Actor Ethan Hawke will join the board of trustees at the Classical Theatre of Harlem, the theater production company announced today (April 3).
Hawke, a four-time Academy Award nominee, has starred in theater productions such as Sam Shepard’s True West and Tom Stoppard’s The Coast of Utopia. Now, he’s set to help manage the Classical Theatre of Harlem (CTH), an off-Broadway company founded in 1999.
“I hope to bring more visibility to what I think is one of the best kept secrets around because the work they do in Harlem is what makes New York City great,” said Hawke in a statement. “I look forward to rolling up my sleeves in support of this great company.”
The actor has long been active in local arts organizations across New York City. In 2016, he was elected a trustee at the New York Public Library, where he also helped co-found the institution’s Young Lions Fiction Award, given annually to writers under the age of 35.
Hawke is additionally on the board of directors at DreamYard, a program that provides arts education to Bronx youth, and at Film Forum, a nonprofit cinema in Greenwich Village that screens independent films.
Other prominent figures at Classical Theatre of Harlem
Andre Braugher, an actor known for his work in Homicide: Life on the Street and Brooklyn Nine-Nine; and Sue Suh, chief people officer at Time since 2018, are also trustees at CTH.
“Having [Hawke] as an ambassador for CTH along with Andre Braugher will further strengthen the company in matters of art, commerce and community,” said Ty Jones, the theater’s producing artistic director, in a statement.
The company, which in January received a $1 million grant from the Charles and Lucille King Family Foundation, said it “recently celebrated 20 years of providing theatrical productions and theatre-based educational and literary programs at little or no cost to underserved communities in Harlem and beyond.”
Hawke is joining the theater at a “critical time,” said CTH, as the production company is looking to build a live performing arts complex in Central Harlem to be used by CTH, the Harlem Chamber Players and the Harlem Opera theater. CTH is also expanding its programming and launching a series of feature films in production with Lion Forge, an animation studio, which will reimagine classical plays for young audiences.
