DCPA chairman and CEO Donald R. Seawell announced Dec. 8 that effective April 1, 2005, D. Randall Weeks, the DCPA's executive vice president and executive director of Denver Center Attractions, will be Ward's successor.
The DCPA Board unanimously approved the appointment of Weeks, who will continue to oversee operations of Center Attractions, the organization's Broadway touring division. Center Attractions also produces new mainstage works for Denver audiences, mixing them in with national tours. The Irving Berlin show, I Love a Piano, and the Rat Pack-flavored show Heaven Help Us! were produced under Weeks' watch there. Center Attractions also creates cabaret and intimate shows for DCPA's beehive of spaces.
Seawell said in a statement, "Lester has been an integral part of the DCPA since its inception — first, as our attorney, then as a trustee and, since 1989, as our president and chief operating officer. We would not have achieved our present status without his enormous work ethic, his proven talent and his devotion to the Center. I am happy that he will remain a trustee. It was Lester's idea that Randy should become executive vice president and succeed him as president/COO. Randy has done a superlative job as director of Center Attractions and I am confident he will be a worthy successor to Lester."
Randy Weeks has served as executive director of Denver Center Attractions since 1991 and as executive vice president of The Denver Center for the Performing Arts since spring 2004. Weeks' career has been highlighted not only by presenting 10-22 Broadway touring shows each season, but by producing successful cabaret shows in The Garner Galleria, Ricketson Theatre and Jones Theatre such as Always…Patsy Cline, Addicted, Red Hot Mama and Denver's longest-running musical, I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change. In addition, under his guidance, many productions have launched their national tours in Denver, including Sunset Boulevard and Disney's The Lion King.
"This is an exciting period of change for the DCPA," said Weeks, "and I look forward to helping to shape the future of this incredible organization. I am inspired by the potential collaboration with the new artistic director [of Denver Center Theatre Company] and a new management team and envision The Denver Center being an even larger part of the local, national and international theatrical community." The announcement completes a change in executive leadership at The Denver Center, which includes the appointment of Randy Weeks as president to succeed Lester L. Ward, Kent Thompson as Denver Center Theatre Company artistic director to succeed Donovan Marley, Vicky Miles as CFO to succeed L. Darby Smith, and Dorothy Denny as director of development and communications.
Donald R. Seawell remains the center's chairman and chief executive officer.
Weeks began from the ground up at DCPA. According to the DCPA announcement, while pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in business/marketing and finance from the University of Colorado, Weeks joined The Denver Center. His employment began in 1978 in the Center Attractions box office where he worked in various capacities including ticketing, subscription, box office treasurer, and marketing and public relations.
Despite taking a brief sojourn into his family's restaurant corporation and, later, as the Theater Operations Manager for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Weeks became the hand-selected successor to Center Attractions founder, Robert S. Garner.
Weeks is a member of the Independent Presenter Network, the Performing Arts Center Consortium, and serves as a Governor for the League of American Theaters and Producers and is a voter for the annual Tony Awards.
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