Cynthia Levin is an American stage director and theatre producer. She is the producing

artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since the ...

of the Unicorn Theatre (Kansas City) in Kansas City, Missouri.

Early life

Levin was born and raised in Washington, D.C. She attended Park University in Parkville, Missouri, where she majored in theatre and graduated

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...

in 1977.

Career

After college, Levin briefly worked for the Missouri Repertory Theatre (now the

Kansas City Repertory Theatre Kansas City Repertory Theatre is a professional resident theater company serving the Kansas City metropolitan area, and is the professional theater in residence at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC). The theatre has had four artistic ...

), as well as various summer stock theatre and local Kansas-City-based theatres. In 1979, she was hired by the Theatre Workshop in Kansas City, which became the Unicorn Theatre in the early 1980s. During her early years at the Unicorn, Levin acted, directed, stage managed, and designed for numerous productions. She became the artistic director of the Unicorn in 1982 and has guided the theatre in its mission to produce new and bold contemporary plays, particularly those which have not yet received Kansas City premieres. Levin has served as a director, actor, or designer for over 260 Unicorn productions, and has directed plays for

UMKC Theatre UMKC Theatre is a graduate and undergraduate academic department of the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) that provides both educational and professional training in multiple areas of theatrical production, including acting, scenic design, ...

and the Coterie Theatre in Kansas City. She has also directed multiple world-premiere readings at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. Levin is a founding board member of the National New Play Network.

Honors and awards

In 1995, Levin was named one of Kansas City's “Local Heroes” by ''Ingram’s''. In 2000, the Unicorn Theatre received the

Missouri Arts Council Since the 1960s, the Missouri Arts Council has helped bring the arts to all the people of the state. By providing grants to large and small communities, public and private schools, and artists and arts programs, the Missouri Arts Council makes qual ...

’s Arts Award. Levin was awarded an honorary doctorate from Park University in 2002. She has also been the recipient of the Pinnacle of Excellence in the Arts Award from the Johnson County Library Foundation, the

Human Rights Campaign The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is an American LGBTQ advocacy group. It is the largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization within the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., the organization focuses on protecting and expanding rights for LGB ...

Award, and the

GLAAD GLAAD (), an acronym of Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, is an American non-governmental media monitoring organization originally founded as a protest against defamatory coverage of gay and lesbian demographics and their portrayals ...

Leadership Award.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Levin, Cynthia American theatre directors American women theatre directors Living people Year of birth missing (living people) People from Washington, D.C. Park University alumni