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Mark Cuddy, Geva Theatre’s artistic director emeritus, will return to the organization in an interim capacity. The move follows an announcement regarding the departure of Elizabeth Williamson.
“It is an honor and a privilege to once again serve our community through the artistic stewardship of its flagship theatre during this transition,” says Cuddy. “I believe in Rochester. I believe in Geva.”
He will take over from Williamson after she leaves to take an artistic director position at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco in January. Cuddy will oversee the remainder of the current season alongside Executive Director James Haskins and the rest of the Geva’s staff.
In addition, he will lead planning for next season and provide overall artistic leadership during the transition.
The reasons for Cuddy’s selection include his familiarity with the Rochester region and his long career in the theater industry, which Geva noted spans more than 50 years and seven different theaters.
“Given Mark’s long tenure with Geva and his connection with the Rochester community, we believe Mark provides the ideal bridge as we begin planning for a search to hire Geva’s next artistic leader,” says Faheem Masood, chair of Geva’s board of trustees.
Any future artistic director will likely still be helping Geva to recover from financial aftershocks related to the COVID-19 pandemic, which impacted theaters worldwide. Ticket sales at Geva fell 46%, comparing 2019 to 2021’s totals (86,246 to 46,267). In fiscal 2024, the most recent data available, sales rose to 89,642, topping pre-pandemic levels. Subscribers, donors and employees remain well below 2019 levels, however.
Cuddy had a 27-year run at the regional theater, from 1995 to 2022. After leaving Geva, he served as interim artistic director at the Cleveland Play House for 18 months. (CPH faced a controversy in January 2023 over the mishandling of a sexual assault report.) Cuddy left Cleveland in December 2023 after Michael Barakiva was hired as a permanent artistic director.
He then returned to Rochester and founded the Classics Company in 2025. The theater aims to introduce classic works of theater to a modern-day audience by focusing on a single playwright each year. Its inaugural season featured plays by Anton Chekov; this year it is Molière. In its 2025-2026 report, the company listed $193,416 in total revenue, with 30% coming from ticket sales. There were 31 performances with 1,942 attendees, which represented 78% of paid capacity that season.
Cuddy will continue to lead the Classics Company while serving in his interim role at Geva.
Jacob Schermerhorn is a Rochester Beacon contributing writer and data journalist.
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