- were ultimately not so sour on it all as to let those artists contribute to the problem of runaway production. Indeed, by year's end, U.S. production was up, Broadway houses were nearly full, and plays and movies fully in the thrall of free speech were ubiquitous -- joyously so. The times, if not great, weren't terrible: 2004 was a glass half full.
Heralding the Headlines
January: The League of American Theatres and Producers announces year-end 2003 Broadway grosses and attendance figures: income up 3.2% to $730 million, attendance down to 11.2 million tickets versus 11.4 million in 2002. More than two years after the Twin Towers' destruction and six months after arts groups began offering rebuilding ideas, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) completes criteria to determine which groups go where. The 2004 Tony race begins when the administration committee starts determining what shows and performers are eligible for nomination in which categories. The American Arts Alliance, a national advocate for nonprofit performing arts groups, launches bid to persuade major-party presidential candidates to explain their arts positions. Four months after pleading fiscal woes, the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center returns to an open-submissions policy for its Playwrights Conference. The 47th annual conference of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters begins with Tony Kushner speechifying at opening plenary. The League puts its resource book, "Stage Specs: A Technical Guide to Theatres," on the Web via subscription. Actor-writer Spalding Gray goes missing. The American Theatre Wing and the League ink six-year CBS pact to air the Tony Awards. To revitalize Staten Island, NYC invests $8 million in the Snug Harbor Cultural Center, an 83-acre complex. In the Windy City, the League of Chicago Theatres and Mayor Richard M. Daley meet with city leaders following controversial venue closings. The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) introduces a new facet of its Shakespeare in American Communities initiative: Shakespeare for a New Generation. The Boston-based Cultural Access Consortium begins giving technical and financial aid to theatres through its Access Collaborative. The American Arts Alliance's efforts bear fruit: the Kerry, Clark, and Gephardt campaigns announce pro-arts positions. NYC Mayor Bloomberg proposes slashing arts funding $25 million for FY2005. The 2003 Artists Congress, sponsored by The Field, issues its final report. More presidential hopefuls talk to the arts: the Dean, Kucinich, Lieberman, and Edwards campaigns take pro-arts positions.
February: Seattle Fringe declares bankruptcy. President Bush proposes expansion of NEA's Shakespeare Initiative with $18 million funding boost. Chicago City Council green-lights Nederlander Organization plan to convert the Majestic Building into a boutique hotel encompassing the Shubert Theatre. S. Fischer Verlag, Samuel Beckett's German publisher, closes European "Waiting for Godot." Off-Broadway's new 59E59 Theaters name Primary Stages anchor tenant. Off-Off-Broadway's Trilogy Theatre closes. The Performing Arts Research Coalition, a three-year research project, releases its second report on Americans' culture-going habits. Association of Independent Commercial Producers announces 2003 year-end figures: $3.5 billion on spot shoots, $5.5 billion economic impact. Off-Broadway's Signature Theatre Company, NYC Opera, and the Joyce Theater Foundation among 15 arts groups selected by the LMDC to submit proposals for World Trade Center (WTC) rebuilding. Back Stage learns the historic White Barn Theatre in Norwalk, Conn., may be sold. The Goodspeed Opera House considers building new $45 million theatre in Middletown, not East Haddam, Conn., as first thought. Independent Sector releases "Statement of Values and Code of Ethics for Nonprofit and Philanthropic Organizations." The American Express and Norman Lear foundations bankroll new "Arts Incubator" to be housed near the WTC. The White Barn battle heats up: Debate rages over whether the late Lucille Lortel's will would allow the Lortel Foundation to sell the White Barn. The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center says it will run Playwrights and Music Theatre conferences concurrently. More details on the demolition of Henry Miller's Theatre: the 850-foot Bank of America skyscraper will keep façade but build new theatre.
March: Five new venues foreseen, including new Ensemble Studio Theatre, new INTAR Hispanic American Arts Center, and Roundabout's Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre. Albany Arts Day commences. War plays proliferate as Iraq deteriorates. Anti-hysterectomy play announces 52-city tour. Here's dance's economic impact on NYC: $400 million in 2002-03, new report says. Gender-bending "True West" in NYC shot down by Sam Shepard's agent. Theatre-by-the-Sea in Matunuck, R.I., shuts down. Kennedy Center unveils 2004-05 programming: "A New America: The 1940s and the Arts." NYC Mayor Bloomberg announces New York Comedy Festival for November. Body of Spalding Gray discovered floating in the waters off Greenpoint, Brooklyn. NYC's Office of Management and Budget shows Department of Cultural Affairs funding dropping $21 million. The Chronicle of Philanthropy releases report showing the portfolios of America's largest foundations rising yet arts-giving flat. "True West," under Shepard siege, refuses to close. TOAST -- Theatre of Abstinence, Sustenance, and Temperance -- in dispute with Off-Broadway's ArcLight Theatre. Japan Society celebrates 50 years of performance-based programming. Dodger Stage Holding readies new five-venue Off-Broadway complex, Dodger Stages. Two Main Stem producers -- the Araca Group and East of Doheny -- form joint venture. Anna Strasberg, widow of famed acting teacher Lee, lends support to save White Barn. Post-Sept. 11 study shows artists below 14th Street faring poorly.
April: BAM building boom, including new digs for Theatre for a New Audience. Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers (SSDC) board "considering withdrawing" funds for Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation (SDCF). New York, California, and Massachusetts attorneys general eye nonprofit reforms. Producer Arielle Tepper unveils Summer Play Festival. The Guild of Italian American Actors (GIAA) forms theatre company: GIAA Ensemble Artists Repertory Theater Company (GEAR). The East Fourth Street Cultural District raises 50% of funds required for new culture zone. Lincoln Center okays $325 million renovation. NEA chair Dana Gioia touts new, improved agency budget. New York International Fringe Festival rises, phoenixlike, from economic doldrums. Skitch Henderson unveils new talent at Carnegie Hall. National Music Theater Network announces New York Musical Theatre Festival for September. Theatre Development Fund (TDF) nears construction on new TKTS booth. State Arts Advocacy League of America and National Community Arts Network agree to be part of Americans for the Arts. National Performing Arts Convention in Pittsburgh opens Web registration. First-ever Chicago-based ASCAP Foundation/Disney Musical Theatre workshop announced. Goodspeed Musicals trims season at Norma Terris stage in Chester, Conn. Kevin Spacey announces his first Old Vic season in London. Lincoln Center reveals more renovation details: a "Street of the Arts."
May: Fire Department closes Off-Off-Broadway's Red Room Theater. Fynsworth Alley record label shuts down. Long-awaited "ArtsVan" -- now a "Cultural Concierge" -- begins operating at NYC street fairs. Flushing Town Hall opens Smithsonian exhibit on musicals. A $30 million lawsuit against NYC by Stapleton Studios on Staten Island disintegrates when appellate court rules against it. The League releases "Broadway's Economic Contribution to New York City," with a 2002-03 season impact of $4.31 billion. As White Barn unveils cool summer season, dispute with Lortel Foundation simmers. Imagine Festival seen as reply to upcoming GOP convention.
June: 2003-04 Broadway season ends; statistics show grosses took flying leap. EST delays One-Act Marathon. In Alaska, 12th annual Last Frontier Theatre Conference begins. New York City Council member Alan Jay Gerson issues report criticizing arts-related WTC rebuilding. Dance Theatre of Harlem teeters on fiscal brink. Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, Conn., announces new multimillion-dollar home. The first National Performing Arts Convention opens in Pittsburgh. The RAND Corporation raps state arts agencies for failing to think futuristically and not being politically astute. Composers Jerry Bock and John Kander, lyricists Sheldon Harnick and Fred Ebb donate archives to New York Public Library. TCG releases "Theatre Facts 2003."
July: Musical Theatre Works comes to full rest. Goodspeed picks Middletown, Conn., for new $40 million venue. American Association of Fundraising Counsel's Trust for Philanthropy releases "Giving USA 2004" -- 2003 charitable giving rises. Tribeca Film Institute launches new initiative for playwrights of color: the Tribeca All Access Open Stage. Americans for the Arts releases "Creative Industries Study": There are 548,000 "arts-related businesses, institutions, and organizations" in the United States. Americans for the Arts also teams with National Assembly of State Arts Agencies to create "arts action agenda." New Jersey state government, once cash-strapped, allocates $22 million for the arts, a $6 million jump.
August: Advance sales for FringeNYC outstrip 2003 figures. Equity creates Roger Sturtevant Musical Theatre Award -- $1,000 check and certificate. New York state Legislature establishes arts fund via personal income tax return check-offs. Howl! Festival celebrates bohemians past and present. Actors' Fund's Auction of 1,000 Stars begins. Nearly two years since NYC's cell phone ban began, effectiveness remains unclear. FCC green-lights new TiVo tech tactic: sending recorded programs over the 'Net. As GOP convention nears, virulently anti-Republican protests, theatre festivals, and performances begin. Circle in the Square Downtown demolished. Broadway solo shows proliferate.
September: Tony Honors solicit suggestions. National Corporate Theatre Fund hires sports-marketing firm to aid efforts. Nonprofits in wait-and-see mode as U.S. Senate considers oversight overhaul. "Symphonie Fantastique" opens Dodger Stages. During GOP convention, Broadway bottom line bottoms out. Study: Cultural exchanges down sharply since Sept. 11, 2001. Thousands petition to keep Broadway original-cast albums alive. The New York Public Library opens fall series with exhibitions on Dorothy Fields, Margaret Webster, and Agnes de Mille. New Georges presents Manfest festival. Legislated tax incentives for film pit state against state. FringeNYC breaks records: ticket sales to top 60,000; 2003's were 50,000. Roseanne and Drew Carey to headline New York Comedy Festival. According to union reps, the new four-year Production pact between Equity and the League has fiscal formulas favorable to actors making it easier for producers to promote shows. Dance Theatre of Harlem goes on "hiatus."
October: The Ford Foundation checks grantees and applicants, including artists, against terror watch lists, setting off watchdog concerns. Applause Books founder Glenn Young looks back. Equity re-inks Letters of Agreement with 10 nonprofits. As debate over redevelopment of Manhattan's West Side heats up, New York City Planning Commission announces new Off-Broadway venues could be in the works. Mel Brooks' production company announces $45 million film version of "The Producers" for Brooklyn's Steiner Studios. 59th annual Tonys set for June 5, 2005. Americans for the Arts forms nonprofit $1 million fund to push citizens toward arts advocacy. Controversy erupts: Free theatre listings in The New York Times vanish. "The Economic Role & Impact of Lincoln Center" shows the complex as a big fiscal driver pumping $1.5 billion into NYC's economy. Lortel Foundation asks permission to sell the White Barn; activists fume. TDF Costume Collection launches massive sale. Historic Variety Arts Theatre mysteriously shutters. Dodger Theatricals trims staff, hints at "restructuring." O'Neill Theater Center pauses artistic director hunt, seeks Playwrights Conference head instead. Local-option tax arts-funding initiatives on nationwide ballots. President Bush signs bill providing film tax incentives. New play journal -- Play: A Journal of Plays -- breaks ground.
November: According to New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, the Lortel Foundation cannot sell the White Barn. The Arts Action Fund issues Congressional Arts Report Card, assigning Congressfolk letter grades, numerical scores based on votes. The Field releases report on the 2004 Artists Congress. Postelection, mixed results on local-option tax measures on ballots nationwide. Also postelection, Back Stage concludes that Bush's return to the White House and increased Republican Congressional majorities will have little arts-funding effect. The American National Theatre, armed with growing advisory board and contributions, announces Special Presentation Series in 2006. Columbia University releases "Reporting the Arts II: News Coverage of Arts and Culture in America." In Massachusetts, Merrimack Rep faces fiscal woes as Boston theatre boom continues full blast. The Ford Center for the Performing Arts to become Hilton Theatre.
December: "Perform," new museum exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York, opens. Issues of copyright and file sharing compel the Motion Picture Association of America to launch lawsuits. Dance Theatre of Harlem, having raised $1.6 million, reopens. Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York (ART/NY) releases annual report showing small surplus, progress in projects and programs. White Barn judge says Lortel Foundation might be allowed to sell. Mayor Bloomberg tells Cultural Institutions Group -- 34 companies mandated for city funding -- to prepare for cuts. Off-Broadway's Douglas Fairbanks and John Houseman theatres prepare to make way for more West 42nd Street condos. Coalition issues "Request for Expressions of Interest" for arts groups to join BAM Cultural District.
Prizes and Plaudits, Grants and Generosities
January: Boston's Huntington Theatre Company receives $1 million challenge grant from Kresge Foundation. Golden Globe nominations: "Cold Mountain," eight; "Lost in Translation" and "Mystic River," five; "Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" and "Big Fish," four. Lucille Lortel Foundation announces $500,000 in general operating grants to small groups. National Society of Film Critics picks "American Splendor" for best picture. Jerome Foundation announces 15 grants to performing arts groups. "Mystic River" and "The Station Agent" performers lead 10th annual SAG Award noms. The 28th annual Laurence Olivier Awards noms dominated by National Theatre's "Jerry Springer -- The Opera." Twelve plays are finalists for 26th annual Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. The Francesca Primus Prize, on hiatus since 2002, resumes under the American Theatre Critics Association's aegis. Noms for the 76th Academy Awards led by "Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" with 11. Golden Globes give HBO's "Angels in America" five wins.
February: TDF announces winners of 2004 Irene Sharaff Awards for Theatrical Costume Design, including Anthony Powell and Tony Walton for lifetime achievement. New Dramatists appoints Anne Kauffman, Trip Cullman, Steve Cusson to George Abbott Director-in-Residence Program. Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation announces 2004 grantees. Humana Festival for New American Plays picks winners, including four 10-minute works. "The Tutor," an ambitious tuner by Andrew Gerle and Maryrose Wood, wins Richard Rodgers Award. Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (BC/EFA) "Broadway Bears VII" nets $127,210. SAG Awards honor Johnny Depp, Charlize Theron, Meryl Streep. Playwright Sarah Ruhl wins Blackburn Prize for "The Clean House."
March: Nominations for the 20th annual Helen Hayes Awards announced. Actors' Equity Foundation gives 60 $1,000 grants to nonprofits countrywide. LMDC makes two-year, $3 million financial commitment to Tribeca Film Festival. TCG awards $33,000 in collaboration grants, helping eight companies, 20 artists. Lynn Nottage's "Intimate Apparel" wins 2004 Primus Prize. 2004 Back Stage Bistro Awards handed out.
April: Actors' Equity Association prepares inaugural Richard Seff Awards. Andrew W. Mellon Foundation awards $1.25 million to Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance. "I Am My Own Wife" wins 2004 Pulitzer Prize in drama. Kitty Lunn and Infinity Dance Theater win Equity's Rosetta LeNoire Awards. Noms for "Frozen," "Valhalla" top Lucille Lortel Awards. "Gem of the Ocean" shines at Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards. Drama League honors Donna Murphy, George C. Wolfe, City Center's "Encores!" San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle picks winners. "Wicked" takes 10 Outer Critics noms. Drama League nominations pit Broadway against Off-Broadway. Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs (MAC) unveils nominations. Eric Bogosian, Dael Orlandersmith, Timberlake Wertenbaker receive Guggenheim Fellowships. BC/EFA's Easter Bonnet competition nets $3,420,537.
May: Schwartz, Sondheim, Shakespeare top Drama Desk noms. "Wicked" casts spell on Outer Critics, winning four. "Bug" and "Caroline, or Change" lead winners list at Lucille Lortel Awards. Broadway-bound "Sex" tops Chicago Jeff Citations. New York Times Company Foundation creates midsize-theatres grant. Julia Jordan, Laurence O'Keefe capture 14th annual Kleban Awards. Lanford Wilson, Lynn Nottage nab PEN/Pels Awards for Drama. "Wicked" garners 10 Tony noms; "Assassins," seven. New York Drama Critics Circle names "Intimate Apparel" best play. Helen Hayes Awards distributed in nation's capital. Debuts feted at 60th annual Theatre World Awards. NEA announces awards of $58 million via 576 grants; New York state groups receive 118 grants worth $5.7 million. Post-ceremony Drama Desk snafu alters tallies -- Joe Mantello for direction of "Wicked," not "Assassins." 49th annual Obies cite "Bug," "Caroline, or Change," "Small Tragedy." Boston's Elliot Norton Awards handed out. Sondheim, "I Am My Own Wife," "Wicked" sweep Drama League honors. MAC Awards celebrate cabaret. Three actors win Spencer Cherashore grants. Barrington Stage gives $20,000 new-play prize to Cusi Cram for "Fuente." FringeNYC announces 200-odd shows slated. Clarence Derwent, Richard Seff Awards to Anika Noni Rose, John Tartaglia, Margo Martindale, Tom Aldredge.
June: NYC Mayor Bloomberg showers $15 million on arts groups. NEA awards $7 million through 366 grants via Challenge America: Access to the Arts program. TDF/Astaire Awards honor "Wonderful Town," "The Boy From Oz." Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors (HOLA) honors Alfred Molina. Carol Channing takes lifetime achievement honor from York Theatre Company. Arkansas Rep gives Kaufman & Hart Prize for New American Comedy to Catherine Butterfield's "The Sleeper." Upset: "Avenue Q" wins best musical, book, score at Tonys; "Assassins" cops five. Three actors create New York Innovative Theatre Awards. Connecticut Critics dole out awards. BC/EFA's "Broadway Bares 6" nets $525,000. Jerome Foundation gives grants to six NYC groups.
July: Prudential Foundation makes $10 million gift to New Jersey Performing Arts Center. New Dramatists names new resident playwrights. ART/NY honors 17 "local heroes"; hands out 39 grants, worth $1.157 million, from Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; and awards $155,000 in general operating funds to 34 groups via JPMorgan Chase Fund for Small Theatres. "Best Plays" announces best plays for 2003-04 season.
August: Philadelphia Theatre Initiative announces $530,000 in grants for 12 local nonprofits. Artios noms named. Dance Teacher gives lifetime achievement to 95-year-old Katherine Dunham. ART/NY announces Edith Lutyens and Norman Bel Geddes Foundation grant for design.
September: Michael Kahn wins Shakespeare Society medal. L.A.'s Ovation noms announced. Bessie Awards honor dance world. Kennedy Center Honors: Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis, Warren Beatty, Elton John, Joan Sutherland, John Williams. Noms for 2004 Barrymore Awards in Philadelphia. The National Alliance of Musical Theatre holds 16th annual Festival of New Musicals. BC/EFA's Flea Market raises $419,464.
October: "Big River," Sardi, Swope earn Tony Honors. SAG honors James Garner for life achievement. In Miami, Carbonell noms cozy up to tuners; back in New York, Audelco noms spread the wealth. Producer David Binder cops the Commercial Theatre Institute's Robert Whitehead Award. Two Broadway houses -- the Plymouth and the Royale -- to be renamed for Bernard B. Jacobs and Gerald Schoenfeld. Tracey Scott Wilson wins Kesselring Prize for "The Story." Will Eno's "The Flu Season" wins 2004 Oppenheimer Award. James Calleri, Jim Carnahan, Cindy Tolan among Artios winners. Henry Hewes Design Awards go to David Korins, Catherine Zuber, and Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer. National Arts Awards go to Paul Taylor, Mena Suvari, among others. Judith Jamison picked for Equity's Paul Robeson Award. Princess Grace Foundation honors grantees at gala reception. Frank Gehry tapped to design new WTC performing arts center. Estelle Parsons, Brian Murray, Len Cariou, the late Gregory Hines, Sir Ian McKellen, playwright A.R. Gurney, set/costume designer Santo Loquasto, Tony-winning producer Elizabeth Ireland McCann all chosen for Theatre Hall of Fame.
November: "Rose Rage" big winner at Chicago's Jeff Awards. Independent Feature Project holds its 14th annual New York film gala, honors Don Cheadle and "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind." Barrymore Awards: Tazewell Thompson's "Constant Star" a seven-award winner. In L.A., the Ovations celebrate "1776," "La Bohème," "Exits and Entrances." ART/NY's Nancy Quinn Fund awards $55,000 in grants to 56 theatres. Audelcos fete "Intimate Apparel" and "Caroline, or Change." Carbonell Awards honor GableStage with six nods. American Theatre Wing distributes $120,000 in grants to 48 companies. Director Dan Sullivan wins SDCF's 2004 Joe A. Callaway Award. Choreographer Twyla Tharp receives 2004 National Medal of Arts from President Bush.
December: NEA awards $19.9 million in grants for theatre, musical theatre, and dance. Edith Lutyens and Norman Bel Geddes Foundation, via ART/NY, awards $85,000 for projects at 12 theatres. Independent Feature Project's Independent Spirit Award noms announced. Kennedy Center chair Stephen Schwarzman makes $10 million gift; funds earmarked for theatre programming. "Wicked" tops 2005 BC/EFA "Gypsy of the Year" contest, netting $365,918. Quiara Alegria Hudes wins Page 73 Productions' 2004-05 playwriting fellowship. The New York Film Critics Circle gives "Sideways" top honors. "The Producers" crowned at London's Evening Standard awards. Pearl Theatre Company's Joanne Camp, Robert Hock win Equity's Joe A. Callaway Award for work in classic plays. "Sideways" redux: The film leads noms for 62nd annual Golden Globes.
Placements and Replacements
January: Mark Russell, who shepherded P.S. 122 from edgy alternative-performance venue to a premier theatrical institution, resigns as executive director, effective June 2004. After 10 years helming Cleveland Play House, Artistic Director Peter Hackett steps down. Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., hires Paul Tetrault as producing director.
February: Esther Kaplan, Boston's cultural affairs commissioner, quits. Denver Center Theatre Company artistic director Donovan Marley resigns effective July 1, 2005. Paul Taylor Dance Company executive director Ross Kramberg steps down. George C. Wolfe, the Public Theater's producer since 1993, leaving in fall 2004. Sam Mendes creates new stage and screen concern: Scamp Film and Theatre Ltd.
March: Sam Schacht appointed dean of Actors Studio Drama School, but resigns shortly thereafter.
April: Women's Project & Productions taps Jean Ann Crum as managing director. Roy A. Somlyo to be executive consultant to Drama Desk Awards. Lou Diamond Philips becomes spokesperson for BookPALS (Performing Artists for Literacy in Schools). NEA names Mario Garcia Durham director of presenting and multidisciplinary programs.
May: Joseph Miloscia, SDCF executive director, quietly leaves rancor between SDCF and SSDC. Brian Stokes Mitchell named president of Actors' Fund. NEA appoints Mark Bauerlein director of research and analysis.
July: Sharon Ott, Seattle Rep artistic director since 1997, departs effective June 2005. New Dramatists names John Steber director of Playwrights' Lab. Anne Denin new executive director of P.S. 122; artistic director search begins. J Ranelli unexpectedly resigns as artistic director of the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center; Richard Kuranda becomes interim head.
October: Ellen Richard, longtime Roundabout Theatre Company managing director, steps down effective June 2005. Five new board members join Public Theater; search for a successor to George C. Wolfe in final phase.
November: The New York Production Alliance assembles new board, all from NYC entities. Roger Rees succeeding Michael Ritchie as artistic director of Williamstown Theatre Festival. Vallejo Gantner, a 30-year-old director-producer from Melbourne, Australia, and current director of Dublin Fringe becomes artistic director of P.S. 122. Oskar Eustis named producer of the Public Theater, succeeding George C. Wolfe.
December: Kent Thompson, producing artistic director of the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, named to succeed Donovan Marley as artistic director of the Denver Center Theatre Company.