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Long Wharf Theatre Appoints Rachel Alderman as Associate Artistic Director

July 14, 2022

Long Wharf Theatre Appoints Rachel Alderman as Associate Artistic Director 

New Haven, CT (July 14, 2022)—The Tony Award-winning Long Wharf Theatre today announced the appointment of Rachel Alderman as Associate Artistic Director, a leadership position that will further develop the organization’s commitment to producing bold, boundary-breaking theatre. 

This newly created position will oversee artistic production, new work development, and community partnerships for the organization. Alderman joins Long Wharf Theatre on July 20, 2022 after serving as Artistic Producer at Hartford Stage.

“Rachel is a trailblazing director and producer – from her stunning productions to her work with New Haven’s own A Broken Umbrella Theatre, she brings a unique perspective that will help energize Long Wharf as we move forward into our exciting new chapter,” said Jacob Padrón, Artistic Director of Long Wharf Theatre. “There couldn’t be anyone better suited to take on this new role, and I look forward to collaborating with her on what’s to come.”

Working closely with the Artistic and Managing Directors, Alderman will lead the artistic department and provide important guidance on the ongoing cultural transformation work the company is deeply invested in. As the lead producer, she will oversee all artistic programming presented by Long Wharf Theatre, bringing projects to fruition from ideation to execution and spearheading the development of new work. 

A key element of Alderman’s role will be bolstering the vital work of building relationships with communities throughout New Haven and across the region as part of Long Wharf Theatre’s bold, new itinerant model of theatrical production. As part of this work, Alderman will forge new community partnerships while strengthening existing ones. 

“I have long admired Long Wharf Theatre for its extraordinary productions and demonstrated commitment to creative innovation and inclusivity,” said Rachel Alderman, incoming Associate Artistic Director of Long Wharf Theatre. “I am thrilled to join the Long Wharf Theatre leadership team at such a pivotal moment – a moment teeming with opportunity and possibility. What an honor to be of service in a city that I love and am proud to call my home.”

“We are so pleased to welcome Rachel to Long Wharf Theatre as we embark on this new journey,” said Kit Ingui, Managing Director of Long Wharf Theatre. “Rachel’s years of experience will anchor us as we continue our long tradition of producing bold, industry-leading work and partner with local organizations to bring our new model to life in the coming seasons.”

Industry leaders and former colleagues also praised Alderman’s appointment, including Hana Sharif, Artistic Director of Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, who said:

“In my years working with Rachel, she has proven herself to be an extraordinary leader, collaborator, producer and colleague. I applaud Long Wharf Theatre’s visionary choice of Rachel to take on this role at such a vitally important moment of transformation and wish her the very best success as she helps the institution continue its inspiring evolution.” 

Alderman joins Long Wharf Theatre as it prepares to launch its 2022/2023 season, “Everywhere for Everyone,” in August with the virtual reading Black Trans Women at the Center and the in-person concert performance of Jelly’s Last Jam at 222 Sargent Drive. The season will include the final performances on the Claire Tow Stage and the first under the theatre’s new itinerant model, which will see works presented across New Haven.

More information on Long Wharf Theatre’s 2022/2023 season can be found here.

About Rachel Alderman
Rachel Alderman (she/her/hers) is a director, producer and co-creator of theater experiences who is fiercely committed to building ensemble onstage and off. She has contributed to the artistic health and growth of Hartford Stage under the leadership of Michael Wilson, Hana Sharif, Darko Tresjnak, Elizabeth Williamson and, most recently, Melia Bensussen. As Artistic Producer, Rachel was an integral part of the leadership team that shepherded Hartford Stage throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, producing and creating a variety of virtual and socially distant programming, as well as reopening with the successful Raise the Curtain 2021-22 season. Rachel is a founding ensemble member of the award-winning A Broken Umbrella Theatre with whom she has collectively devised original, site-specific theater inspired by the history of New Haven, CT for over a decade. In 2013, she was awarded the Denham Fellowship from the SDC Foundation in support of Broken Umbrella’s celebrated production Freewheelers.

As a director, her work at Hartford Stage includes Lost In Yonkers (co-directed and starring Marsha Mason, nominated for 8 CT Critics Circle Awards), It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play (co-directed with Melia Bensussen), A Community Carol (virtual, featuring the artistic contributions of over 80 multi-generational participants), A Christmas Carol – A Ghost Story of Christmas, and Cry It Out. 

As Associate Director to Michael Wilson, she traveled to The Alley Theater, Hartford Stage, La Jolla Playhouse, The Huntington Theater and The Old Globe. Prior to working at Hartford Stage, Rachel spent 4 seasons at the International Festival of Arts & Ideas and worked with such companies as Collective Consciousness Theater, Elm Shakespeare Company, Emerald City Theatre Company, HartBeat Ensemble  and Northlight Theatre. 

Rachel is a member of SDC and a graduate of Muhlenberg College. She lives in New Haven with her husband, 2 kids, a dog and (as of this writing) 2 Betta fish. www.rachelalderman.work

About Long Wharf Theatre
Founded in 1965, Long Wharf Theatre (Jacob G. Padrón, Artistic Director; Kit Ingui, Managing Director) is a Tony Award-winning company of international renown. It was founded on the notion that New Haven deserves an active culture that is locally created, supported by community leaders and patrons of the arts. It is recognized for a historic commitment to commissioning, developing, and producing new plays and musicals that have become a part of the modern American canon. More than 30 of its productions have transferred to Broadway or Off-Broadway runs, three of which—Wit, The Shadow Box, and The Gin Game—won Pulitzer Prizes for Drama. It was among the earliest recipients of the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre (1978) and its productions have won numerous accolades, including Tony, New York Drama Critics’ Circle, and Obie Awards; a Margo Jones Award; and nominations and Connecticut Critics Circle Awards in nearly every category. In 2015, the company received the 50 Years of Achievement in Theatre award from National Corporate Theatre Fund and the Major Award for Outstanding Contributions to New England Theatre, the highest honor from New England Theatre Conference.

Under current leadership, in partnership with a dedicated staff and Board, Long Wharf Theatre aspires to be a company with, by, and for the Greater New Haven community. It is engineering stories that represent an inclusive culture, in all of its complexities, and amplifying the voices of living playwrights and artists of color. Long Wharf Theatre is doubling down on its commitment to new work while broadening collaborations with synergistic partners, discovering new pathways to nurture the best new American voices for theatre. It is shifting from being a space with four cement walls to bringing live theatre into multiple venues, neighborhoods, and public spaces. Community is rigorously centered within the organization, building an inclusive treasury of its neighbors’ resilient and interconnected life experiences through storytelling.

Land Acknowledgment
Long Wharf Theatre sits on the unceded territory of the Paugusset, Quinnipiac, and Wappinger peoples. We acknowledge that Indigenous peoples and nations have for generations stewarded the lands and waterways of what we now call the state of Connecticut. We honor and respect the enduring relationship that exists between these peoples and nations and this land. We remind ourselves that along with stolen land came stolen people. It is our responsibility to the future to know our past.

Media Contacts
Henry Robins
802-299-5298

Dylan O’Brien
203-450-8616

longwharftheatre@berlinrosen.com