Staff
PJ PAPARELLI (Artistic Director) In November 2007, PJ Paparelli took the reigns as American Theater Company’s Artistic Director.
PJ hails from Juneau, Alaska where he was the Artistic Director of Perseverance Theatre, Alaska’s premiere professional theatre. In three and half years, PJ created, shepherded and launched some of the most innovative theatrical collaborations that stimulated a significant increase in audiences and sent projects around the United States, Washington, DC and Off-Broadway. Under his tenure, Perseverance expanded its staff and completed a $1.1M facility expansion and renovation and $1M Endowment campaign, and served on the Mayor’s Performing Arts Center Commission. His Perseverance directing credits include the World Premiere of the writers of Urinetown’s new musical, Yeast Nation, Equus, The Who’s Tommy (box office record), Hamlet, Twelfth Night, the premiere of a new version of Hair (including new book, lyrics and music), A Midsummer Night's Dream, Voyage, and columbinus. PJ conceived and co-adapted Raven Odyssey, a theatrical journey of Alaska Native Raven stories, gathered through interviews with Elders across the state. Other projects under PJ’s guidance were revised versions of The Laramie Project and The People’s Temple by Members of the Tectonic Theatre Project (went on to The Guthrie Theatre) and Tlingit Macbeth, spoken in English and Tlingit, the indigenous culture of Juneau. Macbeth toured Alaska and was presented at the Kennedy Center’s Shakespeare in Washington Festival in 2007.
In 2002, PJ founded the United States Theatre Project, where he conceived, co-wrote, and directed columbinus, a theatrical discussion exploring the world of modern adolescence through the lens of the 1999 Columbine shootings. columbinus premiered at Round House Theatre and Perseverance Theatre, and ran Off-Broadway at New York Theatre Workshop. columbinus was nominated for two 2007 Lucille Lortel Awards for Direction and Sound Design, and five 2006 Helen Hayes Awards, including Outstanding New Play, Outstanding Direction, and Outstanding Production, and will be published by Dramatic Publishing in the fall of 2007. Raven Theater will produce the Chicago premiere this season.
From 1998-2004, he served as the Associate Director of the Shakespeare Theatre Company, where his directing credits include Much Ado About Nothing, Hamlet, Love Letters (with Dixie Carter and Hal Holbrook), All’s Well That Ends Well (Classical Acting Conservatory), The Two Gentlemen of Verona, and The Merchant of Venice at the Shakespeare Free For All, and many plays in the ReDiscovery Series including the world premiere of three Tennessee Williams' recently discovered one acts. He was associate director on Much Ado About Nothing starring Karen Ziemba, and an all African-American production of The Oedipus Plays starring Avery Brooks at the Athens Festival in Greece. He was the assistant director on King Lear, Richard II, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Coriolanus, King John, A Woman of No Importance, Twelfth Night, Trojan Women, Timon of Athens, and The Duchess of Malfi and cast over twenty productions.
The Washington Post called PJ, “One of the most exciting talents working in Washington.” His DC productions include Romeo and Juliet at The Folger Theater, a collaboration with Terrence McNally on a new version of Corpus Christi at Source Theatre (2003 GLAAD Media Award), the world premiere of John Strand’s The Diaries at Signature Theatre and Love’s Labour’s Lost at Washington Shakespeare Co. In 2001, PJ was selected to direct the inaugural production of the Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis, Romeo and Juliet and was appointed to the Festival's Artistic Advisory Board. PJ founded and served as artistic director for the Pittsburgh Public Theatre’s Shakespeare Intensive where he directed A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Tom Stoppard’s Fifteen Minute Hamlet. Other directing credits include Twelfth Night at Shakespeare Santa Cruz (2005 Newsweek’s Top Five summer productions), The Merchant of Venice at the American Shakespeare Center, Sam Shepard’s Action at Circle Repertory Company Lab and True West in Russian at the Moscow Art Theatre School in Moscow.
PJ has directed and/or taught Shakespeare at The Juilliard School (Richard III), Bread Loaf School of English at Middlebury College (Hamlet), North Carolina School of the Arts (Split), University of Alaska-Southeast, UNC at Chapel Hill, Catholic U (Twelfth Night), U of Pennsylvania (Once on this Island), Johns Hopkins (Godspell), and many master class and education programs at the Shakespeare Theatre Company. He holds a BFA in directing from Carnegie Mellon and graduate studies in acting at the Moscow Art Theatre School.
In 2007-08, PJ is developing American Family, the United States Theatre Project’s new collaboration exploring familial and communal loss in America; Richard Oberacker and Rob Taylor’s new musical, Journey to the West, and he is writing the book and lyrics to Rockstar, a rock musical commissioned by Perseverance Theatre.
MICHAEL THOMAS NEWBERRY (Executive Director) comes to American Theater Company after three years as Deputy Director at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, recipient of the 2008 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre. During his tenure, Michael managed artist and union relations, led the development of a new website, expanded the Depaul University/Chicago Shakespeare Theater Arts Leadership Program, and oversaw international presentations of work by Peter Brook, James Thiérrée, Carlo Colla e Figli, The Royal Shakespeare Company, The Farber Foundry, and The Chekhov International Theatre Festival, among others. Previously, he worked with Teach For America as an elementary and middle school teacher and as Development Director for the Arizona region. He has also worked with Childsplay, a theater for young audiences in Arizona, and with Future Tenant, a laboratory space for emerging visual, literary and performance artists in Pittsburgh. Michael holds a master's degree in arts management from Carnegie Mellon University and a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan. He is a recipient of the New Generations, Future Leaders grant, a program of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and Theatre Communications Group.
JULIE SALTZMAN (Producing Director) has spent the past fourteen years working in various capacities at Chicago theatres. Prior to joining ATC she served as Managing Director at Seanachai Theatre Company. She has also worked as Associate Producer, Production Manager, Stage Manager, and Production Assistant at theatres throughout the city including Seanachai, Shapeshifters Theatre, Strawdog Theatre Company, Eclipse Theatre Company, and Victory Gardens and at regional theaters including Colorado Shakespeare Theatre and Utah Shakespearean Theatre. Julie holds a Bachelors of Arts in Theatre from Loyola University and a Masters of Arts Management from Columbia College.
LYNNE PACE GREEN (Education Director) has been working as a professional in the field of educational theatre for over twenty years. She holds an MFA in Drama and Theatre for Youth. She has worked in a variety of settings including professional theatre, community theatre, community arts organizations, and in many different school settings. In addition to teaching, performing and directing experience in all of these settings, she has extensive program development and arts administration experience. Lynne has developed successful, award-winning programs for the City of Sunnyvale in California, the Albion Civic Foundation in Michigan and for Chase Community School in Chicago. She has worked as producing director and education director for the California Theatre Center, a theatre company located in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has taught at The University of Alaska in Anchorage, at Albion College in Michigan, Eastern Michigan University and Evergreen College in California. Lynne has published articles on theatre education and is an active member of numerous theatre education organizations.
KAYCE ALLTOP (Development Associate) has been with American Theater Company since June of 2007. Kayce has a degree in theatre from Lewis University and has lived in Chicago since 2000 working in development, design and performance. She currently works as the Development Coordinator for pH Productions as well.