Anne Mueller Appointed New Managing Director

FROM ON POINTE TO IAMBIC PENTAMETER:
ANNE MUELLER APPOINTED MANAGING DIRECTOR OF BAG&BAGGAGE PRODUCTIONS

Anne Mueller, the Nationally Recognized Ballet Dancer and Former Director of Artistic Operations and Interim Artistic Director of Oregon Ballet Theatre, Joins Hillsboro’s Only Professional Theatre In A New Leadership Role

 

July 1, 2013

 

Hillsboro, OR – Anne Mueller is no stranger to Bag&Baggage audiences; in the summer of 2012, Mueller made her post-ballet-retirement stage debut as Lavinia in B&B’s critically acclaimed Kabuki-Titus, stunning audiences with her powerful portrayal of Shakespeare’s tragic heroine. Mueller’s work with Bag&Baggage was called “graceful and precise” and her performance as Lavinia “played with silent, riveting expressiveness.”

Now, Mueller is taking on a new role with Bag&Baggage as the company’s first ever full-time Managing Director. Mueller most recently worked as the Interim Artistic Director for Oregon Ballet Theatre and, previously, had worked as the Artistic Coordinator for the company after finishing her 18 year career as a ballerina in 2011. Mueller was also a co-founder of the Trey McIntrye Project, an internationally recognized touring dance company, serving as the organization’s Managing Director from 2004 – 2006.

The Managing Director position with Bag&Baggage is a new, full-time leadership role that has been fully funded by grant awards from The Collins Foundation and The Miller Foundation. Mueller will oversee both the day to day operations of Hillsboro’s only professional theatre and assist with expanding the company’s earned and contributed income. The position begins in August.

“This is a huge step for us,” said Scott Palmer, B&B’s Founding Artistic Director. “Not only will we now have year round, full-time leadership but we will have that in form of Anne Mueller, one of Portland’s best known and most respected cultural leaders. To say we are thrilled would be a painful, embarrassing understatement.”

Mueller said, “I am honored to have been chosen for this new leadership role with a company that I know and love. It will be a challenge for me, personally and professionally, but I am excited to bring my experience and training to Bag&Baggage to support their innovative work. ”

Palmer and Mueller met when Palmer’s partner, former Artistic Director of Oregon Ballet Theatre Christopher Stowell, suggested Mueller for the role of Lavinia. “I had met Anne a few times at social events, but had never really sat down and talked with her at length,” said Palmer, who expanded the role of Lavinia in Kabuki-Titus for Mueller.

“Once we got to know each other, we developed an immediate friendship,” said Palmer. “She is an artist of incredible depth and she is also one of the most organized, dedicated and hardworking non-profit administrators I have ever met. Her skills as a strategist, public spokesperson, development professional and her reputation for excellence and honesty…well, how could we possible turn down the chance to bring her on board?”

Bag&Baggage Productions recently completed its Fifth Anniversary Season as the in-house performing arts group at The Venetian Theatre in downtown Hillsboro with record setting audiences. The company has been hailed as one of the most innovative young theatre companies in the Portland metro area and has seen significant growth over the past three years, including receiving a number of grants to support capacity building steps like hiring full time leadership.

“We are growing and growing quickly,” said Kevin Hoover, Chair of the Bag&Baggage Board. “Our audiences are expanding, our success with grant writing has been high, and our artistic reputation is also expanding. Adding Anne to our leadership team is going to enable us to continue that trajectory.”

“Bag&Baggage has been going from strength to strength for the past five years,” said Mueller. “I have loved watching the company grow and flourish, gain new audiences and new supporters. It is my hope that this new role will help to solidify Bag&Baggage as a truly important regional arts organization. I plan to do everything I can to make that happen.”

First order of business for the new Managing Director? Preparing for Bag&Baggage’s annual Gala Dinner and Auction on July 13^th. “This will be the first time that patrons and supporters of Bag&Baggage will have a chance to meet me in my new role as Managing Director and not as a performer,” said Mueller. “The annual gala is an incredibly important event for the company and I am excited to be there helping to raise money to support Bag&Baggage and our future together.”

 

About Bag&Baggage Productions: Bag&Baggage is committed to provocative, innovative interpretations of classical works of American and English Drama. Through the use of major literary adaptations and inventive stagings, the company seeks to reconnect the great works of drama to new audiences. Bag&Baggage is the only professional theatre in Hillsboro and is the resident in-house performing arts group at the historic Venetian Theatre in downtown Hillsboro. www.bagnbaggage.org.