South Coast Repertory names new director

Marc Masterson, who has been in charge of Actors Theatre of Louisville and its high-profile Humana Festival of New American Plays since 2000, was named Wednesday to succeed Martin Benson and David Emmes as artistic director of South Coast Repertory. He’ll be only the second artistic director in the Costa Mesa theater’s 47-year history, following the co-founders who have been partners at the acclaimed company’s helm since its origins as an itinerant troupe operating out of Emmes’ station wagon.

Among Masterson’s credits is one that few candidates for the job could have possessed: He already has negotiated the challenge of succeeding an accomplished, and in some circles legendary, theatrical leader in Jon Jory, who led Actors Theatre for 30 years, launched the annual Humana Festival in 1976 and built it into a nationally hailed springboard for plays.

Besides picking and directing plays in Louisville, Masterson, who is in his mid-50s, oversaw a successful $13.5-million capital campaign ending in 2005 that boosted the Actors Theatre’s endowment, paid for renovations and led to the acquisition of a 45,000-square-foot studio for building and storing sets. Before succeeding Jory, Masterson spent 20 years as the artistic head of Pittsburgh’s City Theatre, the city’s second-ranked nonprofit theater, with two stages totaling 375 seats and a budget approaching $2 million.

At Actors Theatre, Masterson has directed many new plays, along with classics by Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde, Arthur Miller and David Mamet. In 2009, he directed Donald Margulies’ “Shipwrecked! An Entertainment,” which South Coast Repertory had premiered in 2007.

In a release announcing his appointment, Masterson said he aimed to “build the next generation of excellence” for South Coast Repertory. “The theater is already recognized for producing works of extraordinary caliber across a broad range of styles, and I am interested in bringing new artists into the repertoire, deepening the connections with the community and extending SCR’s reach to other parts of the world.” Masterson’s hiring was approved by a unanimous board vote late Wednesday afternoon. He is scheduled to begin working part-time in Costa Mesa on April 1, and assume fulltime duties Sept. 1.

When they announced last year that they would relinquish the joint artistic directorship, Benson and Emmes emphasized that they wanted a smooth transition and a sense of continuity. Under a new title, Founding Directors, they plan to serve for as many as five more years, directing at least one show each per season, advising Masterson, offering input on scripts and rehearsals and going on trips to scout productions that might suit SCR. Emmes’ wife, Paula Tomei, has been part of the business leadership at SCR for decades and its managing director since 1994; she and Masterson will serve jointly as the company’s chief executive officers, each reporting directly to the board.

Tom Phelps, SCR’s board president, described Masterson as “an exceptional leader with a track record that put him at the top” of the theater’s list of candidates.

Jennifer Bielstein, managing director at Actors Theatre, said Wednesday that 85% of the plays that have premiered at the Humana Festival during Masterson’s tenure have gone on to subsequent productions elsewhere. One of his achievements, she said, was increasing rehearsal and development time for new plays by 25%; he also inaugurated new education programs for college and secondary school students.

His management style, she said, “is very open-door and very informal in his interactions, very approachable,” and he embraces the fundraising part of the artistic director’s job that some regard as a chore. “He’s great in those one on one conversations with donors, to articulate the needs of the arts and the theater.”

In coping with the bad economy, Bielstein said, Masterson preserved the Humana Festival’s roster of seven new full-length plays and an evening of new 10-minute plays, but cut the subscription season from seven plays to five, starting in 2009-10. Actors Theatre also laid off 10 staff members, paring its budget from $10.3 million to $9.5 million. SCR underwent comparable reductions, from a peak of $10.8 million before the recession, to $9.8 million in 2009-10.

mike.boehm@latimes.com