The Board of Directors of Virginia Repertory Theatre proudly announces Nathaniel Shaw as the new Artistic Director. Earlier this season Shaw directed Virginia Rep’s Peter and the Starcatcher. (Read my review here.)
Shaw began his career as a professional dancer, following in the footsteps of his parents. After receiving a BA in Musical Theater from the University of Northern Colorado, he moved to New York to pursue a career in theater and dance. He was a member of the Paul Taylor Dance Company for 3 years. Shaw’s father, Cliff Keuter also danced for Mr. Taylor.
Shaw served as the founder and Artistic Director of The Active Theater in New York for 6 years, where he directed the first New York City revival of The Violet Hour, which received an Innovative Theater Award Nomination for Best Revival, the world premiere of Bridgeboy and the world premiere of Body Language, which received four nominations at the Midtown International Theatre Festival.
In 2013, Nathaniel joined the team of the Tony Award-winning production of Once, as an Associate Choreographer for Tony Nominee Steven Hoggett. In addition to oversight of both the Broadway production and First National Tour, Nathaniel traveled with Tony Award-winning director John Tiffany and Music Supervisor Martin Lowe to cast productions in both South Korea and Australia.
Currently, he works with the Tony and Olivier Award-winning producers Glass Half Full as Development Director, responsible for sourcing new projects. Glass Half Full is best recognized for the Tony Award-winning productions of Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, Twelfth Night and Richard III starring Mark Rylance, and the Olivier Award-winning Sunny Afternoon.
Shaw’s acting credits include:
Will Parker in Oklahoma (opposite Tony Award-winner Kelli O’Hara and Tony Nominee Will Chase)
Zach in A Chorus Line
Joe Hardy in Damn Yankees
Rooster in Annie
Jerry Lukowski in The Full Monty
Jesus in Godspell
Riff in West Side Story
Ren in Footloose
Lt. Cable in South Pacific
Younger Brother in Ragtime
The Emcee in Cabaret.
Shaw will consult with Virginia Rep remotely from New York starting July and plans to relocate here in October with his wife Lisa Rumbauskas and their children.
After 41 years as the Founding Artistic Director, Bruce Miller will transition to Founding Producer and will focus on education and fundraising. Phil Whiteway will continue as Managing Director.
Whiteway spoke about the process of finding the new AD. “It was important to us to have buy-in from all of our stakeholders. As a guest director for Peter and the Starcatcher last fall, Nathaniel worked with many of our staff and theatre artists. This spring, he met with an extended group of board, staff, theatre artists and leaders in the community. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive and reflects Nathaniel’s comfort level. His experience in developing new works is particularly exciting to us as we seek to expand our impact within this area locally and beyond Richmond.”