“We are so fortunate to have Darko. We have all witnessed the results of his exquisite directorial and stage setting creativity,” Collins said in a statement. “His contributions to the City of Hartford’s cultural scene through his enormous talents have been as great as his ability to bring national recognition to our theatre. I am thrilled that he is extending his time at Hartford Stage.”
In his first season, the theatre produced the world premiere of A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder, which went on to a successful run on Broadway, winning four Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Director for Tresnjak. That same season, Hartford Stage produced Man in a Case, starring Mikhail Baryshnikov, which enjoyed a successful national tour. Other new plays developed and produced by Tresnjak include Daniel Beatty’s Breath and Imagination; Somewhere and Reverberation by Matthew Lopez; An Opening in Time by Christopher Shinn; The Body of An American by Dan O’Brien; and this season’s Queens for a Year by T.D. Mitchell.
Over the past five years, the theatre has seen its subscriber base grow by 30 percent to more than 8,000 patrons; and single ticket sales reached all-time highs with last season’s productions of Rear Window, starring Kevin Bacon; Romeo & Juliet; and the premiere of Anastasia, which will open on Broadway on April 24, 2017, with Tresnjak again as director.
During Tresnjak’s tenure, the theatre has experienced artistic and financial success, “reaffirming its commitment to the works of William Shakespeare, building on the theatre’s mission to develop new works for the American Theatre, and successfully launching musical theatre as a programming priority,” according to a press statement.
Tresnjak said, “I want to thank our staff, our board, and our audience for five thrilling seasons at Hartford Stage. It is a privilege to work and to live in this supportive, adventurous, and enlightened community.”
“Darko’s work is visually stunning. He has maximized the flexibility of the theatre’s stage, which was renovated in 2011, and he has pushed us in all areas of design and production. That is one of the hallmarks of his work, and it is certainly a characteristic that keeps our audiences excited about attending Hartford Stage,” added Michael Stotts, the theatre’s managing director. “He also has enormous respect in the artistic community; and, without fail, we are able to attract some of the best theatre artists in the country to work here in Hartford.”
Tresnjak is the fifth artistic director of the 53-year-old Hartford Stage. His upcoming productions for Hartford Stage include Shakespeare’s comedy of mistaken identities, The Comedy of Errors—a Madcap, Midwinter, Musical Extravaganza—and a revival of George Bernard Shaw’s Saint Joan.
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