Center Theatre Group names its first female managing director

Center Theatre Group announced Monday that Meghan Pressman will be its next managing director and CEO, making her the first female managing director in the nonprofit company’s 52-year history.

Pressman comes to CTG from Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Washington, D.C., where she has served as managing director since 2014. She replaces Stephen D. Rountree, who retired last year, after taking on the position in 2015.

Pressman will partner with CTG Artistic Director Michael Ritchie to shape the future of the city’s largest theater company, which operates the Ahmanson Theatre and the Mark Taper Forum in downtown L.A. and the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City. She will oversee management, finances, communications, marketing and technology, among other areas.

“This is an amazing opportunity to build on Center Theatre Group’s legacy of artistic ambition and excellence, and to cultivate an audience as diverse and vibrant as Los Angeles,” Pressman said in the announcement.

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While at Woolly Mammoth, Pressman was in charge of a $5-million nonprofit organization known as a center for theatrical research and development.

She also has worked in management roles at Signature Theatre in New York City and at Berkeley and Yale repertory theaters. She holds a master’s in theater management from Yale School of Drama, an MBA from Yale School of Management, a master of arts from Northwestern University and a bachelor’s degree from Boston College.