Michael Gennaro will step down from his position as executive director of Trinity Repertory Company after seven years of running daily business at the Providence theater. In February, he will move to East Haddam, Connecticut, to take up the executive director position at Goodspeed Musicals — famous for being the birthplace of the popular Broadway show “Annie.”
“It’s a great fit and an opportunity I never thought I would have,” Gennaro said.
He will succeed Michael Price, the director of Goodspeed for 45 of its 51 years in business. Gennaro described Price as a “huge presence” in American musical theater. Gennaro has been at the helm of nonprofit performance organizations for 25 years and has often come in contact with Price’s work.
“The chance to follow him is extraordinary,” he said.
The role of executive director entails different responsibilities at Trinity Rep than it does at Goodspeed. While Gennaro currently serves as the business director and Curt Columbus functions as the artistic director, Gennaro’s upcoming position will require him to control both programming and administration.
Gennaro has prior experience selecting shows for a theater. “It’s a matter of picking the right people who have a musical in mind they want to do or picking a musical and then finding the right people to do it,” he said. He added that though the quality of the narrative is the primary consideration, the music, dancing and attached director also play key roles in the process.
At Trinity Rep, Gennaro’s two priorities have been reducing the company’s debt and supporting Question Five — a cultural facilities bond that will give $35 million to performing arts centers across Rhode Island — through to its Nov. 4 passage, he said.
The bond “will have a 50-year impact on the arts in Rhode Island,” Columbus said.
But Gennaro’s work also steps outside the traditional job description of a business director. Gennaro and Columbus have known each other since 1995, and their friendship has led to a theater run under “joint direction,” as the two often collaborate, Columbus said.
“I pass him scripts as they come of interest to me, and we make comments on them,” he said. “Unlike some executives and producers who look at the bottom line and work backward from that, Michael looks at the creative spark and works forward from that.”
Gennaro’s legacy also extends to the Brown/Trinity MFA Program, for which he has served as business leader and liaison between the University and the company. “The program’s gone in eight or nine years from basically a start-up to one of the top three programs in the country,” Gennaro said.
His final task at Trinity Rep will be assisting in the selection of his successor. During the selection process, Gennaro will serve primarily as a “resource to ask questions,” he said.
Though Gennaro is an irreplaceable figure, Columbus said. His “departure provides us with an opportunity to reflect on what we need for the future at Trinity Rep.”
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