GROVE THEATRE ANNOUNCES MANAGING DIRECTOR

Richard Stein, director of the Hartford Lincoln Theatre in Connecticut, will become the Grove Theatre Company’s managing director in late September.

Thomas Bradac, artistic director for the Garden Grove troupe, said Friday that Stein, 30, of Hartford, was chosen during a national search that drew 41 applicants, including nine theater administrators from California.

“He has an extensive background in the theater, having studied (in drama programs) at both Columbia and Syracuse universities and having done quality work in Hartford,” Bradac said.

“He also has a general art management background with skills in public relations and marketing, which is what we need here.”

As artistic director, Bradac has assumed most of the Grove’s business responsibilities. The new administrator is expected to allow Bradac more time to spend on the development of artistic programs.

Duties for Stein’s $22,000-a-year post will include publicity, building a larger overall audience and coordinating the company’s financial operations.

One of Stein’s first priorities, Bradac said, will be to raise subscriptions from the current 30% of ticket sales to 80%.

Bradac added that the company’s $550,000 budget is expected to climb to $1 million in the next three to five years, a growth that Stein will steward in great part.

Stein will also be involved with the Grove’s move toward using more professional actors and the signing of a contract with the Actors Equity Assn., a stage performers union. Some of the increased budget is expected to go to paying union-scale wages to professionals that the contract is expected to attract.

The Grove, which stages productions in the Gem Theatre in Garden Grove, is considered one of Orange County’s two more progressive stage companies, along with South Coast Repertory Theatre in Costa Mesa.

The troupe is also known for its annual Grove Shakespeare Festival, now in its summer run.