New director joins McCarter Theatre

“The challenges are always ones of trying to be relevant to a broader audience,” Shields explained in an interview. “I’m delighted to be back. McCarter is one of the nation’s treasures. I’m very proud to come to Princeton and help the organization thrive.”

Shields previously served as McCarter’s business manager and then as general manager in the 1980s and ’90s.

“I remember Tim from his earlier positions at McCarter and my recollection is that he was highly regarded,” University Vice President and Secretary Bob Durkee ’69, who served on the board of McCarter Theatre during Shields’ first tenure, said in an e-mail.

After leaving Princeton, Shields moved to the Geva Theatre Center in Rochester, N.Y., and then to the Milwaukee Repertory Theater, where he served as managing director. Under his direction, the Milwaukee Repertory Theater doubled its operating budget, and ticket sales reached record levels, according to McCarter’s website.

Joseph Hanreddy, artistic director of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater, said in an e-mail that Shields’ departure is a “bittersweet loss for our community,” adding that “no artistic director could possibly ask for a stronger, more supportive and satisfying partnership than the one I’ve enjoyed with Tim Shields.”

Shields noted that one of the biggest challenges to theater today is home entertainment. He added, however, that though home entertainment offers convenience, people need to remember that theater and live entertainment offer very different experiences.

“[Live performance’s] biggest competition is a thumb on a remote control and TiVo wired with surround sound,” Shields said. “We have to make the argument that when you come to see a live performing arts event, it’s qualitatively different from consuming entertainment in your own house. When you come to the theater, that event is created for you, one night only. Every night it’s brand new.”

Emily Mann, McCarter’s artistic director, said she hopes to work with Shields to build a stronger support base and more diverse audience in light of the current economic situation.

“I worked with Mr. Shields when he was the general manager at McCarter. He did a terrific job during difficult transitional years,” Mann said in an e-mail.

“During a particularly difficult period economically, we will need to look at new strategies for fund raising, marketing and development,” Mann said. “As our society makes a profound cultural shift, we will need to chart a course and sometimes lead the way into unknown territory, both artistically and administratively.”

“It’s an exciting moment and a journey I look forward to making with Mr. Shields,” she added.

Mann said that Shields would be working on two major projects as the new managing director, including the promotion of Tarell McCraney’s “The Brother/Sister Plays.”

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“In the last ten years, McCarter has developed and premiered 14 of the most frequently performed plays in America,” Mann said. “Tim Shields wants to help McCarter reach even higher.”

Shields is currently a vice president of the League of Resident Theatres, the national management association of professional nonprofit regional theaters, and serves on the board of Theatre Communications Group, Milwaukee’s Latino Arts Board and the Cultural Alliance of Greater Milwaukee. He was the co-founder and president of Theatre Wisconsin for eight years. He has also previously worked for The Children’s Theatre Company and School in Minneapolis, Minn., and the Denver Center Theater Company.