Pat Wilhelms, who started the Roanoke Children’s Theatre shortly after being ousted as the head of the children’s theater program at Mill Mountain Theatre, is stepping down after 11 wildly successful years at the helm. She will be replaced as producing artistic director by Brett J. Roden at the beginning of the 2019-2020 season.
Wilhelms will slide over to become the company’s resident stage director, directing all the main stage productions for RCT. She selected Roden for the artistic director spot.
She headed the children’s program at MMT for a number of years until she ran into some philosophical differences with the company’s then-artistic director. He was eventually sent packing.
Wilhelms, who founded the company in 2008, has served more than 156,000 people with productions, educational outreach programming and classes. More than 7,000 school-aged kids have attended student matinees annually and more than 9,000 have toured areas without a professional theater.
According to a press release, Wilhelms created RCT4TEENS, a mainstage production and program that tackles health issues. RCT4TEENS has been recognized by The New York Times. With Wilhelms at the helm, RCT was awarded the prestigious Kendig Award and voted the best place to see a family performance.
“This is a perfect opportunity for the theatre,” says Wilhelms. “It is time for someone else to carry the torch and see where they can take RCT next. Brett is very energetic, talented, organized, connected to the community and most importantly, passionate about all we do as an organization. I have full confidence that he will do incredible things to grow this organization.
“I love this theatre, and know it will remain the theatre for schools and families. A place where families know they will get a quality show and quality theatre education because all of our programming and all of our dollars go to that mission 100% of the time.”
Roden will begin his new position September 1, and says, “I hope to provide Roanoke with a prestigious theatrical experience that will empower, fill the audience with love and passion, and live inside of them forever.”
About the Writer:
Dan Smith is an award-winning Roanoke-based writer/author/photographer and a member of the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame (Class of 2010). His blog, fromtheeditr.com, is widely read and he has authored seven books, including the novel CLOG! He is founding editor of a Roanoke-based business magazine and a former Virginia Small Business Journalist of the Year (2005).
