Roche Schulfer to step down as executive director of Goodman Theatre, John Collins to take over

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Executive director Roche Schulfer will step down as executive director and chief executive officer of the Goodman Theatre once the 2023-2024 season concludes, the theatre company announced Wednesday.

This season is Schulfer's 50th year at the Goodman. He started out working at the Goodman box office just out of college in 1973.

Schulfer was soon one working alongside future artistic director Gregory Mosher to head up Stage 2 – a proving ground at the Goodman for up-and-coming actors, directors, and writers, of whom David Mamet was one, according to the Goodman. Schulfer became executive director of the theatre in 1980.

In his time at the theatre company, Schulfer has overseen more than 400 productions, according to the Goodman.

Schulfer also established the annual staging of "A Christmas Carol" at the Goodman in 1978 – originally in the form of an adaptation by playwright Barbara Field. An adaptation of the classic Charles Dickens novel by Mosher and Larry Sloan was later staged at the Goodman, and Tom Creamer's adaptation of "A Christmas Carol" has been staged there since 1989. There have been 10 Scrooges – most recently Larry Yando – since Roche first established the tradition.

In addition, Schulfer oversaw the move of the Goodman from the Art Institute of Chicago campus to the Loop Theatre District in 2000. The moving process to the current space at 170 N. Dearborn St. took 12 years, according to the theatre company.

Schulfer also established the Goodman's Alice C. Rappoport Center for Education and Engagement in 2017, the Goodman noted.

Longtime Goodman artistic director Robert Falls, who worked alongside Schulfer for many years, stepped down in 2021.

"I extend deepest congratulations to my longtime producing partner and friend on his decision to retire as Executive Director/CEO," Falls said in a news release. "Collaborating with Roche for 35 years remains a highlight of my life in the theater. There is no better producer in the American theater, nobody who cares more about enabling artists to do their best work. I'm ever grateful for all he has done to make the Goodman the internationally known theater it is today."

Taking over as executive director of the Goodman on Sept. 1 will be longtime managing director and chief operating officer John Collins. The theatre noted that Collins has spent nearly 20 years at the Goodman, providing direction and guidance to senior leaders and overseeing productions advance to Broadway and other heights.

Collins also led the Goodman through the shutdown at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic – staging virtual productions, and later safely reopening the stage.

"It's so important to have a leader with the wisdom, care, allyship and advocacy for our industry that John Collins possesses," Marissa Lynn Jones, Executive Director of the League of Chicago Theaters, said in the release. He embodies the energy, engagement, experience and expertise that is needed in this unique time where theater is evolving—and specifically within the Chicago community where we are making change and taking risks."

Susan V. Booth, formerly the Goodman's director of new play development and later artistic director of the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, succeeded Falls in the role of artistic director at the Goodman.