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leadership & staff

tiffani gavin, executive director

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Tiffani Gavin brings more than 25 years of experience in theater administration and producing to her new position as Executive Director of the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center. After beginning her career in general management at The Public Theater in NY and as a company manager at Blue Man Group, she went on to hold leadership positions in both nonprofit and commercial theater organizations, including Clear Channel Entertainment and the American Repertory Theater. She's been the Manager of the Marquis Theatre on Broadway and has managed productions such as the National Tour of The Phantom of the Opera. As an Executive Producer for Clear Channel Entertainment and later as the General Manager/VP of Production at Martian Entertainment she commissioned and developed new work by emerging artists across the U.S. and internationally.

While producing at Clear Channel, her broad portfolio included Broadway and off-Broadway productions as well as national tours. Among them were Ragtime (National Tour), The Producers (Broadway, National Tour), Hairspray (Broadway, National Tour), Sweet Charity (2005 Broadway Revival), Gumboots (National Tour, European Tour), Squeezebox (Off-Broadway), and Contact (National Tour). She was also the Sr. Director of Professional and International Licensing for Theatrical Rights Worldwide where she acquired and licensed secondary performing rights for musicals such as Monty Python’s Spamalot and The Color Purple. Tiffani is a native of East Norriton, PA, and has a B.A. from Brown University in both Sociology as well as in Modern Culture and Media with a focus in Mass Media and Cultural Representation.

tom viertel, board chairman

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Tom Viertel and his partners have produced and managed a wide range of productions for the past 32 years, including, among others, the original Broadway productions of The Parisian Woman with Uma Thurman, The Producers, Hairspray, Young Frankenstein, Smokey Joe’s Café, Angels in America, Penn & Teller, The Weir, The Encounter, and Swing. Their notable revivals include Gypsy with Patti LuPone, The Norman Conquests, A Little Night Music with Catherine Zeta Jones and Angela Lansbury and later Bernadette Peters and Elaine Stritch, John Doyle’s groundbreaking productions of Sweeney Todd with Patti LuPone and Michael Cerveris and Company with Raul Esparza, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum with Nathan Lane and later Whoopi Goldberg, Damn Yankees, and the first-ever Broadway revivals

of The Sound of Music and Little Shop of Horrors. Notable off-Broadway premieres include Driving Miss Daisy, Frankie & Johnny in the Clair de Lune, The Cocktail Hour, Love Letters, Oleanna, Jeffrey, Marvin’s Room, and Stomp.

 

They’ve mounted many national tours and productions in London, Australia, Canada, Europe, and throughout Asia. Recently, they co-produced The Band’s Visit and Angels in America on Broadway, both of which won 2018 Tony Awards, and Young Frankenstein in the West End. Their productions have received dozens of awards, including 2 Pulitzer Prizes, 4 Grammy Awards, and 2 Olivier Awards for Best Musical. Their 8 Tony Awards include all 4 “Best” categories – play, musical, revival of a play, and revival of a musical. They also own and operate the acclaimed Broadway-themed nightclub/cabaret Feinstein’s/54 Below.

 

Mr. Viertel is the Executive Director of the Commercial Theater Institute, a joint venture of the Broadway League and TDF.

 

A graduate of Harvard University, Mr. Viertel is a member of the Board of Governors, Government Relations, and Professional Development Committees of the Broadway League and a Trustee of the Equity-League Pension Funds.

george c. white, founder

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George White’s career includes not only his 37 years as Founder and Chairman of the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, but also numerous activities and accomplishments in theater throughout the world. The son of Nelson and Aida White, George was raised in Waterford, Connecticut, and was graduated from Yale with a BA from Yale University and an MFA from the Yale School of Drama.

 

In addition to his responsibilities at the O’Neill, George served as Co-Chairman of the Theater Management Program at the Yale School of Drama, and regularly directed plays in such venues as the Actors Theater, the Guthrie Theater, the Hartman Theater, the Annenberg Center, and the Hedgerow Theater. He was the Founding Chairman of

the Sundance Institute, served as a member of the Tony Awards Nominating Committee, and served on the following boards: National Arts Council, Metropolitan Opera Guild, Arts and Business Council, New Dramatists, Center for Inter-American Relations, International Theater Institute, Connecticut Commission on the Arts, and American Soviet Theater Initiative, Camargo Foundation, and Save Venice.

 

George’s contributions to theater extend beyond the borders of the United States. Beginning in 1972, he has spearheaded cultural exchange efforts in such countries as Australia, Peoples Republic of China, Russia, and Brazil. In 1984 he directed a production of Eugene O’Neill’s Anna Christie in Beijing, and in 1987 he directed Meredith Wilson’s The Music Man in that same city. He continues to lecture throughout the world on behalf of the U.S. Information Agency. His international accomplishments have been recognized in being awarded the Royal Swedish Order of the Polar Star from King Carl Gustaf, and the French Republic’s Chevalier des Artes et des Lettres. Of particular note are the numerous theatrical exchanges that George initiated in Russia, since the Cold War days of the early 1980s. He was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame in 2013.

board of trustees

OFFICERS

Chair

Vice Chair

Thomas Viertel

Ruth Hendel

Associate Vice Chair

Carolyn Greenspan

Treasurer

Secretary

Stephen Hendel

Linda Mariani

TRUSTEES

Jeff Aiosa

Leslee Asch

Jim Calhoun

Pat Calhoun

Ted Chapin

Roger S. Christiansen

Ron Cowen

Armand A. Della Monica

Michael Douglas

Lily Fan

Lynn R. Fusco

Liz Hara

Riccardo Hernández

Genia Kaplan Quinn

Tom Kitt

Rita Pietropinto-Kitt

Daniel Lipman

Soraya Nadia McDonald

David Preka

Ellen Quinn

Michael Rauh

Scott Richards

Madeline Sayet

Arlene Shuler

Sally Speer

Betsy White, Founding Trustee

George C. White, Founder and Chairman Emeritus

EX-OFFICIO

Rob Brule - First Selectman, Town of Waterford

David Jaffe

Dorita Lieberman

Ed Murphy - Chairman, Recreation & Parks Commission, Town of Waterford

Administrative Staff

administrative staff

EXECUTIVE OFFICE

Executive Director: Tiffani Gavin 

Executive Affairs Manager: Sonya Thiel (x288)

BUSINESS OFFICE

General Manager: Michael Barker

Controller: Will Kuklinski (x308)

Company Manager: Carter Smith (x221)

 

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

Director of External Relations: Rob Mooney (x213)

Communications & Marketing Manager: Rachel Phillips (x290)

Creative Content Associate: Elizabeth Lauren West (x255)

Marketing Associate: Emma Brown

Manager of Individual Giving & Special Events: Mike Beasley (x224)

Development Associate: Dustin Luangkhot (x211)

PRODUCING OFFICE

Production & Operations Manager: Tate Burmeister (x494)

Line Producer: Jorge Lopez Rivera (x274)

LITERARY OFFICE

Literary Manager: Helena Pennington (x227)

Artistic Associate: Rebecca Rovezzi (x227)

 

NATIONAL THEATER INSTITUTE

Artistic Director: Rachel Jett (x219)

Program Representative: Rachel Kelsey

 

CAMPUS OPERATIONS

Production & Operations Manager: Tate Burmeister (x494)

Facilities Manager: Wayne Lipphardt (x278)

Facilities Assistants: Anthony Brown (x278)

Head of Housekeeping & Security Manager: Stephanie Sutera (x278)

Housekeepers: Effa Pecoraro, William Speer, Maya Bustamante (x278)

Security Guard: Stephanie Fine

Head Chef: Harvey Jones (x214)

Line Cook: Jericho Lee

Kitchen Assistants: Stanley Comer, Janea Santiago

 

ARTISTIC

Artistic Director, National Puppetry Conference: Pam Arciero

Artistic Director, National Playwrights Conference: Melia Bensussen

Artistic Director, National Music Theater Conference: Alexander Gemignani

Artistic Director, National Theater Institute: Rachel Jett (x219)

Director, National Critics Institute: Chris Jones

Artistic Director, Cabaret and Performance Conference: John McDaniel

Director of Education, Young Playwrights Festival: Sophia Chapadjiev

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