Mark Lamos Signs On as Artistic Director at Westport Country Playhouse

Theater veterans Mark Lamos and Michael Ross have been named artistic director and managing director, respectively, of Westport Country Playhouse in Connecticut, effective February 1. Lamos, who was appointed following a year-long, nationwide search by the theater’s board of trustees, will take the helm from Joanne Woodward and Anne Keefe, who served as interim artistic directors during the 2008 season.

Lamos served as artistic director of Hartford Stage from 1980 to 1997 and accepted the 1989 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theater on behalf of Hartford’s body of work. Most recently, he directed Cymbeline and Seascape at Lincoln Center Theater, winning a Tony Award nomination for Best Revival for the latter. Under Lamos’ direction, PBS’ Live from Lincoln Center telecast of Madama Butterfly won a 2008 Emmy Award for New York City Opera. Lamos will direct the upcoming Adriana Lecouvreur with Placido Domingo, opening in February at the Metropolitan Opera.

Michael Ross most recently served for six years as managing director of Center Stage in Baltimore and previously worked in management with Connecticut's Long Wharf Theatre and Hartford Stage. He currently serves on Theatre Communications Group’s board of directors. Ross will succeed Jodi Schoenbrun Carter, who served as managing director from 2006 to 2008.

Lamos, who last season was asked to take over from Paul Newman the direction of the Playhouse’s production of Of Mice and Men, said in a statement, “At that time I had no idea that Westport Country Playhouse would attract me on so many levels. I started to learn more about its dazzling history, the parade of great artists who had worked there over nearly 80 seasons, its constant commitment to excellence and its important contribution to the history of American—as well as Connecticut—theater. Then I saw the beautiful Playhouse theater and began to feel a quickening of the heart. Rehearsing in that vital, intimate space, so lovingly restored by Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, along with a group of passionate board members, I began to feel an indescribable attachment not only to the theater but also to the community of board members, donors and audiences to whom it mattered so deeply.”