Monthly Archives: May 2016

Eric Byrd.

(CINCINNATI) — Eric Byrd is joining the staff of The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati as the company’s new Associate Artistic Director.

Eric is a Cincinnati native and a recent transplant from New York City, where he spent the past years working in commercial theatre and live entertainment.  He got his start as a performer at Paramount’s Kings Island and since has performed across the country and across the world.  Favorite performance credits include Legally Blonde, Fiddler on the Roof, 42nd Street, The Drowsy Chaperone, Urban Cowboy, The Producers, High School Musical, & West Side Story, as well as multiple contracts on board Holland America Cruise Lines, where he also served as Company Manager.

This past year, he worked in the Broadway casting office of Stewart/Whitley where he assisted on the Broadway productions of On The Town, Chicago, Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 (starring Josh Groban) as well as the national tours of Bullets Over Broadway, Once, Shrek, Into the Woods and Elf, The Last Night of Ballyhoo, and The Forgotten Woman at Bay Street Theatre, AIDA Cruise Lines and West Side Story (starring Skylar Astin) at Carnegie Hall.  He was responsible for expanding the talent search on London’s West End for Royal Caribbean Cruise Line’s productions of We Will Rock You, Cats, Saturday Night Fever, Mamma Mia! and Grease.

Additional casting credits include work at the Roundabout Theatre Company/Jim Carnahan Casting, assisting on the Broadway productions of Once, Matilda, and Anything Goes.  Eric served as a choreographer and assistant director at Interlochen Summer Arts Camp for two summers, and has served on panels and taught master classes for Broadway Artists Alliance, Actors Connection, Students Live, and The Growing Studio in New York City.  He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre and a Minor in Management from Wright State University and is a proud member of Actors Equity.

“I am beyond thrilled to be joining the team at TCT,” Eric says.  “Theatre has the power to inspire, to heal, and to educate and it has given me a home, a sense of purpose, a safe haven, and a family. I’m looking forward to bringing my experiences to this incredible organization.  This city is responsible for introducing me to theatre and I am so happy to be back.  After all, there is no place like home!”

Organizational Overview: 

TCT’s mission is to educate, entertain and engage audiences of all ages through professional theatrical productions and arts education programming.  We fulfill our mission through three primary programs:

• TCT MainStage– We welcome 80,000 children, teachers, and family members from across the Tri-State, to one of our four family-friendly and professional musical theater productions at the historic Taft Theatre.
• TCT On Tour – We see over 60,000 children and their families at one of our touring performances or during an arts-integration workshop or residency.
• TCT Academy – Over 600 children will be provided fine arts instruction, including the group that participates in summer intensive STAR summer programs where we offer professional musical theatre training to some of the region’s most talented youth.

Vision:

• Create smiles, open minds, and touch hearts.
• Harness theater experiences and the arts as forces for education and understanding.
• Create meaningful shared arts experiences.
• Present award winning and nationally recognized productions and arts education programming.
• Foster a work environment of excellence, creativity, and innovation.

Core Beliefs:

• We believe in the power of theater to enrich lives and create deeper understandings of people, cultures, and perspectives.
• We believe that our audiences deserve high quality experiences that are rich with wonder, honesty, compassion, joy, and wisdom.

• We believe that the arts and education are not mutually exclusive.
• We believe that the art we create must respect the diversity of our community.
• We believe in the power of integrated arts education to enrich our lives and our communities.