Harold Wolpert will step into the role of executive director at Off-Broadway’s Signature Theatre beginning April 2, serving alongside Artistic Director Paige Evans. Wolpert arrives at the Off-Broadway institution with nearly three decades of experience in arts administration, including executive roles at Roundabout Theatre Company, Manhattan Theatre Club, and the Alley Theatre in Texas.
Read: SIGNATURE THEATRE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR TO STEP DOWN AFTER 10 YEARS
“I’m thrilled to welcome Harold Wolpert, who I first met more than two decades ago working at Manhattan Theatre Club, as my partner in leading this incredible company,” said Evans in a statement. “His experience at MTC and Roundabout, his enthusiasm for the possibilities at Signature and the Center, and the fact that he’s a genuinely good person, make me very excited about what we will accomplish together.”
Most recently, Wolpert served as managing director of Roundabout Theater Company. He served at the League of Resident Theatres (LORT) for several years, most recently as LORT vice president; other positions include chair of several LORT negotiating committees, key member of LORT’s Diversity Initiative Steering Committee, as well as a member of Theatre Communications Group’s (TCG) Board of Directors. He was recently honored with the Edith Oliver Service to Off-Broadway Award by the Lucille Lortel Awards.
In the community, Wolpert is an active philanthropist and teacher. He was the Board Chairman of AIDS Foundation Houston, and is an active volunteer for The Trevor Project, which provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to LGBTQ young people. He was an adjunct lecturer for the Brooklyn College MFA Program in Performing Arts Management for nine years, and recently was a guest lecturer for Shanghai Theatre Academy.
“For nearly 30 years I have watched with admiration as Signature has grown and flourished, becoming one of this city’s essential cultural institutions,” commented Wolpert in a statement. “Providing an immersive exploration into multiple writers’ bodies of work in the thrillingly designed Pershing Square Signature Center, offering tens of thousands of subsidized tickets each season—no one is doing what Signature is doing. I am beyond excited to work with my longtime friend Paige Evans and the Board and staff in leading Signature into its exciting next chapter.”
He takes over from Erika Mallin, who announced her departure last fall.
