A Special Announcement from CTC
Peter Brosius to depart Children’s Theatre Company at the end of the 23-24 season
After 27 years of transformational theatre, Brosius is the longest serving Artistic Director in CTC’s 58-year history
Children’s Theatre Company(CTC) is announcing that Peter Brosius, Artistic Director has decided to depart CTC on June 30, 2024, at the end of the 2023-24 Season. His artistic vision has transformed the theatre into the nation’s leading theatre that serves a multi-generational audience.
Brosius took the helm of CTC in 1997 and during his tenure, has produced more than 187 productions, championed more than 70 new works from commission to fully developed works on the stage, served more than 5 million children and community members, founded innovative educational programming, and championed equity, diversity and inclusion efforts to eliminate barriers to participation for those underrepresented in theatre. Brosius’ passion and respect for young people has been at the core of CTC’s mission to educate, challenge, and inspire young people and their communities through extraordinary theatre experiences.
Championing new works and building the canon of plays that center young people has been at the heart of Brosius’ artistic vision. More than 70 new plays and musicals have been commissioned, developed, and premiered at CTC by more than 100 writers including Cheryl West, Nilo Cruz, Naomi Iizuka, Larissa FastHorse, Itamar Moses, Jerome Hairston, Barry Kornhauser, Lloyd Suh, Will Power, Liz Duffy Adams, Carlos Murillo, Kia Corthron, Philip Dawkins, and Greg Banks. A major new initiative, Generation Now, is a partnership between CTC and Penumbra, Latino Theatre Company, Mai Yi, and Native Voices to commission and develop 16 new plays and musicals by Black, Indigenous, AAPI and Latinx writers for a multigenerational audience. These new works will have a life for years to come. He also introduced preschool programming to CTC and both commissioned original works and brought in extraordinary preschool productions from across the globe. CTC has also become a major presenter of acclaimed international productions from Europe, Africa, and Asia.
“I have loved every moment of my time here. I couldn’t be prouder of this team and the work we do every day. It has been an honor and a privilege to be an advocate for young people, for their intelligence, their dignity, and their agency. I have been filled with endless joy and hope for the future by their enthusiasm and their optimism,” says Peter Brosius. “I have had the great good fortune of working with brilliant artists who brought their whole hearts and talents to this work. The staff and board at CTC are all so deeply committed to our mission and to truly making a difference in the lives of our community. It has been a pleasure to work with my partners in leadership and most recently it has been a joy to move this theatre forward with Kim Motes.”
Under Brosius’ leadership, CTC moved A Year with Frog and Toad to Broadway and is the only theatre in Minnesota to have a show nominated for three Tony Awards. CTC also received the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre in 2003 and was named the #1 children’s theatre by Time Magazine. Additionally, during Brosius’ tenure, CTC more than doubled its annual budget from $6 to $13 million, grew its endowment from $2 to $12 million and expanded its physical space with a $30 million expansion in 2005 adding the Cargill Stage, the McGuire Education Center, and production shops. Today, CTC is one of top 25 regional theatre companies in the country and the largest children’s theatre in North America.
During Brosius tenure, CTC has created partnerships with leading commercial producers such as Bob Boyett, Kevin McCollum, Warner Brothers Theatrical and Universal Theatrical as well as with Seuss Enterprises and Sesame Workshop to bring new musicals to the CTC stage. He has elevated CTC’s national mission and has been focused on extending the life of the work on CTC’s stages to other theatres across the country and globe. Over the past 26 years, CTC has toured more than 11 productions across the United States and took Seedfolks to South Africa. CTC has transferred productions to and co-produced productions with the Alliance Theatre, Arena Stage, the Old Globe, the New Victory, Seattle Children’s Theatre, Chicago Children’s Theatre, and many others. He developed CTC’s Plays for New Audiences which now represents more than 300 plays and licenses the work to theatres across the globe.
CTC’s education programs now serve more than 70,000 students through Theatre Arts Training, Student Matinees, and innovative curriculum in schools such as Neighborhood Bridges and Creative Play Workshops to build critical literacy and emotional literacy skills in students. A new, immersive model has been developed with Bethune Elementary in North Minneapolis where CTC teaching artists are in 100% of the classrooms.
CTC’s commitment to ensuring that there are no barriers to participation has been at the heart of Brosius’ deep commitment to community and resulted in the ACT One programs focused on BIPOC communities, the LGBTQIAP+ community, those who have disabilities and different abilities, and those who are socio-economically challenged. As an example, the ACT Pass program annually provides more than 12,000 tickets to families for $5 and scholarships for theatre training classes. CTC has engaged with more than 150 community organizations to provide access to theatre.
Through developing productions like Korzcak’s Children, Snapshot Silhouette, I Come From Arizona, Bina’s Six Apples, and Something Happened in our Town Children’s Theatre Company became a place for deep community conversations and finding common ground.
Peter Brosius is the recipient of TCG’s Alan Schneider Directors’ Award, the American Alliance for Theatre and Education’s Sara Spencer Artistic Achievement Award, and the 2013 Ivey Award for Best Director and two best production Ivey Awards in 2013 and 2016. He has served on the boards of the Playwrights Center, Theatre Communications Group , ASSITEJ /USA and worked to develop the Minnesota Theatre Alliance and the Twin Cities Large Cultural Organizations Forum.
“Peter’s visionary artistic excellence, devotion to our community, advocacy for justice and equity, and passion for our audience permeates throughout the vast body of work accomplished in his remarkable career, says Board Chair Silvia Perez. “Peter’s legacy in theatre for young audiences is unparalleled impacting arts at a local, national and international level, but even more impressive is his positive imprint in millions of minds exposed to his work at CTC.”
Managing Director Kimberly Motes states “Peter Brosius’ passionate pursuit of CTC’s mission has led to exceptional productions filled with excellence and heart, innovative educational and community programming, and a drive to ensure that every child and family have the opportunity to participate, belong, and create at CTC. Peter’s dedication, boundless energy, and enormous vision is inspiring. It has been such a joy to work alongside him the last seven years to advance this powerful and important mission.”
The CTC Board of Directors has hired Management Consultants for the Arts to conduct the search for the next Artistic Director who will begin on July 1, 2024.