For Immediate Release: March 7, 2005
Media Contact: Hope deFrenes, Montgomery Theater, 215.723.9984

The Board of Directors of Montgomery Theater has announced the appointment of Thomas Quinn as the theater's first full-time Artistic Director. Quinn co-founded the theater in 1992 with Hope deFrenes who is now serving as Managing Director. For the first 13 years of theater operations, the Artistic Director role was a volunteer position.

Montgomery Theater has been expanding its operations since 2003 when with the help of public and private support it purchased the old firehouse building on Main Street, Souderton to house a new 122-seat theater. The theater received a grant from the William Penn Foundation to fund the development of a strategic plan for the expanded theater operations. The strategic plan identified the need to make the Artistic Director a full-time, paid position. “We are delighted to have a talent like Tom as a dedicated resource for the theater,” said Linda Plank, Board of Directors Chair. “This helps assure the future of Montgomery Theater as a vital cultural asset in the region.”

Quinn, a Montgomery County native, worked in theater and film in Los Angeles for 11 years before returning to Pennsylvania with a vision to build a professional, regional theater in the northern suburbs of Philadelphia. Since the theater's creation he has directed almost every play produced there and has garnered accolades from the press as well as respected playwrights. “I told Tom, ‘Jump off the cliff and build your wings on the way down.' This young man jumped, flew and landed.” said Ray Bradbury author of such famous works as Fahrenheit 451 which the theater produced in 2003.

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