David E. Shane was named the first executive director of Theatre Commons LA Friday, becoming the nonprofit organization’s first permanent hire as it develops services for Los Angeles’ nonprofit theater community.
Shane will be responsible for developing and implementing programs and services for the region’s nonprofit theaters, along with a fundraising strategy and organizational infrastructure, according to Theatre Commons LA.
The organization was formed by Los Angeles theater leaders who began meeting as a volunteer steering committee in August 2021 to develop a service organization for the local theater community.
“I see service organizations as essential connective tissue in today’s theatre ecosystem, and I am prepared to position Theatre Commons LA as both mirror and catalyst — responding to the field’s current needs while actively fostering the conditions for a more vibrant, equitable, and sustainable future,” Shane said.
Shane most recently served as executive director of CO_LAB Theater Group, a New York Off-Broadway company that produces work by, with and for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Before that, Shane worked from 2019 to 2024 at the Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York, where he served as director of program services and oversaw programs serving more than 450 nonprofit theaters, according to Theatre Commons LA.
“There are very few individuals who have held a leadership position in a service organization to the theatre industry, much less one who has done it at the scale of New York’s nonprofit theatre ecosystem, coordinating support across hundreds of independent companies. David Shane has,” Theatre Commons LA Steering Committee member and Center Theatre Group Artistic Director Snehal Desai said.
Theatre Commons LA’s first project was TheatreCommonsLA.org, a website that compiles Los Angeles-area theater listings and allows users to filter shows by date, neighborhood and genre.