Public Theater Names New Executive Director

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By Gillian Reagan

August 7, 2008 | 10:33 a.m.

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You might spot The Public Theater's new top dog at the Delacorte's opening night performance of Hair in Central Park tonight. Andrew D. Hamingson, former helmer of the Atlantic Theater Company, will make his first unofficial appearance in his new role as executive director of the Public at the rock musical.

Mr. Hamingson, 45, will replace Mara Manus, who held the post for six years and helped the Public rise from financial doldrums. She's leaving in September to become executive director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center, according to the New York Times. Mr. Hamingston will officially start the job in October and be in charge of all administrative and financial matters, including a $20 million budget that rose from $11 million in the past five years (Thanks, Mara!).

Oskar Eustis, the artistic director, told the Times: “He is a fantastic combination of an inside and outside guy,” Mr. Eustis said. “He really has demonstrated strong management and internal leadership skills and ability in fund-raising. Being able to do both of those was an important part of the package.”

A little more on his background:

At the Atlantic Theater Company, where Mr. Hamingson has been the managing director since August 2004, he successfully handled a tricky real-estate predicament that resulted in the theater moving to a different location in Chelsea so that luxury condominiums could move in. But his most visible success at the Atlantic, where he worked alongside Neil Pepe, the artistic director, was the transfer of “Spring Awakening” to Broadway; it was the company’s first musical since its founding in 1985.