AURORA | Despite a four-month long national search process, Phamaly Theatre Company didn’t have to look very far to find its new artistic director.
“At the end of this process we all realized we had the best possible candidate right here at home,” Chris Silberman, Phamaly’s executive director, said in a statement.
Bryce Alexander took over the reigns as Phamaly’s new artistic director last month, though the designation was only a slight change from his former role as the company’s associate artistic director and production manager — a position he’s served in for the past two and a half years. Alexander’s appointment marks only the third time the Aurora-based company has swapped artistic directors since the company was founded in Denver in 1989.
“I am deeply honored to have the opportunity to deepen my relationship with our extraordinary company through the trust of our board, the staff, the performers and the community,” Alexander said in a statement. “There are distinct challenges, but unmistakable achievements ahead as we expand our programming, enrich our audience experience, refine our messaging, and expound our impact.”
Alexander is succeeding former artistic director Steve Wilson, who served in the role for 14 years and oversaw the company’s first non-musical with the production of Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” in 2007. Apart from his work with Phamaly, Alexander has played a part in the direction or assistant direction of shows for theater companies across Colorado, as well as in Minnesota and New York.
Formerly known as The Physically Handicapped Actors & Musical Artists League, Phamaly produces plays and musicals across the metro area using solely casts of disabled performers of all kinds — physical, cognitive and emotional among others.d
“Phamaly is poised to become a model for disability in the arts, and I am confident that the company will work together to further cement our place in the local, national and international arts and disability communities,” Alexander said in a statement.
Alexander has already had a hand in realizing the international aspect of that notion by recently helping Phamaly secure its first performance outside of the U.S. The company will be performing its rendition of Tom Jones’ “The Fantasticks” at the International Communication Center for Persons with Disabilities in Osaka Japan on March 29.
“Bryce has already served as an incredible artistic support for Phamaly, specifically helping to transform our upcoming tour to Japan from being an unachievable dream to a reality,” Silberman said in a statement. He added that Alexander recently helped to broaden the company’s reach regionally by bringing Phamaly shows to theaters in Crested Butte, Colorado Springs and Wyoming, and helped to conceptualize several sensory friendly performances for Phamaly, which resulted in the company being awarded a $14,000 grant from the Arts Affinity Group of the Denver Foundation.