New Director Takes the Helm of KU Presents!

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KUTZTOWN, PA (11/06/2017) Bryan Zellmer, Shohola, Pa., has been named director of KU Presents! at Kutztown University.

With 20 years of performance, production and arts executive experience, Zellmer is a seasoned manager who appreciates both the creative and analytical aspects of running a theater. Prior to joining KU Presents!, he worked in leadership roles at a ten-thousand seat amphitheater in Pennsylvania, a casino entertainment lounge in New York, a state-of-the-art performing arts center in New Jersey and an historic theater in Colorado.

Zellmer's performance history includes numerous lead, supporting and ensemble acting roles in prestigious theaters such as the Paramount Theatre, Bardavon Opera House and UPAC on Broadway. He has been a stage manager, producer, director, sound/light board operator and stage hand in those venues as well as many other theaters including The Lyceum Theatre, Lakewood Cultural Center and Milford Theater to name a few.

Zellmer has performed the National Anthem for the Philadelphia Phillies and Elijah with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic. He's performed with a marching band in Disney World, Kings Dominion, Dorney Park and many New York City parades. In addition, he spent several years as a lighting designer working with a professional regional theater company and a prestigious high school theater program, working with professional Broadway directors.

Zellmer's non-theatrical experience includes marketing director for two boutique advertising agencies in New York, a manager and trainer for ten years with the Walt Disney Company including New York and Colorado locations of The Disney Store and he operates a performing arts school in New York with his wife, a retired professional ballerina, which is in its fifteenth year.

Zellmer's achievements have been recognized with several nominations and awards, and he's served the community as Cub Scout leader, board member of the Tri-State Chamber of Commerce, member of the Port Jervis Rotary Club, and on the steering committee for Sussex County Chamber of Commerce's Young Business Leaders. More recently, he's been an active member with many trade organizations such as Association of Performing Arts Presenters (APAP), League of Historic American Theaters (LHAT), Rocky Mountain Arts Consortium (RMAC), and Pollstar. He was heavily involved with nonprofit organizations such as Backstage Rialto, City of Loveland Cultural Services Board, and City of Loveland's Executive Safety Committee.

Zellmer holds a bachelor's degree in theater from Metropolitan State College of Denver, Colo., and a master's in business administration in marketing and entrepreneurship from Wilkes University, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

Founded in 1988, KU Presents! is a performing artists series at Kutztown University with a mission to bring professional performing artists to the school and the surrounding communities.