Monday, June 29, 2009

Dallas Theater Center names local director and choreographer as artistic associate

By Pegasus News wire

Dallas Theater Center Artistic Director Kevin Moriarty announced the addition of Dallas-Fort Worth-based director and choreographer Joel Ferrell to the DTC staff as associate artist. A longtime DTC collaborator, Ferrell has acted, directed, and choreographed on DTC’s stage.

Ferrell’s primary focus of responsibilities as associate artist will be to serve as a staff director and choreographer, with additional responsibilities in local casting and a variety of producing duties. In addition to directing the annual production of A Christmas Carol, which he has helmed the past four years, Ferrell will also direct reasons to be pretty, one of the plays in the 2009-10 season’s Neil LaBute trilogy, The Beauty Plays.

Ferrell’s appointment is another example of DTC’s commitment to supporting and nurturing professional theater artists in the DFW region. “Dallas Theater Center has a proud, 50-year history of employing talented professional artists as members of the theater’s acting company and artistic staff,” Moriarty explains. “A great city demands great art, and as the flagship theater in the region, we take our obligation to nurture and celebrate artists in our community very seriously.”

As Ferrell assumes local casting responsibilities, current Associate Artist and Resident Acting Company member Lee Trull will shift his primary focus to literary management in order to build upon DTC’s commitment to producing new plays and musicals.

Previously, Ferrell served as associate producer at Fort Worth’s Casa Mañana from 1996-97, and then as artistic director from 1997-2001. Ferrell’s work includes productions at local theaters such as Stage West, Fort Worth Shakespeare and Classical Acting Company, and at national theaters such as Portland Center Stage, Papermill Playhouse and Ford’s Theatre among others. In addition to A Christmas Carol, Ferrell’s work at DTC includes directing The Cotton Patch Gospel (2003), and choreographing My Fair Lady (2005) and Moriarty’s 2008 Dallas debut, The Who’s Tommy.

Source: Dallas Theater Center

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