Public Theater extends Ted Pappas' contract
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Ted Pappas, producing artistic director of Pittsburgh Public Theater.
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Ted Pappas and Pittsburgh Public Theater have solidified their future together, with the producing artistic director agreeing to stay on through 2018 and an eye toward new artistic endeavors for the company.
Michael H. Ginsberg, president of the Public's board of trustees and a partner at Jones Day, said the four-year contract extension is recognition of Mr. Pappas' artistic vision, commitment to the region and business acumen.
"Ted has been our leader for 12 years," Mr. Ginsberg said. "As we were thinking about our future, we've had eight consecutive years in the black, and it's even more than pure accounting; the Public Theater has been extremely successful and stable."
Mr. Pappas became artistic director in 2000, the first year of business for the 650-seat O'Reilly Theater in the heart of the Pittsburgh Cultural District. Three years later, his title was extended to add financial and administrative duties. He is director of four of the Public's six shows this season, and during his tenure, the world premiere of "The Chief" was a bonanza for the company. The show about the late Steelers owner Art Rooney ran for seven seasons and became the top-grossing show in the theater's history.
As the trustees looked ahead during recent meetings and wondered if it would take two or more people to replace what Mr. Pappas does as a programmer, director and manager, he let it be known that he had hoped to stay for the foreseeable future. Mr. Ginsberg went to the board, which agreed unanimously to the contract extension.
The Public's IRS filing for 2009 shows that Mr. Pappas, now in the second year of his current contract, made close to $228,000. Mr. Ginsberg said the new contract would include the ongoing equivalent cost-of-living compensation but that money was not an issue. "Ted has said to me, 'I don't want more money. I want more art.' His commitment to the theater, to the region, is extraordinary," Mr. Ginsberg said.
City Theatre on the South Side and The Rep of Point Park University are known for commissioning and producing new plays. Mr. Ginsberg said he hopes to see the Public Theater get into the act, noting the wealth of talented playwrights working in Western Pennsylvania.
To that end, the theater is exploring options such as a juried new-play festival and commissions of new works, while continuing along the lines of a six-show season schedule. Mr. Ginsberg notes the eclectic programming during the current season of classical and contemporary fare, bouncing from Sophocles' "Electra" to recent New York and London hit "Red" to Shakespeare's "As You Like It" to the long-running off-Broadway show "Freud's Last Session," and finishing with "Around the World in 80 Days" and Noel Coward's "Private Lives." The Public also presents national groups such as Second City and the Reduced Shakespeare Company.
"We want to grow the organization and to expand. I'm not saying we would do 12 plays instead of six," Mr. Ginsberg said. "We will work with Ted to develop new shows and new themes and new ideas for the theater, and continue where we are a centerpiece of artistic creativity for the Cultural District and the region."
First Published January 6, 2012 12:00 am
