Interim Executive Director Joey Parnes, who also served on the search committee and was an important voice in helping to select the new Executive Director, will continue working with The Public on the national tour of HAIR. He will continue independently to produce and manage shows out of his Broadway office.

"This is an exciting time for Patrick Willingham to be joining The Public Theater. We are nearing completion of our $40 million GOING PUBLIC Capital Campaign and will be reopening our historic building in fall 2012," said Chairman of the Board Warren Spector. "Patrick will work alongside Artistic Director Oskar Eustis to continue to make The Public Theater one of the most exciting, important and diverse theaters in the country. The search committee did an extensive search and unanimously chose Patrick for his strong managerial skills, stellar financial background and deep love of the theater. We welcome Patrick back to Lafayette Street and know he will be an invaluable asset to the future of The Public Theater."

"Patrick has the experience, skills, ambition and heart to be a superb Executive Director for The Public. The search to find him was thorough, deep and careful; the man who has emerged from that search is a principled and wise leader. I am delighted Patrick has agreed to join us and look forward to a long and successful partnership," said Artistic Director Oskar Eustis. "I also want to add my personal gratitude to Joey Parnes, who agreed to serve as interim Executive Director while we conducted our search and has been a sure and trusted steward of this wonderful ship over the last nine months."

"I am absolutely thrilled to have been selected to be the next Executive Director of an institution that is so vital to the cultural landscape of the city, and indeed the nation.  While my journey to The Public may seem like a short walk across Lafayette Street, it is in fact the culmination of 20 years of work as a manager and an executive in the theater, and I am particularly looking forward to returning to my roots in the not-for-profit world in service of the unparalleled mission of The Public Theater," said Patrick Willingham. "Oskar is a true visionary, and I'm excited to partner with him, the Board and The Public's incredible staff to weld that vision to strategies and business practices that will strengthen The Public during its second half century."

November 7, 2011