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Genise fills permanent post at theater By Sean Wolfe Ashland Daily Tidings In a move that cements her position at the helm of Talent-based Actors' Theatre, the board of that theater announced the creation of a new position, and tapped its interim managing director Livia Genise to fill it. Following the New Year's evening performance of Annie, Actor's Theatre Board President Creighton Barnes announced the creation of the position of Managing Artistic Director, and made Genise's appointment to the position permanent. Barnes cited Genise's business skills and community relations savvy. "She also has the artistic background to choose the plays, direct, act and do whatever is necessary to run the production side while making AT into a dramatic resource for this valley community," Barnes said. According to Barnes, the job description mixes theater administration and financial management with artistic duties. By all accounts, it's a big job. Genise will be responsible for the annual budget, ticket and subscription sales, corporate and grant underwriting, fund development, as well as hiring artistic and technical personnel, supervising and training volunteers, plus public relations and community outreach and other events. According to board member Fred Gibbs, Genise's credentials to fulfill the expectations of this new position were "superior in all respects" to those of Peter Alzado, who was ousted by the board last year and went on to form Oregon Stage Works. "Her ability to step into this position and within a few months not only substantially revamp a physically declining theater space but to direct and act in a successful Rappaport and then to bring us Annie � are ample testimonials to her skill and industriousness," Gibbs said. For her own part, Genise welcomed the position, and suggested that the fare for Actors' Theatre would attempt to stage plays with wider appeal. Alzado had been criticized for his choices of plays critics deemed edgy, and supporters applauded him for the same reason. "We are beginning this new year with a clear purpose: Actors' Theatre is a place for the entire audience of the Rogue Valley, from students to seniors and singles to parents. We will be offering plays and musicals that not only challenge but uplift our audience, in addition to providing training for the next generation of theater artists, no matter what their age," Genise said. LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -