HOUSTON: A.D. Players has announced that Jake Speck will be the company’s new executive director. Speck will start in the position in August.

“We are incredibly fortunate to have a theatre professional of Jake Speck’s caliber and character poised to step into this key role,” said board chairman Susan Santangelo in a statement. “With our move into the new Jeannette and L.M. George Theater for our 50th season, we have celebrated the A. D. Players’ rich history and Jeannette’s long legacy. And with Jake’s arrival we look confidently and expectantly toward the many opportunities before us to serve this great community through the medium of theatre.”

Speck has served as the president and managing director of Nashville’s Studio Tenn since 2010, and he is also an experienced performer, including a two-year stint in Jersey Boys on Broadway.

“It is an honor to join an organization with such a rich and storied history, and to be part of the continuing legacy of Jeannette Clift George,” Speck said in a statement. “I’ve rarely seen a company with more potential and opportunity, and I am thrilled to be the one leading this organization into its next phase of excellence. The arts community in Houston is so rich and diverse, and I very much look forward to being a part of that.”