Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC), one of Broadway’s nonprofit theater companies, has named Rachel Kara Pérez as its new director of learning and community engagement. She will join the organization on Sept. 16.
Pérez comes to MTC from the Metropolitan Opera, where as manager of education and engagement she oversaw the HD Live in Schools program, which brings opera to over 70 school districts nationwide, including the program’s inaugural presence in Puerto Rico. Pérez has also held positions with TDF, the DreamYard Project, National Dance Institute, Broadway Advocacy Coalition and Harlem School of the Arts.
“As a lifelong theater kid, this is a dream role and a piece of New York history,” said Pérez in a statement. “I’m excited to be working in service of such a staple in the theater community, as MTC has in many ways been at the heart and helm of arts education in New York. I look forward to supporting the mission, staff, our young people, and larger MTC communities.”
Pérez’s appointment coincides with a rebranding within MTC. The program formally known as MTC Education has been renamed MTC Learning and Community Engagement. MTC Education program was founded in 1998 under the leadership of David Shookhoff. The new Learning and Community Engagement program will expand upon the original principle of bringing arts education to public high schools through a combination classroom, community and career initiatives. The program will feature in-classroom teaching artists, partnerships with community-based organizations and exposure to careers in the theater.
“We are thrilled to welcome Rachel as MTC’s director of learning and community engagement,” said MTC artistic director Lynne Meadow and executive director Chris Jennings in a joint statement. “We are confident that Rachel will build on David’s vision and accomplishments as she expands the program’s scope. Rachel shares our love of theater and our belief in its unique power to transform and enlighten. She brings a well of experience in and commitment to arts education and we look forward to her playing this major role here.”
