Vineyard Theatre Co-Artistic Director Douglas Aibel has announced he's leaving the Off-Broadway company, ending a 43-year tenure that began in 1983. Aibel is re-focusing his attentions on his continuing career as a producer and casting director, with several high-profile film and television projects in the works.
Aibel joined the company as an associate director before becoming artistic director in 1985. Since 2011, Aibel has led the company alongside Co-Artistic Director Sarah Stern, who will continue leading the theatre solo after Aibel's departure. Among the works Aibel has helped bring to the stage are How I Learned to Drive, Three Tall Women, Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill, Avenue Q, [title of show], The Scottsboro Boys, The Lyons, and Indecent.
"It has been the honor and privilege of a lifetime to serve as artistic director of my beloved Vineyard Theatre for four decades, and I will always be deeply grateful to the incredible artists who cast their lot with us and worked together to build a very special place for the creation of new plays and musicals," says Aibel in a statement. "I would never have dreamed that when my 24-year-old self first met [founder] Barbara Zinn Krieger and offered to launch a new play program at the newly opened Vineyard, that over 40 years later, the company would still be my home. The journey has been a rich and fulfilling one, and while I will be stepping down, I am not retiring. I will still be actively casting films and television and producing theatre. I'm grateful that Sarah Stern joined me years ago to carry on and expand the vision and dreams of the company. I know she will continue to do so splendidly, and I can't wait to see every new production.
“The late great Laura Nyro once described her songwriting process as akin to creating a 'serious playground' for the development of new work. I think that is an apt metaphor for what the Vineyard has been, and continues to be, for its adventurous artists and audiences. My deepest appreciation to all who are a part of it.”
"After my play How I Learned to Drive was turned down by another theatre, I sent it to Doug Aibel, who called me 24 hours later," shares Paula Vogel, who would ultimately win the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for How I Learned to Drive. "'We would like to do your play,' he said. 'What?!' 'It's all here on the page.' Doug Aibel is a theatre artist who not only can read; he can envision the production, the casting, the director, and thoughtfully design the marketing. He has been a mentor and superb dramaturg for playwrights, and his passion has fueled what has become one of the most important creative homes for artists in the country. Without Doug, I would not have met Mark Brokaw, nor had the exceptional production of Drive at the Vineyard that launched my career."
“I have been fortunate to call Doug a mentor, a partner, and a friend in our work at the Vineyard for more than two decades," adds Stern. "His vision, ingenuity, and deep care for artists are in the DNA of the Vineyard and leave a profound legacy, from Tony- and Pulitzer Prize-winning plays and groundbreaking musicals to artists shaped by his belief in their voices. As he embarks on a new chapter of producing and continues his brilliant casting work in film and television, I am grateful for his integrity, passion, and extraordinary contributions to the Vineyard and to the American theatre, and for all that exists because he nurtured it forward."
Aibel's film and television casting credits include Materialists, Manchester by the Sea, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Marriage Story, Armageddon Time, Dead Man Walking, My Old Ass, Moonrise Kingdom, Unbreakable, The Royal Tenenbaums, Tina Satter’s Reality, Succession, Mozart in the Jungle, Servant, and The Sinner. Upcoming projects include Jay Kelly with Noah Baumbach, The Bride with Maggie Gyllenhaal, and an untitled feature with Jesse Eisenberg.
