ROBERT WALSH NAMED GLOUCESTER STAGE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Gloucester Stage is pleased to announce that Robert Walsh has been named Artistic Director of the 36-year old non-profit professional theatre, effective immediately. Walsh’s appointment as Artistic Director continues a 20-year relationship with Gloucester Stage as both an actor and director as well as serving as Interim Artistic Director since December, 2014. During Gloucester Stage’s 2015 season Walsh directed Enda Walsh’s The New Electric Ballroom and currently appears in the New England premiere of Israel Horovitz’s Gloucester Blue, which has extended it run through October 11.

According to the President of Gloucester Stage’s Board of DirectorsRobert Boulrice, “This summer we conducted an exhaustive national search that generated 86 applicants. I am delighted to say that after a whole lot of work, all we had to do was remove the “Interim” tag from Bob Walsh’s Artistic Director title! The cream rose to the top, and it was locally churned.” Reflecting on the Walsh’s accomplishments as Interim Artistic Director, Boulrice continues, “Bob has been at the artistic helm for the entire 2015 season. Many patrons have commented that this has been our best season ever. He is already at work finding plays for our next season, news of which we want to tease our audiences with before the 2015 season ends. As an actor/director, Bob Walsh has graced the Gloucester Stage for many years. As our Artistic Director, it will be great having him program the plays that will appear on it.”

Robert Walsh becomes the third artistic leader in the theatre’s history following Eric C. Engel, and Founding Artistic Director Israel Horovitz. Horovitz is enthusiastic about Walsh’s leadership, “I am thrilled that Robert Walsh will be Gloucester Stage’s 3rd-ever Artistic Director. Bob has been a close friend and collaborator for more than two decades. At Gloucester Stage, he has directed four of my plays (North Shore Fish,Fighting Over Beverley, The Widow’s Blind Date, The Primary English Class), and starred in three others. (Sins of the Mother, The Barking Sharks, and he is on stage at this moment giving a brilliant performance in my play Gloucester Blue.) I know Bob Walsh well and have profound respect for him as an artist. Everything we have ever worked on together has found success. Bob inspires everyone around him to better work, to a higher level. For good reason, Robert Walsh is beloved in the New England theatre-community. As Samuel Taylor Coleridge noted [in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner], “... like vessel, like crew“. Bob Walsh’s leadership at Gloucester Stage will not only assure artistic excellence, it will assure work as daring and exciting as Walsh himself. This is indeed good news.”

“Gloucester Stage Company has consistently been an exciting place for me, not only as an artist, but as an audience member, as well!  I am honored to step into the role of Artistic Director and continue the tradition of great work established by Israel and continued by Eric.  We have an amazing staff and group of artisans who have mounted this season giving it a remarkably strong look and to whom I am indebted. The creative teams on each production this season have been so thoroughly wonderful, from directors to actors to designers, I couldn’t be more appreciative and proud of the work we’ve put on-stage.  I am also excited by forthcoming news of our leadership team and eagerly look forward to sharing the news of our 2016 season!”

Walsh is a familiar face in the Boston-area theatre community, having worked with Actors’ Shakespeare Project, Huntington Theatre Company, Stoneham Theatre, and many more. Other theatres where he has worked in New England and beyond include Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Two River Theatre Company, Portland Stage Company, and the Vineyard Playhouse. He has served as the Producing Artistic Director at the American Stage Festival where he directed Bus Stop, Intimate Exchanges, Jacques Brel…, and Lend Me a Tenor, among others. As Artistic Associate at Actors’ Shakespeare Project he has directed As You Like It, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Coriolanus, Twelfth Night, andMeasure For Measure.  Other productions directed include: Othellowith Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey; Round and Round The Garden, Table Manners, K2, Later Life and Holiday Memories at Merrimack Rep; Rancho Mirage, Race, Speed-The-Plow, and True West with New Repertory Theatre; The Secret of Sherlock Holmes andThe Goatwoman of Corvis County at Shakespeare & Co.; Misallianceand A Life in the Theatre at Two River Theatre Co.; I Hate Hamletwith StageWest; The Little Foxes at Barter Theatre; and Of Mice and Men at Stoneham Theatre, among others. In addition to his work on the stage, Walsh has appeared on film in State and Main, Amistad, Eight Men Out, and Black Mass. On television, he has appeared on Body of Proof (ABC) and on the daytime dramas Another World, The Guiding Light, and One Life to Live. Mr. Walsh directed the on-field ceremonies for the ’99 All-Star Game at Fenway Park. He is on the faculty at A.R.T/M.X.A.T. (Harvard) and Brandeis University.

Israel Horovitz’s Gloucester Blue featuring the critically acclaimed performance of recently appointed Artistic Director Robert Walsh is extended through Sunday, October 11 at Gloucester Stage. Performances are Wednesday through Saturday at 7:30 pm andSaturday and Sunday at 2:00 pm. Ticket prices are $28 for all performances. Tickets are $1 for ages 25 years and under for all performances. The $1 tickets are cash only and available at the door on day of performance only. All performances are held at 267 East Main Street, Gloucester, MA. For more information and to purchase tickets, call the Gloucester Stage Box Office at 978-281-4433 or visitwww.gloucesterstage.com