The Coca-Cola stage on the Alliance Theatre. (Picture by Leonid Furmansky)
On August 1, Brandon Kahn begins working as the brand new managing director of the Alliance Theatre, changing longtime chief Mike Schleifer, who left after 11 years to turn out to be the subsequent managing director of Lincoln Heart Theater.
In a latest Zoom interview, Kahn spoke about his enthusiasm for the brand new job at Atlanta’s Tony award-winning skilled theater.
“The hot button is that we wish to construct upon what has been established on the Alliance,” he stated. “You wish to honor the historical past and the work that everyone has completed for the years previous to us to essentially make the corporate what it’s. The Alliance is named a frontrunner within the regional theater world. Folks look to it not only for the exhibits which can be programmed, just like the Broadway-bound exhibits, but in addition for the Theater for Younger Audiences programming, for its schooling program and for the group outreach the corporate’s doing.”
In main the Alliance, Kahn joins Inventive Administrators Tinashe Kajese-Bolden and Christopher Moses, who stuffed their posts in 2023.
Extra on ArtsATL: Moses, Kajese-Bolden replicate on “doubled prospects” in Alliance management roles
In a joint assertion, Kajese-Bolden and Moses stated they can not wait to welcome Kahn to Atlanta.
“He brings not solely a depth {of professional} expertise to the job however a real and enthusiastic perception in our explicit mission and group,” they stated. “His experience and aspirational outlook are the proper match for the Alliance and this metropolis as we proceed to think about daring new methods to develop our impression each right here at dwelling and on the nationwide stage.”
Kahn will relocate to Atlanta from Houston, the place he has served as normal supervisor of Alley Theatre since 2018. Previous to that, he labored in managerial positions for six seasons on the Williamstown Theatre Competition in Massachusetts. He has additionally labored as a contract stage supervisor for 10 years in New York, engaged on 5 Broadway exhibits and 6 Off-Broadway exhibits. He holds a grasp’s diploma in Theater Administration & Producing from Columbia College.
Kahn stated his work at Alley Theatre offered him with lots of helpful expertise overseeing a big operation, which he’ll deliver to the brand new job.
“The Alley is comparable in measurement and scale to the Alliance,” he stated. “We produce 11 exhibits a 12 months, do A Christmas Carol and have a really comparable construction. And lots of it relies upon upon the folks– constructing relationships and attending to know the group right here. I used to be capable of put in progressive and efficient programs.”
Implementing new methods of functioning on the Alley helped it thrive, notably after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I feel programs actually create the tradition of an area,” he stated. “The Alley confronted some challenges, and we have been capable of make some nice, nice strikes, arrange new programs and do some progressive work.”
He added that he needs to construct upon what has been established on the Alliance, permitting for progress right into a financially sustainable mannequin that may thrive for years. His first main enterprise would be the January opening of the brand new Goizueta Stage for Youth & Households on the campus on the Woodruff Arts Heart, a renovation of the house previously referred to as the Wealthy Auditorium.
“I stay up for having the ability to open this house and to dream with Chris and Tinashe about what it’s going to turn out to be over time,” he stated. “The general objective is making theater a birthright for the folks of Atlanta so that everyone can expertise one thing on our levels. The house is simply going to permit us to take action a lot fantastic work for younger folks and household audiences. And they’ll turn out to be theater lovers over time, carrying that feeling whether or not they keep in Atlanta or go some other place.”
Kahn is worked up to deliver his family to Atlanta. He and his spouse Jennifer have two sons, Hudson and Judah.
“I discover it to be so particular that I can deliver my household to see exhibits on the theater the place I work,” he stated. “That was one of many issues we talked to them about — that they’re going to have the ability to see extra exhibits than simply A Christmas Carol at my work.”
The 2025 Tony winner for Finest Musical, Perhaps Pleased Ending, premiered on the Alliance in 2020, one in all 11 Alliance exhibits to have ultimately gone to Broadway. Being part of that legacy is thrilling to Kahn, but the regional impression of the house can be vital to him. He at the moment serves on the board and as secretary for the League of Resident Theatres, a collective bargaining affiliation of greater than 70 regional nonprofit theater organizations.
One other facet of the brand new job that appeals to him is having the ability to coordinate with the opposite organizations on the Woodruff campus: the Excessive Museum of Artwork and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
“It’s a really distinctive mannequin,” he stated. “I’m actually excited to take a look at the advantages of being in a multi-arts campus and to see how that cross-collaboration actually works. It’s a extremely, actually nice mannequin that might be useful in exhibiting how different arts organizations may do it sooner or later across the nation.”
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Benjamin Carr is an ArtsATL editor-at-large who has contributed to the publication since 2019 and is a member of the American Theatre Critics Affiliation, the Dramatists Guild, the Atlanta Press Membership and the Horror Writers Affiliation. His writing has been featured in podcasts for iHeartMedia, onstage as a part of the Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Quick Play Competition and on-line in The Guardian. His debut novel, Impacted, was revealed by The Story Plant.
