WASHINGTON, D.C.: Linda Levy, theatreWashington’s president and CEO has announced that she will be retiring after 27 years. She has been on medical leave since December after spinal reconstruction surgery, but has been given a positive prognosis from her doctors.

“Helping build the Washington theatre community has been the greatest privilege of my professional life,” Levy said in a statement. “This was a difficult decision, but restoring my health must be my full-time job.”

Levy first came to theatreWashington in 1985 when it was called the Helen Hayes Awards as a theatre coordinator and nominator representing Harlequin Dinner Theatre. After leaving the Harlequin, she was a publicist and marketing consultant for the awards, then director of marketing and special events, then associate director. She was named executive director of the awards in 2001, and at the time was one of only two people to hold the position in the 17-year history of the awards.

In 2008 she was named president and CEO of the Helen Hayes Awards, and was responsible for the organization’s evolvement into theatreWashington in 2011.

“I am proud of what the Helen Hayes Awards and theatreWashington have achieved, nurturing a community with 14 theatres when we began in 1984 to become a thriving and vibrant theatre town boasting more than 90 companies,” her statement continued. “We helped put Washington theatre on the map—not just to drop a pin in that map, but to create a level of art that garners admiration and attention across the country and around the world.”

TheatreWashington is an organization dedicated to supporting and representing all sectors of the Washington theatre community.