Staff Shuffle
Dallas Theater Center's playwright in residence steps in as temp artistic director
Jonathan Norton will over the 2024-25 season, and select the 2025-26 season.
A week after revealing its 2024-25 season, Dallas Theater Center has another big announcement: Jonathan Norton, who has served as Dallas Theater Center’s resident playwright since 2019, has been named interim artistic director.
This is in response to the promotion of former Enloe/Rose artistic director Kevin Moriarty to executive director in 2023, and the departure of Sarahbeth Grossman, who served as the theater’s artistic producer for six years. Since Moriarty’s promotion, Norton, Grossman, and Moriarty have shared artistic responsibilities.
“Jonathan has been one of the most impactful artists at DTC through much of the past decade,” says Moriarty. “His work as a writer has received critical acclaim in Dallas and contributed to the impact Dallas artists are making on the national theater community. As DTC’s resident playwright/literary manager, Jonathan has been a leader in our season planning process, working alongside DTC’s artistic producer Sarahbeth Grossman to identify plays and artists that engage Dallas audiences, and collaborating with DTC’s Diane and Hal Brierley Resident Acting Company to produce productions that are entertaining and relevant. I am immensely grateful to Jonathan for stepping forward during this transitional time to provide consistent artistic leadership and to ensure that our artistry remains exemplary.”
“We are fortunate to be able to ensure this smooth transition of artistic leadership,” says DTC Board of Directors chair, Jennifer Altabef. “For years, we’ve seen Jonathan’s plays captivate DTC’s audiences, but his contributions as a member of DTC’s artistic staff have been equally important. With Kevin’s continued leadership as executive director, DTC is well-poised for future growth and sustained impact.”
“I saw my first play at DTC,” says Norton. “It was Adrian Hall’s production of A Christmas Carol. At the time, sixth grade me could not have imagined that decades later DTC would become a cherished artistic home. In my time here I’ve grown so much as an artist and administrator, and I am eager to pay that forward. This is a critical time for both DTC and the American theater, and I do not take this new responsibility lightly. I am excited to collaborate with so many wonderful folks I deeply admire, to make theater as big and bold as the city of Dallas.”
The final show of DTC’s current season, a community-wide Public Works pageant production of Disney’s The Little Mermaid, will be performed from July 12-August 4, 2024. Norton will oversee the 2024-25 season and will immediately begin planning the theater’s 2025-26 season.
DTC’s Board of Directors will launch a national search for a new Enloe/Rose artistic director in the fall, with the expectation they will appointed in late 2025.
