July 2011 Dear Friends,


Board of Trustees


James C. Nicola ARTISTIC DIRECTOR William Russo


MANAGING DIRECTOR


Heather Randall PRESIDENT


Barbara Warner Howard CHAIR


Allan S. Gordon VICE-CHAIR


Noel E.D. Kirnon TREASURER


Anthony E. Napoli SECRETARY


Stephen Graham FOUNDING TRUSTEE


Gail Bell Judy Gordon Cox Barbara Cutler C.C. Dyer


Jodi Edmonds Hans Humes Bokara Legendre Robert Rosenberg Patricia E. Rowell Patrick Milling Smith Deborah Voigt Doug Wright


Swiftly moving from one Season to the next, I find myself grateful and amazed by the abundant good fortune of the 2010/11 Season. A rare preponderance of positive com- mentary from critics and the resulting strong ticket sales meant an enormous amount to New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW) this year, as these measurements of success allowed us to find stable financial footing at an unsettling time for many theatre com- panies. Other achievements, however, reinforced our decision to continue producing bold, imaginative theatrical experiences and remain a home for a diversity of artists. The overwhelming resonance of this Season’s four productions for our audiences stood as a significant mark of success. And, although every Season the artists on NYTW’s stage aspire to ambitious goals, never has a Season of artists met and surpassed their own artistic challenges as much as they did this year. These victories made the 2010/11 Sea- son an outstanding year.


I found something quite moving about each moment within the Season. With The Little Foxes, we had the great pleasure of reuniting with our friends Ivo van Hove and Jan Versweyveld. In their hands, Lillian Hellman’s classic play suddenly seemed fresh, even urgent. The production gave the world a whole new perspective of Hellman as a time- less artist. The team behind Three Pianos, three talented, promising artists never seen on NYTW’s stage before, achieved something similar with Schubert. Their interpretation of his life and artistry gave us a more vivid sense of his music and how it relates to our lives today. Then, Peter and the Starcatcher reminded us of the great joy audiences can find at the theatre, especially when they have the chance to remember what it means to truly engage and fight for what you believe. For NYTW, this production allowed us to bring artists at the top of their form and audiences of different generations together. Finally, carrying deep compassion for the real life characters on which the story was based, the artists behind The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World epitomized boldness as they took strides to create something unusual and to move the musical theatre form forward.


Throughout the year, the artists we engaged with “offstage” through our Artist Develop- ment Activities affirmed our belief that no two artists take the same path in creating their work. With this in mind, we offered artists experiences that ranged from a 10-day trip to the Middle East to a retreat closer to home at Wagner College on Staten Island for the incoming and outgoing Fellows. We provided resources to projects that stretched from a musical based on the life of 60s songwriter Bert Berns to an interdisciplinary piece about the traditions of Japanese paper-making. In terms of Education, we handled our partnerships with three different public schools and our in-school workshops with similar individualized care and took major steps to implement greater outreach for our intergen- erational theatre workshop, Mind the Gap.


In the midst of the success and challenges of this Season, it became more evident to me that the work we do extends far beyond serving the artist. I believe NYTW’s purpose is to ensure the robust and compelling presence of the artist in our society. In striving to accomplish this, we will not only cultivate the work of artists, but will be able to offer audiences the opportunities they need to journey outside of their surroundings and see something in a new light. This Season proved that even in a character as familiar to us as Peter Pan, there is something undiscovered, yet to be illuminated.


The success of the 2010/11 Season has made us even more excited for the year ahead. We look forward to seeing you then.


Warmest Regards,


James C. Nicola Artistic Director


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