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Tacoma Little Theatre |
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(Tacoma, WA) – Following a national search which involved critical review of more than a dozen candidates, Tacoma Little Theatre announces the appointment of Mr. David Duvall as its new Artistic Director. The announcement is made by Tacoma Little Theatre’s Board President, Mr. Scott O’Donnell. In addition to appointing a new Artistic Director, the theatre has also strategically restructured its leadership hierarchy. Duvall will partner with existing Business Director, Corinna Chapo to jointly manage the 88 year old institution.
Duvall a native of Bellevue, Washington, comes to Tacoma Little Theatre with more than thirty years in professional theatre and more than 250 productions to his credit. He has performed in various capacities with such companies as The Montana Repertory Theatre, Seattle Children’s Theatre, Eastside Theatre Company, Tacoma Actor’s Guild, Evergreen Theatre Company, Studio East, Tacoma Little Theatre, ACT in Seattle, Western Washington University, Western Theatre Summer Stock and American Revue Theatre, where he served as Founding Artistic Director for four years.
As producer, director, musical director and/or actor his credits include: SOUTH PACIFIC, PIPPIN, GREASE, THE LION THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE, ANIMAL FARM, MY FAIR LADY, GODSPELL, BRIGADOON, AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’, INTO THE WOODS, and LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS.
He is the recipient of nine Richard Odlin awards for his directing and musical direction work at Tacoma Little Theatre and three Bellingham Theatre Guild Awards for Outstanding Direction of a Musical. Included in Duvall’s long list of accomplishments are two Emmy nominations for Best Original Music for Television (1987,1995), the first for the KING-TV film SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS and the second for the KCTS Special THINGS THAT AREN’T HERE ANYMORE. Duvall studied piano and composition for many years with the renowned Seattle Composer Lockrem Johnson and internationally recognized concert pianist John Sundsten.
Quoted from Tacoma Little Theatre’s board member, Helen McClure, “We are so pleased to have a person of this caliber joining our Theatre. He brings with him a wealth of talent and experience in community theatre”. Jim Pallwitz who serves as the Board’s Vice President, stated “The Board had appointed an Executive Search Committee to oversee this important appointment and we are extremely pleased with the professional and thoroughness in which they conducted the search. The results of their hard work brought to light the best candidate for our Theatre.”
Most recently, Duvall acquired permission from the Cole Porter Music and Literary Property Trusts to compile and arrange the world premiere of WHAT IS THIS THING CALLED LOVE?, that successfully debuted on Tacoma Little Theatre’s Second Stage. November 2006 through January 27, 2007 Duvall served as Musical Director/Orchestrations for Seattle Children’s Theatre production of, THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE. He also teaches privately, and has experience as a guest instructor at Cornish College of The Arts in Seattle.
Duvall enthusiastically states, “I am elated to have this opportunity to serve Tacoma’s theatrical community as well as the community at large. In my ten years of working at TLT, I have truly grown to love Tacoma, our audiences and particularly the enormously talented people who appear on the TLT stage. To watch them grow and blossom, over and over, is truly a thrill for me! I’m looking forward to what we will all create together in the coming years.” When asked about how he envisions working with joint Director Chapo, Duvall explains, “Corinna is one of the finest Business Directors I’ve come across in my many years of theatre. I sense a common goal and commitment to this theatre already in our meetings and previous TLT experiences – I am confident we will be able to guide TLT into a prosperous time, serving our community with the finest in theatrical productions and community education”.
Chapo is a native to the Seattle area and has been employed as Tacoma Little Theatre’s Business Director for more than a year. She brings with her ten years of financial/product planning with local retailer Eddie Bauer and has served as Senior Marketing Manager at local candy manufacturer Brown & Haley. While employed at Eddie Bauer, she received the most acclaimed award, an “Eddie” and several “Stein” awards. Chapo also has extensive Program Management experience acquired with Pepsi in New York and Eli Lilly in Indiana.
During the past year, Chapo has successfully established season partnerships with Click! Network and Boeing. Community partners such as Columbia Bank, Rainier Pacific and Emerald Queen Hotel and Casinos have also joined Tacoma Little Theatre’s family in supporting artistic productions and educational programming.
Scott O’Donnell, President of Tacoma Little Theatre’s Board confirms, “She is a tremendous asset to our theatre and our community. She has created and implemented successful strategic financial plans, provided creative and consistent marketing efforts, while achieving phenomenal success with grant development. It is because of her proven talents that Tacoma Little Theatre proudly recognizes her as a joint Director responsible for the leadership and management of Tacoma Little Theatre”.
Tacoma Little Theatre is celebrating its 88th year in pursuit of its mission: to create entertaining, challenging and enriching theatre for and with their community. They are committed to producing high quality theatre that is accessible to all members of its South Puget Sound community and devoted to building strong educational programming that reaches into a diverse population including underserved and at-risk schools. In this manner, TLT serves as an engine for community-building using theatre performances; Tacoma Little Theatre brings people together.
Tacoma Little Theatre is grateful to Boeing, ArtsFund, Click! Network, The Washington State Arts Commission, and The City of Tacoma Arts Commission for their generous support.