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Actors Guild managing director resigns

By Rich Copley rcopley@herald-leader.com

Rich Copley

The third annual Chamber Music Festival of Lexington was Aug. 28-30 at the Fasig-Tipton Pavilion, 2400 Newtown Pike in Lexington, Ky. Photo by Rich Copley | staff.

Rich Copley

Kim Shaw resigned from her position as managing director of Actors Guild of Lexington.

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The managing director of Actors Guild of Lexington, Kimberly Shaw, is leaving the theater to become the stage manager of a production that will tour Europe through 2010. Her departure leaves the embattled troupe with its top two management posts vacant and only one full-time employee remaining.

Although her departure comes at the end of a summer that saw the theater tumble into financial turmoil, the Lexington native says her resignation is not because of Actors Guild's troubles.

"I had a meeting with the board's executive committee Friday afternoon that was very productive and we were excited about some of the plans we were making," said Shaw, who came to the theater in September 2008 and had previously worked for the theater at Princeton University, the Royal Shakespeare Company and the New York International Fringe Festival. "Then, out of the blue, I got this offer, and it was personally and financially hard to turn down."

Shaw said she is joining a show called India. It is a production of Franco Dragone Entertainment, which has produced shows such as Celine Dion in Las Vegas.

"It's a sad loss for AGL," said board president Jennifer Miller. "But I cannot say enough good things about Kim, and we could not possibly resent her for taking this amazing opportunity."

With Shaw's leaving and the departure of artistic director Richard St. Peter in August, Actors Guild now has only one full-time staffer left: associate artistic director Eric Ryan Seale.

Actors Guild produced a season-opening production — the Rodgers and Hart revue Beguiled Again, which closed earlier this month — but the theater has not announced any further productions.

Miller said the theater will soon make announcements about its future, including upcoming productions.

Shaw said she is confident "the theater is poised to make it.

"The board is ready to answer the tough questions. It's been a rough summer for AGL, but through that process, people have come on board, and the staff is committed to work."