(RED BANK, NJ) -- Two River Theater has announced Nora DeVeau-Rosen as Managing Director. Following the news of Justin Waldman taking the reins as Artistic Director in November 2022, Nora will join the leadership team in February 2023, bringing her vast background and experience in not only theater and entertainment but work culture and staff development, budgeting and finance, and re-imaging fundraising and messaging.

“I am beyond excited to join Two River Theater as its new Managing Director,” says Nora DeVeau-Rosen.  “TRT’s work over the past decades is truly inspiring, and they have had a long-lasting artistic impact on the greater theatrical landscape. I am honored to have the privilege of continuing to build upon the organization’s impressive history, and I look forward to strengthening relationships with our neighbors and bringing new community partners into the fold.”

Waldman adds, “It is a thrilling opportunity to partner with a tremendous leader like Nora. She has it all; acumen, smarts, and industry know-how. But what really sets her apart is her incredible heart. She leads with empathy, listening, and an ingrained desire to do right and bring us all together. Two River, and the Red Bank community, is fortunate to gain a fierce advocate for the collaborative, inclusive power of theatre.”

“We are delighted to welcome Nora aboard,” said Two River Theater Board president, Edward J. McKenna Jr. “Like Justin Waldman, our new Artistic Director, Nora has a genuine passion for both strengthening our ties with our immediate community and expanding our brand beyond our Red Bank borders. I am very excited to see where this partnership takes Two River Theater, and so grateful to TRT’s staff, Board and search committee, helmed by Board treasurer Anne Marie Schultz, for their commitment to the search process. All of us at Two River are looking forward to the exciting future we believe is coming with our new team. The future is limitless!” 

DeVeau-Rosen begins her tenure February 6, 2023 and, in partnership with Artistic Director Justin Waldman, will assume responsibility for Two River Theater’s 2022/2023 season put together in the transition by outgoing Artistic Director John Dias and Managing Director Michael Hurst. The theater is planning several opportunities for patrons, supporters and community partners to meet and interact with both DeVeau-Rosen and Waldman in the near future. Details of these events will be forthcoming.  

Nora DeVeau-Rosen (she/her/hers), originally from Brooklyn, NY, is a theatrical administrator and producer (theater and digital), with a deep passion for supporting new voices and new stories. Most recently, DeVeau-Rosen served as a key member of the development team at Pasadena Playhouse, where she garnered the largest general operating gift in the company’s 105-year history. Prior to her fundraising work, she was appointed by Cirque du Soleil to serve as the General Manager of The Works Entertainment, producer of the world’s largest magic shows. In just six months, DeVeau-Rosen oversaw multiple concurrently running productions across the globe, while simultaneously integrating both corporations.

From 2016-2019, DeVeau-Rosen was the General Manager of East West Players, the country’s longest running theater of color and the largest producer of Asian American Pacific Islander work. Under her leadership, the organization successfully navigated a monumental artistic leadership change, doubled the size of its operating budget, expanded the Board of Directors, and co-produced the Broadway production of Allegiance starring George Takei. Before moving to California, she served as the Managing Director of the highly celebrated Clubbed Thumb company that produces “funny, strange and provocative new works by living American playwrights.” There she orchestrated substantial revenue growth, championed emerging playwrights and brokered programs with community partners that ensured sustainable and long-term growth for the company. She has also worked as a consultant and in various capacities at Imaginer, The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, Heidi Duckler Dance, Manhattan Theatre Club, New York Theatre Workshop, and the Bushwick Starr, among others. DeVeau-Rosen has served as a grants panelist for California Arts Council, Center Theatre Group, and ART/New York.

Two River Theater produces a theatrical season that includes American and world classics, new plays and musicals, programs for young people, and festivals of new work. Each year, we also offer 40+ events that reflect our diverse community of Red Bank, New Jersey. Two River produces work on two stages—the 350-seat Rechnitz Theater, and the flexible 110-seat Marion Huber Theater. The theater’s recently opened Center for New Work, Education and Design is a three-story facility that includes two rehearsal studios, artist labs, classrooms, expanded shops and centrally located offices. Two River Theater has commissioned and premiered original projects including Be More Chill by Tony Award nominee Joe Iconis and Joe Tracz (the theater’s first Broadway production) and Hurricane Diane by former Playwright-in-Residence Madeleine George (which won an Obie Award for its Off-Broadway run). In June 2019, Two River was nationally recognized by USA TODAY as one of “10 great places to see a play” across the U.S. Two River serves thousands of students and community members through arts and humanities programs at the theater, in schools and throughout its region.

Two River Theater’s performances and programming are made possible by funds through the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts. Private support includes Bank of America, The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Helen Clay Frick Foundation, The Merrill G. and Emita E. Hastings Foundation, The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey, Investors Foundation, Jewish Communal Fund, The Jewish Federation in the Heart of New Jersey, The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, Manasquan Bank Charitable Foundation, OceanFirst Foundation, PNC Foundation, Springpoint Senior Living Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, The John Ben Snow Memorial Trust, The Stone Foundation of New Jersey, Stolfe Zeigler New Jersey Family Law Group, UMAMI Girl, Visiting Nurse Association of Central Jersey, Zager Fuchs, PC, Zynergy Retirement Planning, and many other generous foundations, corporations and individuals. 

Two River Theater’s 2022/23 Season Sponsor is Hackensack Meridian Health/Riverview Medical Center. 

PHOTO BY Mike Palma