Court Theatre Announces The Election Of Virginia Gerst As Chairman Of The Board Trustees

Court Theatre’s Board of Trustees and Artistic Director Charles Newell announce the election of Virginia Gerst as the company’s Chairman of the Board of Trustees. Gerst replaces Lawrence Strickling who was recently nominated for the position of Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information, U.S. Department of Commerce.

Virginia Gerst is a long-time Chicago resident and supporter of the arts. A former journalist, she edited the arts and entertainment section and reviewed theater for Pioneer Press, a Glenview-based newspaper chain, for more than a decade. Under her leadership, the section twice won the Suburban Newspaper Association’s award as best entertainment section in the country. Virginia is the recipient of the Chicago Headline Club’s Ethics in Journalism Award and the Payne Award for Ethics in Journalism, a national award given annually by the University of Oregon. A graduate of Vassar College, where she studied theater, Virginia is also on the board of the Green City Market and a member of the Gene Siskel Film Center advisory committee.  Gerst has been a Court Theatre Trustee since 1997.

“I am thrilled to announce that Virginia Gerst is Court Theatre’s new Chairman of the Board of Trustees. She is a most passionate and articulate champion of Court’s mission and work, and I look forward to working even more closely with her as she takes on this new leadership role,” says Newell. “I also extend my heartfelt thanks to Larry Strickling for his extraordinary service and leadership at Court Theatre the past three years. All of us wish him the very best as he joins the Obama Administration.”

“I am honored to follow Larry Strickling as Chairman of the Court Theatre Board of Trustees. I am awed by the quality of work presented on our Hyde Park stage and applaud Charlie Newell's efforts to help Chicago audiences discover the power of classic theater. As Board Chair, I look forward to leading our committed and enthusiastic band of trustees in support of Charlie and the rest of the Court team as they work to make Court the national center for classic theater in the United States,” says Gerst.  

Court Theatre, the professional theatre in residence at the University of Chicago, is located at 5535 S. Ellis Ave. in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood. To receive more information about Court Theatre, please call the Court Theatre Box Office at (773) 753-4472, or visit Court’s website at www.CourtTheatre.org.

Court Theatre’s 54th Season, under the leadership of Artistic Director Charles Newell, is generously supported by Richard and Barbara Franke, Hyde Park Bank, The Joyce Foundation, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Polk Brothers Foundation, Shubert Foundation, and the University of Chicago.  Court Theatre is also funded in part by grants from CityArts Program IV of the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs; and the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.