Stephen D. Rountree Accelerates Retirement

CENTER THEATRE GROUP MANAGING DIRECTOR/CEO STEPHEN D. ROUNTREE ACCELERATES RETIREMENT

Stephen D. Rountree has accelerated his previously announced exit from Center Theatre Group, stepping down as Managing Director/CEO as of today.

Rountree joined Center Theatre Group as Managing Director in 2015 after serving as President and CEO of The Music Center from 2002 to 2014. Rountree was also CEO of the Los Angeles Opera from 2008 to 2012, a position he held concurrently with his role at The Music Center.

“I want to express the Board of Directors’ gratitude for Steve’s unflagging efforts to steward Center Theatre Group into a 21st-century organization,” said Center Theatre Group Board President Kiki Ramos Gindler. “We’ll be forever indebted to Steve for his work on behalf of our organization, as well as the many insights he has brought to the boardroom since he came to Center Theatre Group in January 2015.”

“I’ve known Steve for more than a decade and have greatly admired working with him over the past four years,” said Center Theatre Group Artistic Director Michael Ritchie. “It was clear from the moment Steve moved from The Music Center to Center Theatre Group that he was ready to help steer our organization toward a more robust future, including offering his strategic guidance through our 50th anniversary celebration. He continues to be one of the great leaders in the nonprofit cultural scene, and I’ve been proud to call him a colleague and friend.”

Center Theatre Group has engaged the services of Phillips Oppenheim, which specializes in international executive searches for the nonprofit sector, to lead a nationwide search for the next Managing Director/CEO. The executive search firm will work closely with Center Theatre Group’s Board of Directors and Artistic Director to identify the best candidate to lead the organization. Sarah James and Becky Klein of Phillips Oppenheim will manage the search. All inquiries should be directed to Ms. James or Ms. Klein at CTG@phillipsoppenheim.com.

At Center Theatre Group, Rountree supervised all management, financial, marketing, communications, institutional advancement, technology and human resources. Prior to his work at Center Theatre Group, The Music Center and LA Opera, Rountree served the J. Paul Getty Trust for 22 years, starting in 1980 as Deputy Director of the Getty Museum, then Director of the Getty Center Building Program, and in 1998, the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for the Getty Trust. He currently serves as a trustee of Occidental College, The Ahmanson Foundation, Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles and Polytechnic School.

Center Theatre Group, one of the nation’s preeminent arts and cultural organizations, is Los Angeles’ leading nonprofit theatre company, which, under Artistic Director Michael Ritchie, programs seasons at the 736-seat Mark Taper Forum and 1600 to 2000-seat Ahmanson Theatre at The Music Center in Downtown Los Angeles, and the 317-seat Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City. In addition to presenting and producing the broadest range of theatrical entertainment in the country, Center Theatre Group is one of the nation’s leading producers of ambitious new works through commissions and world premiere productions and a leader in interactive community engagement and education programs that reach across generations, demographics and circumstance to serve Los Angeles.

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October 29, 2018