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Leadership

DAVE STEAKLEY (Artistic Director) was named ZACHs Producing Artistic Director in 1997, after serving the theatre as its Managing Director since 1991. Under his leadership ZACH has grown from a budget of $700,000 to $2.6 million, and from 25,000 audience members to over 150,000 annually. Since his directorial debut at ZACH with Beehive in 1992, Mr. Steakley has been an artistic leader and innovator in Austin, creating Mainstage opportunities for African American artists unparalleled in Central Texas.

He is dedicated to creating a meeting tent for Austin where a diverse, energized community has investment, ownership and representation. Dave strives to engage our community in a lively dialogue through creative work, and believes theatre offers an avenue for self-examination, an arena in which we might be challenged to understand a little better, not just our own lives, but the world in which we live. Most recently he created the original production Keepin’ It Weird, based on interviews with over 200 Austinites, and featured nationally on CBS Sunday Morning, NPR, The Wall Street Journal and American Theatre. With more than 200 productions to his credit as a producer, director and choreographer at ZACH, some favorites include: Present Laughter, 365 Plays/365 Days, Plaid Tidings, I Am My Own Wife, Urinetown, Crowns, Omnium Gatherum, Hair, The Pavilion, The Laramie Project, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Jelly’s Last Jam, Jouét, Evita, Tapestry, The America Play, The Who’s Tommy, The Gospel At Colonus, Ruthless!, Dreamgirls, The Rocky Horror Show, The Mystery of Irma Vep, and Angels In America. Dave directed the original production of Beehive and has directed its subsequent multiple revivals at ZACH and the Paramount since 1992. Dave wrote and directs Rockin’ Christmas Party, ZACH’s annual holiday tradition, which has been performed nationwide at theatres like Kansas City’s American Heartland Theatre, Dallas’ Watertower Theatre, and San Antonio’s Empire Theatre. His regional directing credits include: A Tuna Christmas, and Jouét at Actors Theatre of Louisville, Forever Plaid at New Stage Theatre, Avenue X at City Theatre, Beehive at Downstairs Cabaret, and a subsequent tour of Beehive in New York state.

Dave was recently honored with the 2005 Austin Circle of Theaters’ Special Recognition Award for “Outstanding Contribution to Austin Theatre.” May 18, 2001 was declared “Dave Steakley Day” by former Austin Mayor Kirk Watson in honor of Dave’s tremendous support of professional theatre in Central Texas. The Austin Critics’ Table and the B. Iden Payne Awards have honored him with multiple “Best Director” and “Best Choreographer” awards. The Austin Chronicle “Best of Austin” Reader’s Poll has twice named him the “Best Stage Director,” and Austin Under 40 honored him with the Outstanding Arts & Entertainment award. Dave has been a frequent guest lecturer at The University of Texas and at St. Edward’s University. He serves on the National Alliance of Musical Theatre New Works Committee.

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ELISBETH CHALLENER (Managing Director) Elisbeth joins ZACH this summer ('07) after serving as a non-profit consultant and as the part-time Executive Director of One World, since moving here in late 2005. Prior to Austin, she resided in the San Francisco Bay Area where she was Executive Director of Montalvo Arts Center in Saratoga, spending nearly 20 years with the organization.  As Executive Director, Elisbeth led Montalvo Arts Center’s growth from a small, community-based organization into a major presenting venue and home to an internationally acclaimed artists residency program. 

She was responsible for the vision and oversight of a range of programs encompassing performing, literary and visual arts and an extensive arts education program. Other accomplishments during her tenure included growing ticket sales from less than $500K to more than $4 million, expanding the patron base from 6,000 to 80,000; and raising more than $20 million for capital projects.

Earlier in her career, she served as Administrative Director for the San Francisco Boys Chorus, Education/Outreach Director of the Fairmount Theatre of the Deaf, and as department chair and faculty member of the performing arts department of the Purnell School, a private boarding high school for women. 

Elisbeth graduated from the Boston Conservatory of Music with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts in drama and musical theatre. She attended the Harvard Business School Executive Education Program on Nonprofit Management and the Center for Excellence in Nonprofit Management Leader’s Institute in San Jose, California. Elisbeth has always had a passion for the theater and performed for many years in summer stock, dinner theater, and semi-professional productions on the east coast and in California.

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