Kathy Evans created Rhinebeck Writers Retreat in 2011. Over 100 writers have participated, including Kirsten Childs, David Hein and Irene Sankoff, Joe Iconis, Jenny Giering, Itamar Moses, Duncan Sheik, Stew and Heidi Rodewald, Alex Timbers, and Max Vernon. Musicals developed in Rhinebeck have been produced at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Playwrights Horizons, The Public Theater, Second Stage, and The Old Globe.

 

Before founding RWR, Kathy was Executive Director of the National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT) for nine years. Under her leadership, NAMT's membership grew to 150 organizations and Kathy raised $2.1 million to support new works programs, produced 17 conferences, and oversaw the annual Festival of New Musicals. Many NAMT Festival shows went on to commercial and critical acclaim, including The Drowsy Chaperone, I Love You Because, It Shoulda Been You, Ordinary Days, See Rock City and Other Destinations, and The Story of My Life.

 

Before devoting her career to musical theatre, Kathy worked in media. At Scholastic Entertainment, she was responsible for worldwide video distribution, exceeding 2 million units in sales, and for the Webby award-winning web sites for Scholastic’s television division. She worked at Sony Pictures for five years heading up Programming and Promotion for international video, when revenues grew five-fold to $350 million.

 

Kathy has served on the board of the Performing Arts Alliance and National Alliance for Musical Theatre and has participated in panels or speaking engagements for the National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, The New York Times, Arts Mid-Hudson and ART New York. She has an MBA from Columbia University and a BA from Harvard College.