News Release

Photo: For a photo of Fox, click on http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/faculty/fox_rob.jpg

Fox takes helm at UNC’s Institute of Outdoor Drama

CHAPEL HILL – Rob Franklin Fox, general manager for PlayMakers Repertory Company since 1999, has been named the new director of the Institute of Outdoor Drama at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Fox has been with the department of dramatic art in UNC’s College of Arts and Sciences for more than 10 years. He has taught theatre management and been box office manager and assistant box office manager for PlayMakers, the professional theater company in residence at UNC.

Fox has 14 years of theater management experience and holds a master of business administration degree in arts management from Oklahoma City University. Before joining PlayMakers, he was the box office manager for the American Dance Festival and the Florida Studio Theatre. He is past president and a member of the Triangle Network of Theatres and a member of the North Carolina Theatre Conference.

“Rob’s MBA in arts management, coupled with his experience at PlayMakers – one of the leading professional companies in the country – give him a strong background in many areas crucial to outdoor drama,” said English professor emeritus Laurence Avery, a member of the search committee. “Given his experience, he can also be counted on to bring a fresh perspective and new ideas to the field of outdoor drama.”

The institute, a public service agency at UNC, aids and advises theater companies nationwide about management, promotion, technical and artistic elements and more. The institute currently advises 100 theater companies in 37 states. The industry has an annual economic impact on U.S. travel and tourism of about $500 million.

Outdoor drama began in North Carolina in 1937 with the opening in Manteo of “The Lost Colony” by Paul Green. Green (1894-1981) won the 1927 Pulitzer Prize for Drama; he taught philosophy and drama at UNC.

“In my time at PlayMakers, I developed a deep respect for Paul Green, not only because of his history with the company, but as one of the leading pioneers behind this country’s outdoor drama movement,” Fox said. “Green’s ‘The Lost Colony’ is an incredible gift to the theater arts. And as a North Carolina resident and arts lover, I value the importance of outdoor drama on the state’s and the nation’s economy.”

He succeeds Scott J. Parker, director for 17 years, who retired July 31 and will remain in Chapel Hill. Next April, Parker will become dean of the College of Fellows of the American Theatre, an honorary society based at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

Institute of Outdoor Drama Web site: http://www.unc.edu/depts/outdoor

News release on 2007 outdoor dramas: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/jun07/moonshine060607.html

Note: Fox can be reached at (919) 962-1328, roo1@email.unc.edu

College of Arts and Sciences contact: Kim Spurr, (919) 962-4093, spurrk@email.unc.edu
News Services contact: LJ Toler, (919) 962-8589