Leadership

Dean R. Gladden is in his 19th season with the Alley Theatre where he is responsible for the administrative, financial, marketing, facilities, and development aspects of the Theatre. His career in the performing arts spans over 40 years. Prior to joining the Alley, he was Managing Director at the Cleveland Play House for 19 years and was the Director of Arts Management Graduate Program at the University of Akron. He has also lectured at Case Western Reserve University, University of Houston, and Bowling Green State University. During his career, he has overseen the production of over 300 plays, including and produced internationally with theatres from Russia, Mexico, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia. Mr. Gladden holds a BA in Music from Miami University and a MA in Urban Arts Administration from Drexel University. He also graduated from the Harvard Business School Executive Education Program in Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management. He is currently the Treasurer of the Board of the Houston Theatre District, past Chair of the Board of the Greater Houston Convention and Visitor Bureau, past President of the Rotary Club of Cleveland, Ohio, and Senior Leadership Forum Fellow. He has served on the Executive Committee of the League of Resident Theatres, Greater Houston Partnership, and was Vice President of the National Corporate Theatre Fund. Gladden has served on panels for the National Endowment for the Arts, Ohio Arts Council, Wisconsin Arts Council, Kentucky Arts Council, Texas Commission on the Arts and the Pew Center for Arts and Heritage in Philadelphia. He has lectured nationally for Theatre Communications Group, American Council for the Arts, Association of Performing Arts Professionals, National Association of State Legislators and American Dance Festival. He served on the Pedagogical Advisory Board of the Master of Management in International Arts Management with HEC Montreal, Southern Methodist University, and SDA Bocconi, Milan, Italy. He has presented at the Santiago a Mil Festival in Chile and conducted Arts Management workshops in Budapest, Hungary, under the sponsorship of the United States Information Agency.

Rob Melrose is the Artistic Director of the Alley Theatre where he has directed productions of Pictures from Home, Thornton Wilder’s The Emporium (world premiere), The Servant of Two Masters, Born with Teeth (world premiere), Sweat, The Winter’s Tale, 1984, and Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express and adapted and directed A Christmas Carol. He was formerly the Artistic Director and co-founder of the Cutting Ball Theater. He has directed at The Public Theater, The Guthrie Theater, The Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Asolo Rep, Magic Theatre, The Old Globe, and PlayMakers Rep among others. He has taught at Stanford University, UC Berkeley, USF, the University of Rhode Island, and Marin Academy. He has a BA in English and Theater from Princeton University and an MFA in directing from the Yale School of Drama. Rob directed Strindberg’s Svarta Handsken (The Black Glove) in Stockholm, Sweden at Strindberg’s Intimate Theater. His translations of Woyzeck, Ubu Roi, and Pelleas & Melisande have been published by EXIT Press and his adaptations of The Servant of Two Masters and A Christmas Carol have been published by Theatrical Rights Worldwide. He has written a number of plays including: Helen of Troy, The Flat Earth, Divorsosaurus, When Human Voices Wake Us, Asylum, and Serpentyne and has written a rock musical adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s Ozma of Oz.