TheatreSquared’s executive director Martin Miller to step down

Fayetteville performing arts venue TheatreSquared (T2) will undergo a leadership transition in September.

Longtime executive director/producer Martin Miller will depart to become the executive director for McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton, N.J.

T2 board president Todd Simmons and artistic director Bob Ford announced details of the transition Wednesday (June 28).

“In 2009, when Martin joined TheatreSquared, 3,000 audience members attended 50 performances in a rented space,” Simmons said. “In just over a decade, he and Bob have driven transformational growth. This season, we welcomed 85,000 patrons to more than 400 performances in our beautiful, award-winning new home.

“From the pages of ‘The New York Times’ to stages across the country, TheatreSquared is now a name known and respected throughout the industry. We’ll miss Martin profoundly, but we are just as deeply thankful for his indelible contribution to Northwest Arkansas’ cultural landscape and to the American Theatre. He’s leaving a legacy.”

TheatreSquared’s board has appointed an executive transition committee to handle the succession process. Members include Simmons, Ford, Esther Silver-Parker, Leigh Hopkins and Judy Schwab. The committee will announce its next steps in August.

“Co-leading TheatreSquared has been a privilege, a joy, and an ever-rewarding adventure,” Miller said. “It is wonderful to know that generations of Northwest Arkansans will walk through these doors and experience remarkable art in a space where they truly belong. I’m grateful to Bob, to our amazing team, to the T2 Board, and to all of the generous, risk-taking, and enthusiastic community members who joined us in making this dream a reality. I know that, for TheatreSquared, the best is yet to come.”

Miller joined TheatreSquared after its third season, returning to Fayetteville after serving as associate producer for Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Among his numerous accomplishments, he grew the T2 team from a single paid staff member at his arrival to nearly 100 full-time and part-time employees in 2023. He directly supervised fundraising, design and construction for TheatreSquared’s new 50,000-square-foot permanent home in downtown Fayetteville, winner of six national and international architecture awards.

Under his financial stewardship, in every season since 2009, TheatreSquared’s revenues have exceeded expenses, growing from $160,000 to $7.5 million annually.

Ford praised Miller’s visionary leadership and credited him with elevating the company’s status in the industry.

“It’s an amazing moment, a chance to briefly hit pause and take stock of just how far T2 has come in such a short amount of time,” Ford said. “Martin is a brilliantly talented visionary who’s done so much to bring us to where we are. He arrived at a grassroots, small company and departs one of the nation’s top producing regional theatres, treasured by its community and celebrated across the American stage. His DNA infuses every aspect of this company, and it always will.”