The Rep’s Robert Hupp embraces unique ways of bringing performances to life, like collaborating with the Arkansas Arts Center on "Red."
The Arkansas Repertory Theatre of Little Rock said Thursday that producing artistic director Robert Hupp will resign at the end of the theater’s current season to take a new job in New York.
Hupp, who is in his 17th season at the leader of the nonprofit theater company, will become artistic director of Syracuse Stage in Syracuse, New York.
In a statement, The Rep said Hupp will plan its 2016-17 season before he leaves in June. The company said it will form a search committee to conduct a national search for his successor.
Hupp is only the second executive to lead The Rep in its 40-year history. The company’s founder, Cliff Fanin Baker, stepped down in 1999.
“It’s been an honor to steward The Rep for these past seventeen years,” Hupp said in a news release. “I am especially grateful to the kind and generous patrons of central Arkansas who make creating theatre here fun and rewarding.
“Little Rock has been a tremendous place to raise a family, and a wonderful place to call home. I’ve been extremely lucky to work with such a dedicated board of directors and a multi-talented Rep staff,” he said. “Arkansas Rep’s future is very bright, and I look forward to being a fan for years to come.”
Hupp came to Little Rock after 15 years at the Jean Cocteau Repertory Theatre, an off-Broadway theater company in Manhattan’s East Village, where he worked as artistic director. At The Rep, Hupp oversaw a tripling of the theater’s annual budget to $4 million, an increase in contributions, and renovations to the theater and actor housing. The downtown theater also opened The Annex, a black box theatre and education space, in Main Street’s Creative Corridor.
Catherine Hughes, president of The Rep’s board of directors, said the company has been “fortunate” to have Hupp at the helm.
“While we celebrate Bob and wish him well in his new venture, we will sorely miss his energetic and intelligent leadership,” Hughes said. “He has played an integral part in the life of our community, and his departure will create a void which will be difficult to fill.”
Hupp’s hiring in New York comes after a national search conducted by Greg Kandel of Management Consultants for the Arts. Bob Pomfrey, the chairman of Syracuse Stage’s board of directors, said Hupp’s achievements at The Rep made him an excellent choice.
“I think our community will find him engaging as an artist and will come to value him as a contributor to the cultural discourse of central New York,” Pomfrey said in a news release.
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