Longtime arts marketer and producer joins San Diego Rep as its new managing director

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Abigail “Abby” Buell, who has spent the past 16 years in the theater and performing arts in New York City as a marketer and producer, is the new General Manager of the San Diego Repertory Theater.

Buell has been on the Rep team for three weeks. She replaces Larry Alldredge, who stepped down as managing director of the theater last month after 13 years.

Prior to joining the Rep, Buell was the director of marketing for RWS Entertainment Group, which provides live entertainment programming for theme parks, cruise lines, and other North American companies. She previously led marketing campaigns for Broadway producer Scott Rudin, including productions of To Kill a Mockingbird, King Lear and the upcoming The Music Man with Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster.

Before that, she worked in senior positions at the Joyce Theater and the Schimmel Center for the Arts. She has produced thousands of individual shows for numerous artists, including Patti LuPone, the Carolina Chocolate Drops, Twyla Tharp, the Joffrey Ballet and many more. She also directed the audience for the television show “Inside the Actors Studio” for more than seven years. She has degrees from the Commercial Theater Institute, Drake University, and the Harvard University Graduate School of Design.

Buell said she and her fiancé Michael always talked about life on the west coast and the pandemic made them rethink their future priorities. She believes that working on regional theaters like San Diego Rep will become increasingly important in the years to come, and she wanted to be a part of it.

“In the past few years and also during COVID, I have been watching the pulse of theater in the USA and also in New York City. I believe we will come to a time when this will all change. The regional theater will now have its time more than before. I think San Diego Rep is built specifically for size. “

“The San Diego Rep is an organization that goes beyond the ordinary with its mission,” she said. “I thought that this organization, which has been dedicated to the city for a long time, is doing such an incredible job, and I believe that the rest of the country and the world should have access to it too. So my model is one of growth and opportunity and brings the voices that we bring to the stage here to the rest of the country. “

One of Buell’s ideas is to expand the ability to virtually stream rep shows to other markets, including New York. She is also committed to implementing the company’s Strategic Action Plan for Justice, Diversity and Inclusion by building staff training and developing community partnerships to share the Rep’s stages with local art groups that don’t have a theater.

Buell, her fiance, and their dog Lucy moved to the Civita Park community in Mission Valley this fall. She said the city’s cultural scene was a big factor in her decision to move here.

“I’m a city planning nerd and a geeky city lover,” she said. “I’m fascinated by cities and how cultural and artistic landscapes are woven into them. San Diego’s art and culture scene has been remembered for a long time and I can see that it is growing more and more. ”

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