Managing Director Mike Schleifer is leaving the Alliance Theatre at the end of the year for The Big Apple.
After 11 years with the Alliance, Schleifer has been named managing director of Lincoln Center Theater in New York City, according to a press release.
As managing director for the Alliance, Schleifer oversees operational, marketing, financial, fundraising and shared services activities. Over the course of his tenure at the Alliance, he led the theater through two major renovation projects, more than 100 productions, and a global pandemic. He helped move four shows to Broadway, including last season’s “Water for Elephants” and this season’s “Maybe Happy Ending.”
Schleifer also serves on the boards of the collective bargaining association the League of Resident Theatres and Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre Company.
In a joint statement Jennings Hertz Artistic Directors Tinashe Kajese-Bolden and Christopher Moses praised Schleifer’s ability to lead with “heart, vision, and humor.”
“Mike’s willingness to bet on our mission and invest in the extraordinary talent of the Alliance staff allowed us to realize aspirational dreams we never would have dared to dream without his encouragement and faith,” reads the statement. “We’ll miss him daily but cannot wait to witness the joy he’ll bring to the Lincoln Center Theater.”
In his new role at Lincoln Center Schleifer will oversee the theater’s financial and operational health, identify revenue opportunities, manage the theater’s union relationships, lead budgeting and marketing efforts, and more.
“It’s been a true honor and privilege to work, lead, and learn at the Alliance Theatre for the last eleven years,” Schleifer said in the release. “I’m deeply grateful to the staff, artists, and audiences of the Alliance Theatre and Woodruff Arts Center who have made this journey so rewarding.”
The Alliance is in the process of looking for the theater’s next managing director.
