Dallas Voice: DTC names new artistic director

by Arnold Wayne Jones of of Dallas Voice

The Dallas Theater Center announced Wednesday, June 6, that it has appointed Kevin Moriarty, a gay theater professional from Ithaca, N.Y., as its new artistic director.

Moriarty becomes only the fifth artistic director for the company in its 48-year history. He replaced Richard Hamburger, who announced last year he would step down after 15 years leading Dallas’ premier performing arts organization.

The search committee was looking for “a very special and particular artistic leader,” according to John Howell, chairman of the board of the DTC, and says Moriarty fit the bill.

Moriarty, 40, arrives from the Hanger Theatre, where he has served as the artistic director for seven years. While there, he specialized in directing Shakespeare. He also serves as the associate director of the Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, R.I., which in 1981 won the Tony Award for best regional theater.

His only previous trip to Dallas came in 2004. He directed the national tour of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” which played for a month at the Music Hall as the State Fair musical.

Moriarty promised to develop a program of shows that would be “as diverse and expansive … as the city of Dallas and its citizens are.”

The appointment comes just as construction on Dallas’ new Arts District complex has gotten under way.

The new theater center building is scheduled to open in the fall of 2009.

Moriarty assumes the position Sept. 4. Because the DTC had already announced its 2007-08 season, Moriarty said he would spend his first few months learning about the community and becoming familiar with the Dallas theater scene.

Immediately after the announcement, Moriarty sat down to discuss his goals for the Theater Center. That interview will run in next week’s issue of Dallas Voice.