Chad Austin Named Abingdon Theatre Company's First Producing Artistic Director

Chad Austin has become the first Producing Artistic Director in Abingdon Theatre Company’s 31-year history. Austin will guide the organization’s multi-year artistic, administrative, and financial planning.

Austin joined Abingdon Theatre Company (ATC) in 2016 and became the third Artistic Director in the company’s long history of producing in 2018 when he took the helm of the company. Since then, Austin has created new programming, including ATC’s critically acclaimed film component Abingdon Virtual, the DMW Greer One Night Only Series, and the popular downtown cabaret series Broadway on the Bowery. Under Austin’s leadership, ATC has produced critically lauded work, including Jaqueline Novak’s Drama Desk-nominated Get on Your Knees, the One Night Only premiere of Alex Edelman’s Just for Us which is currently running on Broadway, the New York Premiere of Queens Girl in the World, and most recently, the Off-Broadway premiere of Robin & Me: My Little Spark of Madness.

Established over 30 years ago, Abingdon Theatre Company (ATC) develops and produces critically acclaimed brave, new American work by emerging and established artists. Mainstage Productions include the Off-Broadway premiere of Robin & Me: My Little Spark of Madness written and performed by Dave Droxler, the New York premiere of Queens Girl in the World, which was nominated for Outstanding Solo Performance for the Vivian Robinson Audelco Recognition Awards for Excellence in Black Theatre, and the NYT Critics’ Pick Get on Your Knees written and performed by Jaqueline Novak, nominated for a Drama Desk Award. The DMW Greer One Night Only Series has showcased work such as Alex Edelman’s Just for Us which went on to receive Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations and will be premiering on Broadway in the summer of 2023; Back by Matt Webster starring Emmy Award nominee Madeline Brewer and Tony Award nominee James Cusati-Moyer; The Prompter starring Oscar-winning actress Estelle Parsons; Date of a Lifetime, a new musical with book and lyrics by Carl Kissin and music by Robert Baumgartner Jr. ATC’s Around the Table Series has produced staged readings of new plays such as The Inferno by Chris Sherman and Arancini by Joey Merlo. In 2020, ATC established Abingdon Virtual led by Executive Producer Chad Austin, and has since produced three award-winning films, including As Apple Pie written and directed by Artist-in-Residence Pierre Marais, which was an official selection of the Cannes World Film Festival for Best Young Filmmaker and won multiple awards at festivals including Best Cinematography, Best Director, and Best Drama USA; Abingdon Virtual’s premiere film, It Cries Too Loudly, was an official selection of the Prague International Short Film Awards and won Best Cinematography and Best Short Film at the Eastern European Film Festival.

For more informtion visit www.abingdontheatre.org

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