Leadership Change Announced
Preston Whiteway Named Executive Director;
Amy Sullivan To Serve As Consultant

{Waterford, CT} Tom Viertel, Chairman of the Board of the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, announced today that Amy Sullivan would be stepping down from her leadership role as Executive Director of the O'Neill for health reasons. Ms. Sullivan will continue her relationship with the O'Neill as a Consultant in the areas of strategic planning, fundraising and programs. Preston Whiteway, General Manager of the O'Neill, has been named Executive Director by the Board, effective immediately.

"We are extremely grateful for Amy Sullivan's dedicated service to the O'Neill during her three years as Executive Director," Mr. Viertel stated. "Under her leadership, the O'Neill has been able to expand its Conference programs and its National Theater Institute training initiatives while achieving greater fundraising goals and increasing its institutional capacity to support the artists whose talents we support through our Mission." He noted that the O'Neill has added a new development conference for Cabaret and Performance, initiated an accredited NTI summer program, renovated and reopened the National Historic Landmark Monte Cristo Cottage, the boyhood home of Nobel Prize-winning playwright Eugene O'Neill and the setting for both Long Day's Journey Into Night and Ah, Wilderness!, and spearheaded the O'Neill's purchase of the house next door to the Monte Cristo Cottage (also once owned by the O'Neill family) with generous funding from the State of Connecticut. The addition of this building will allow the O'Neill to consider the establishment of a year-round development retreat for playwrights. Ms. Sullivan's tenure has also seen increased organizational stability and the selection of a new Artistic Director for the National Playwrights Conference, one of the flagship developmental programs of the O'Neill that has established it as the pre-eminent developmental laboratory for new works and new artists. "Her willingness to continue to serve the O'Neill as an advisor on strategic and planning issues is very welcome and will help to ensure our organizational stability into the future."

Preston Whiteway, who has served the O'Neill as General Manager since June 2004, has worked closely with Ms. Sullivan on organizational and program initiatives throughout his tenure. He received his BA in Economics from Duke University, where he served as the Chair of Broadway at Duke, leading and managing the major arts presenting organization which brings national tours of Broadway shows to Durham, N.C. While at Duke, Mr. Whiteway also mentored with producer Manny Azenberg and Zannie Voss. He additionally worked with the O'Neill's National Playwrights Conference Artistic Director, Wendy C. Goldberg, at Washington, D.C.'s Arena Stage in 2003.

"I am honored and thrilled that the Board has asked me to take on the responsibilities of the Executive Director position," Mr. Whiteway said. "My close working relationship with Amy Sullivan, the Board, our artists, our funders and audience has prepared me for this new position. With the support of the Board and the staff, I am confident we will work together to meet the organization's short-term and long-term goals. I remain eternally grateful to Amy for all she has done for the O'Neill; it is a stronger institution because of her. I look forward to continuing to work with her in her new role."

"We are indeed fortunate to have Preston Whiteway take on the leadership position of Executive Director at the O'Neill," Mr. Viertel stated. "He has a tremendous depth of understanding and knowledge of the organization, its programs and its future goals. He is ideally suited and ready for this new role at the O'Neill, and the entire Board endorses his appointment."

The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, founded in 1964, is the pre-eminent laboratory for the development of new works and new voices for the American theater. It has been home to more than 1,000 new works for the stage and 2,500 emerging artists. Scores of projects developed at the O'Neill have gone on to full productions at other theaters around the world, including Broadway, off-Broadway and major regional theaters. The O'Neill is itself the winner of a special Tony Award, the National Opera Award, the Jujamcyn Award for Theater Excellence and the Arts and Business Council Encore Award. The O'Neill's programs include the National Playwrights Conference, National Music Theater Conference, Puppetry Conference, Cabaret and Performance Conference, National Critics Institute, and the fully accredited National Theater Institute, which includes semester-long, fully accredited intensive theater training programs and a six-week accredited summer program, Theatermakers. In addition, the O'Neill owns and operates the Monte Cristo Cottage, a National Historic Landmark and the childhood home of Nobel Prize-winning and four-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, Eugene O'Neill. For more information regarding the Center, please visit the O'Neill website at www.TheONeill.org or call 860-443-5378.