Bud Martin Appointed Executive Director of the Delaware Theatre Company

Chairman of the Board of Directors Michael Marquardt announced today that Bud Martin has been appointed Executive Director of the Delaware Theatre Company (DTC). "We're extremely excited about Bud joining the organization and look forward to working with him and the staff on an exciting 34th season. Bud has an impressive track record in both artistic and business leadership and has deep connections in the theatre community throughout the United States as well as internationally. We could not be more pleased that the Delaware Theatre Company will be his new artistic home, "said Mr. Marquardt.

Martin notes, "I am thrilled to be joining DTC and look forward to leading the team to reposition the theatre as one of the pre-eminent regional theatres in this country. I believe that the beauty of the theatre and its proximity to New York will allow me to leverage my Broadway producing colleagues to select DTC as a top choice venue to showcase new work to gain national exposure, as well as provide great entertainment for Delaware Valley audiences. My experience working with the staff during our co-production of Time Stands Still was just wonderful. I can't wait to embark on this new challenging opportunity and build on the theatre's already excellent reputation for good art and great production value."

Martin, who officially joins the organization on May 1st, will helm the professional theatre's 34th season, also announced today.

Martin recently completed his fourth season as Producing Artistic Director of Act II Playhouse where he directed Married Alive, Magnetic North, On Golden Pond, Respect: A Musical Journey of Women, The Story of My Life (Barrymore Award), Art (Barrymore Nomination), the recent co-production with DTC, Time Stands Still, and My Fair Lady. He directed the national tour of Respect and co-produced the international tour of My Mother's Italian, My Father's Jewish and I'm in Therapy. Most recently he directed Bruce Graham's Any Given Monday Off-Broadway at 59E59 Theaters. Broadway producing credits: The Story of My Life, 9 to 5, Burn the Floor, La Bête, Time Stands Still (Tony nom.). West End: La Bête, Legally Blonde (Olivier Award), and The Three Musketeers at the Rose Theatre, Kingston.

Martin enjoyed a ten year career in the theatre from 1972 to 1982 when he then entered the world of corporate finance. He started five successful companies during the period from 1982 to 2008, and in 2006 he received the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. He returned to the theatre in the end of 2007.

In 2000, Martin merged three of the companies in the portfolio of the venture capital fund he was managing to form I-trax, his last business venture which he took public. While he was Chairman and CEO of I-trax, I-trax acquired a number of synergistic companies, and when it was sold it to Walgreens in April 2008, I-trax was the largest provider of workplace health programs to the Fortune 1000 in the US. .

Martin became Producing Artistic Director of Act II Playhouse in Ambler, PA in April 2008 after the successful sale of his company to Walgreens. When Martin took over Act II Playhouse, the theatre was suffering from lost subscribers and audience members and operating under huge deficits. In his four years as Producing Artistic Director, subscriptions grew by over 50%, single ticket buyers grew by over 33% and the organization had a cash surplus in three of the four years. Bud was also able to leverage his commercial theatre experience and relationships for the benefit of Act II, including producing the national tour of Act II's Resepct: A Musical Journey of Women, and the critically acclaimed New York transfer of Bruce Graham's Barrymore Award-winning play, Any Given Monday.

http://www.delawaretheatre.org/

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