Executive Search & Consulting for Theatre Organizations
TOC Arts Partners conducts national executive searches and provides organizational strategy consulting for theatre companies across the United States, from regional theatres and off-Broadway producers to summer festivals and community-engaged companies. With deep roots in the theatre field and an equity-centered approach, we help theatre organizations hire the leaders and build the structures their missions require.
Why Theatre Organizations Work With TOC Arts Partners
Theatre organizations run on two engines at once. The artistic vision and the management infrastructure have to move together. When they don’t, the friction shows everywhere: in the work on stage, in the Artistic Director / Managing Director relationship, in how an organization connects with its community. TOC Arts Partners has spent years working inside theatre organizations at exactly these moments. We understand what it takes to find leaders who can hold both.
The range of what “theatre” means is something we take seriously. A community-engaged ensemble and a major off-Broadway producer operate with fundamentally different governance structures, budget realities, and organizational cultures. TOC has placed leaders and advised boards across many different scales and models. We don’t bring generic theatre expertise. We bring specific knowledge of the kind of organization you are.
Executive Search for Theatre Organizations
TOC Arts Partners conducts national executive searches for theatre companies and performing arts organizations, placing leaders across Artistic Director, Managing Director, Executive Director, Director of Development, Director of Marketing and Communications, and other senior roles. Our search process is equity-centered, thorough, and built around the specific culture, community, and artistic identity of your organization.
Customized Strategy
We design a full search process that reflects your organization’s unique context, from stakeholder engagement to candidate evaluation, ensuring alignment, buy-in, and a leadership fit that lasts.
Human Touch
Our expertise and insights deliver unexpected and exciting options no algorithm can, along with an exceptional candidate experience.
Commitment to DEIA
We leverage our network, community partnerships, and proprietary research process to deliver a diverse and equitable candidate pool primed for success. More than 30% of our placements identify as BIPOC.
Our Promise
If our hire stays less than one year, we will deliver additional candidates free of charge. We are committed to their success and yours.
Roles We Typically Search For
Artistic Director | Managing Director | Executive Director | Director of Development | Director of Marketing & Communications | General Manager | Director of Education & Community Engagement | Director of Finance | Director of HR | Director of Production
Featured Placements
Union Arts Center
Artistic Director: TOC placed Yuvika Tolani as the first permanent Artistic Director of Union Arts Center, the new company formed by the merger of ACT and Seattle Shakespeare Company.
Playwrights Horizons
Managing Director & Director of Marketing and Communications: TOC placed Casey York as Managing Director and Rochelle Torres as Director of Marketing and Communications at Playwrights Horizons, one of the leading producers of the new American plays and musicals in the country.
Segerstrom Center for the Arts
Vice President of Development: TOC placed Abigail Sherlock as VP of Development by Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, CA. Segerstrom presents a broad range of programming including international ballet and dance, Broadway shows, jazz and cabaret, contemporary artists, classical music and family-friendly programming.
Consulting & Strategy for Theatre Organizations
Beyond executive search, TOC Arts Partners provides organizational strategy and consulting for theatre companies at every scale. From strategic planning and structural consultation to change management and brand strategy, we help theatre organizations build the internal structures and long-term strategies their work demands.
Structural Consultation
Optimize your team structures for efficiency and effectiveness, whether that’s a marketing department, a development team, or your entire senior leadership.
Strategic Planning
Prioritize your future with facilitated processes and customized strategies, grounded in your board, your community, and your artistic identity.
Community Engagement
Build meaningful relationships that deepen impact, loyalty, and reach, across subscribers, donors, new audiences, and the communities your theatre serves.
Special Projects
Collaborate with a seasoned thought partner for everything from retreat facilitation to program design, shaped around the specific realities of your theatre.
Brand Strategy
Define and amplify your identity to connect authentically with your community. Especially valuable for theatres navigating a new building, a leadership change, or an audience development challenge.
Change Management
Navigate leadership transitions with confidence, clear communication, and expertise. When a long-tenured Artistic Director or Managing Director moves on, the whole organization feels it. We guide theatres through those moments with sector fluency at every step.
Our Work With Theatre Organizations
TOC Arts Partners has partnered with theatre organizations nationally, from off-Broadway institutions to regional companies to summer festivals, on executive searches, leadership transitions, and organizational strategy engagements.
Ogunquit Playhouse
Strategic Planning, Audience Analysis, Education Department Assessment, Executive Search
In 2023, Ogunquit Playhouse in Ogunquit, ME engaged TOC to conduct an in-depth audience analysis and provide recommendations on brand positioning, pricing, membership, and donor cultivation. Later that year, we facilitated a strategic planning process to develop a five-year plan. One of the goals of the strategic plan was an analysis and assessment of the organization’s Education Department, which resulted in an executive search for a new education and community engagement role.
TheatreSquared
Search Advisory, Marketing Assessment and Ongoing Consulting
Ahead of opening a new venue, TheatreSquared engaged TOC to find their Director of Marketing, then brought TOC back for an on-site assessment with the newly placed director, followed by years of bi-weekly consulting. A parallel engagement launched for an incoming Director of Development. The final pre-venue season broke subscription records. This is what a long-term partnership looks like.
New York City Children’s Theater
Strategic Planning
Ahead of NYCCT’s 30th anniversary, TOC designed and led a comprehensive strategic planning process with staff, board, and leadership. The board accepted the plan in June 2024, with the organization entering a pilot phase in 2025 ahead of full implementation in 2026.
Let’s Work Together
Interested in working together? Tell us about how we can support your organization and we’ll be in touch.