THEATRE NEWS: MO`OLELO ANNOUNCES INTERIM GENERAL AND PRODUCING MANAGER

Jessica Bird, Seema Sueko, and Samantha Howell.  Photo courtesy of Samantha Howell.

SAN DIEGO, CA (September 6, 2012) – Award winning Mo`olelo Performing Arts Company announces the appointment of Jessica Bird to serve as Interim General and Producing Manager during Executive Artistic Director Seema Sueko’s upcoming working sabbatical. Bird, who will begin at Mo`olelo on September 10, served as Casting Director and Artistic Associate at San Diego Repertory Theatre and brings a wealth of experience including production, directing, administration, teaching and stage management at many local theaters. She recently co-wrote and directed the one woman show Women in the Mirror, A Dancer’s Journey.  Bird holds a B.A. in Theater and Music from Point Loma Nazarene University and is beginning her Master’s in Non-Profit Leadership and Management at the University of San Diego.

Sueko’s sabbatical is thanks to her receiving the Theatre Communications Group’s (TCG) prestigious inaugural “Leadership U(niversity) One-On-One  Grant, a $75,000 award that will provide her with a 16 month in-depth mentorship with Molly Smith, Artistic Director of Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater in Washington DC beginning in December 2012.

During the next four months, Sueko will train Bird on Mo`olelo operations. Though Bird will be responsible for the overall day to day management of Mo`olelo while Sueko is in DC, they will continue to stay in contact throughout Sueko’s sabbatical, working together as a team to ensure smooth continuity of theater operations. The grant program will be completed in 2014 which is the 10th anniversary of Mo`olelo.

Mo`olelo began a three play series starting this year and will continue three productions each year, with Sueko returning to San Diego for a period in 2013 to direct the second play of the season.  The company's final production of 2012 will be Tanya Saracho's "Kita y Fernanda" directed by Robert Castro and Seema Sueko, which begins performances on September 27.