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Working in the Creative Arts and Public Humanities: Coffee at McCarter
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Fri, Mar 1, 2024
11 AM – 12:30 PM EST (GMT-5)
Private Location (register to display)
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Join us for the next gathering of the Working in the Creative Arts and Public Humanities cohort (WCAPH). We will meet at McCarter Theater for coffee and pastries from 11am-12:30pm on Friday, March 1, to learn more about the current state of the entertainment industry, what it looks like to work behind the scenes at a major performing arts center, and opportunities for grad students to get involved. We will be joined by McCarter’s Director of University and Artistic Partnerships Debbie Bisno and Director of Presented Programming Paula Abreu, the curator responsible for booking Jon Stewart & more. (Click here to listen to a wonderful recent podcast interview with Paula.) Attendees will also enjoy a sneak peek of tech rehearsal for McCarter’s upcoming musical Dreamgirls.
Questions? Please reach out to Dylan Blau Edelstein: dylane@princeton.edu
About the WCAPH: Initiated during the 2022-23 academic year, this cohort meets with a diverse range of figures working at cultural institutions, both on and off-campus, to explore the reciprocal relationships between performance and research, criticism and production, theory and practice, and administration and academia, while learning about career paths in the public humanities, theater, arts, and GLAMS (Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums). This group as organized visits to museums, theaters, historical societies, and more, both in Princeton and beyond, including trips to Washington DC and New York City. The group has also promoted extended engagement with Princeton’s own McCarter Theater, resulting in the creation of the “Scholar’s Take” program at McCarter. It also has led to many graduate students finding Social Impact Fellowships.
Speakers
Debbie Bisno
Director of University and Artistic Partnerships
McCarter Theater
Debbie Bisno (Director of University and Artistic Partnerships) was McCarter’s Resident Producer for 6 years and has recently turned her attention to deepening McCarter’s engagement with Princeton University and surrounding partners.
Bisno’s experience spans Broadway, Off-Broadway, London and Chicago theater. Broadway highlights: Tony Nominated revival of Terrence McNally’s Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune starring Audra McDonald and Michael Shannon; Grace, War Horse, Hair, Merchant of Venice.
Originally from Macon, GA - Debbie began her theatrical career in Chicago as Co-Founder of a small production company called Roadworks, which she created with fellow Northwestern University graduates. Her company produced over 20 Midwest and World Premieres and won numerous awards. She is an Advisory Member of The Playwrights Realm in NYC, and a Board Member of a global ethics leadership program called The Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics. Debbie lives in Princeton with her husband David, and Portuguese Water Dogs, Bernice and Maude.
Paula Abreu
Director of Special Programming
McCarter Theater
Originally from Rio de Janeiro, Paula Abreu is the Director of Special Programming at McCarter Theater. She has built a formidable reputation in New York as a live event curator and culture pollinator. Since 2012, Abreu has produced dozens of artists' US premieres (including Emicida, Dino D’Santiago, and Gaby Amarantos) as part of a career responsible for the staging of over 1500+ performances, cumulatively attended by nearly a million audience members. She brings a decade of experience with multiple major non-profit NYC institutions, including the Red Hot Organization, Lincoln Center, and the SummerStage and Charlie Parker Jazz Festivals. Abreu’s work joyfully embraces creative diversity and offers a nuanced reimagining of the role of arts presenter. In 2019, she spearheaded SummerStage’s gender parity pledge, making the festival one of the first in the Americas to consistently present a 50-50 balance of male and female performers. A respected and frequently sought-after moderator for panels and engagements, Abreu has acted as an artistic juror, speaker, or mentor at conferences around the world, including South by Southwest (USA), Asia Pacific Music Meeting (Korea), Moshito Music Conference (South Africa), Atlantic Music Expo (Cape Verde), Mundial Montréal (Canada), Sonidos Latinos (Spain), Bogotá Music Market (Colombia), and MusiConnect (France). She is a 2022 Panelist for the NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theater; a 2021 American Express Converge Social Justice Leadership Academy Fellow;a SIM São Paulo Consulting Committee Member since 2019; and a 2018 WOMEX Samurai. Abreu holds a BS in Production Engineering from PUC-Rio and an MA in Performing Arts Administration from NYU. Among her most proud achievements are presenting the late Brazilian samba legend Elza Soares following a 30-year US performance hiatus; curating a community concert with the French Chilean Rapper/Activist Ana Tijoux; a debut collaboration between Afrobeat icon Seun Kuti and jazz-funk pioneer Roy Ayers, and the birth of her daughter Julia, who joined the Abreu family in 2020.