Laura Lee comes from a 30-year career in nonprofit service and advocacy for the arts. Adam Immerwahr was the artistic director of Theater J in Washington D.C. for the past six and a half years. They will take over for Executive Producer Robb Hunt who leaves Village Theatre after 43 years.
After Village Theatre’s Executive Producer Robb Hunt announced his retirement in 2021, the local theater has led a nationwide search for a new leadership team. Village Theatre’s board of directors and Management Consultants for the Arts (a team of seasoned leaders from the arts and culture world that helps organizations fill positions) have filled the managing director and artistic director roles. This dual leadership will be a change from the single leadership model of Robb Hunt.
“Adam and Laura were chosen from an extensive list of qualified candidates and as a team bring a unique energy, experience, and vision to Village Theatre and are positioned to steer the organization soundly into the future,” Board President Jill Klinge said. “We are excited for our community of artists and patrons to meet our new ‘dream team!’”
Laura Lee has most recently filled the managing director position at ArtsWest, a Seattle theater and gallery, for the past nine years. In addition to arts administration, Lee’s experience extends to finance, marketing, PR and fundraising.
“As a passionate lover of musical theater, a believer that theater needs new works to stay relevant, and as a mom and theater administrator who knows the power of arts education, I am so honored to be joining this organization,” Lee shared.
Joining Village Theater from the East Coast, Adam Immerwahr’s most recent position was the artistic director of Theater J, the nation’s premier Jewish theater. He served as the associate artistic director at McCarter Theatre and as resident director of Passage Theatre, both in New Jersey.
“I am humbled and honored to be the next Artistic Director at Village Theatre,” Immerwahr said. “Musical theater was how I fell in love with theater as an art form, and I’m thrilled to be returning to it. Over the past four decades, Village Theatre has become a leader in arts education, in the development of new musical theater, and in creating productions that delight and enthrall its audiences; I know we will continue to build upon that incredible legacy.”
Laura Lee and Adam Immerwahr will both begin their new positions this month.