Artistic Advisor Appointed

OCTOBER 21, 2008
PALM BEACH, FLORIDA

The Board of Trustees of the Palm Beach Theater Guild has announced the appointment of Bradford Kenney to the position of artistic advisor.

Kenney will serve in a part time role with the Palm Beach Theater Guild and will maintain his position as executive artistic director of the Ogunquit Playhouse in Ogunquit, Maine.

"As Executive Artistic Director of the Ogunquit Playhouse in Ogunquit, Maine, Brad Kenney recently produced Sally Struthers in Hello Dolly!, Andrea McArdle in Cabaret and Leslie Uggams in Cinderella. Brad Kenney has created outstanding productions with major stars," says Patrick Henry Flynn President and CEO of thePalm Beach Theater Guild.

“He has the expertise to enable the Palm Beach Theater Guild,” Flynn continues, “to fulfill its artistic mission, which is very comparable to what Kenney is mounting.”

“Kenney’s current experience in managing and programming a mid-size theater also fits our business model for theater at the Royal Poinciana Playhouse” Flynn adds. “Regional Subscription Theater will be our primary revenue stream.”

Prior to joining the Ogunquit Playhouse, Kenney enjoyed critical acclaim at the Foothills Theater in Worcester, MA where he produced season highlights such as Miss Saigon, Disney's Beauty & The Beast, Cabaret, Dick and Jimmy Van Patten in The Sunshine Boys, Macbeth, Romeo & Juliet and many other shows.

He is also Co-founder of the Wachusett Theatre Company in Massachusetts with shows such as The Sound of Music, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Disney/Elton John's AIDA (Northeast Regional Premiere), Ted Lange from The Love Boat in Damn Yankees; and Eddie Mekka from Laverne & Shirley in Fiddler on the Roof, among others. Over the past 10 years, his children's theatres have produced Disney's Jungle Book Kids, Seussical TYA (Northeast premiere) and Disney's 101 Dalmations Kids among others.

Kenney has appeared on stage in the title role of Gilbert & Sullivan's The Sorcerer with Salisbury Lyric Opera, Strephon in Iolanthe with the Savoyard Light Opera, Billy Bigelow in Carousel, Barrett the Stoker in Titanic, Eric Burling in An Inspector Calls, Christopher Wren in The Mousetrap, Bobby in Company, Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls, the King in The King and I, Cornelius in Hello Dolly! and Oberon in Midsummer Night's Dream, as well as many other roles in shows throughout New England. He is also a fourth generation artist (an accomplished watercolorist) having studied at Rhode Island School of Design, Heartwood College of Art and Maine College of Art.

Kenney is following in the footsteps of John Lane who was the director of the Royal Poinciana Playhouse during the 60s and 70s Lane founded the Ogunquit Playhouse which has almost as many seats as the Royal Poinciana Playhouse.

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"A strong appointment substantively and, strategically, a chance to redefine the public debate and reshuffle the political equation. This should go a long way toward discrediting the developer's argument that the Playhouse is no longer commercially viable.

It occurred to me, as it has to you, that the developer's commitment to preserving Mr. Volk's architecture is nothing more than a "facade" (literally).

Keep up the fight,

Allan Schlosser
Digital Media PR/Palm Beach Strategies"

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"Congratulations on another heroic achievement in saving the theater. This appointment really is genius and in a sane world would put to rest any further doubt about the project's viability.

Your vision and perseverance are making it happen, and I hope to be back in Palm Beach to be of assistance in the future.

With admiration and every good thought and prayer for ultimate success,

Valerie Sherlock "