Signature Theatre has selected Emily Shooltz as Artistic Director, and Arts Consulting Group (ACG) extends its congratulations on her leadership appointment. She will begin her tenure on November 1, 2024.
Founded in 1991 by James Houghton, Signature Theatre serves its mission by hosting distinctive resident playwrights and cultural communities at its permanent home at The Pershing Square Signature Center, a three-theatre facility on West 42nd Street designed by Frank Gehry Architects. As of 2023, the theatre’s budget was $13 million.
Shooltz joins Signature Theatre from her role at Ars Nova, where she fostered the work of dozens of early-career playwrights the organization commissioned and developed for production, and that of over 100 others through the organization’s Play Group and roster of artist residency programs. Many of those writers’ works have now been seen on stages across the country—including Signature artists Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Dave Malloy, Melis Aker, Samuel D. Hunter, Annie Baker, and The Mad Ones, as well as, on Broadway this year, Ars Nova alumni Amy Herzog, Kris Diaz, Bekah Brunstetter, and Jacobs-Jenkins. Following her tenure at Ars Nova, Shooltz worked for two years as a freelance creative consultant, seeking a way to continue to grow her relationships with and support of artists beyond early career — an era that bridges her work with Ars Nova and Signature, where she’ll be engaging both emerging and established artists.
ACG is the leading provider of hands-on interim management, executive search, revenue enhancement, strategic planning & community engagement, and facilities & program planning and research services for the arts and culture industry. ACG consultants are located in communities across the United States and Canada to best serve the needs of our clients. ACG team members have decades of combined senior leadership experience in every artistic and cultural discipline and area of functional management expertise.