JUNEAU, ALASKA: Perseverance Theatre (PT) has named Frank Delaney as its new managing director. Delaney succeeds Joshua Midgett. Longtime artistic director Art Rotch left the company on June 30 and will be moving to the East Coast. Leslie Ishii will serve as interim artistic director while the company conducts a national search for a permanent leader.

“We’re all excited to bring one of the most dynamic Alaskan theatre leaders into the PT family,” said board president Joe Bedard in a statement. “Frank’s thoughtfulness and warm, personable ways are always evident as he works through problems and opportunities alike.”

Delaney has worked as an actor and fight choreographer. He was last seen onstage at Cyrano’s Theatre Company as Torvald in A Doll’s House, Part 2. Other regional credits include Rochefort in The Three Musketeers at Shawnee Summer Theatre; MacDuff in Macbeth and Egeon in The Comedy of Errors, both at Cincinnati Shakespeare Company; and Lord Aster in Peter and the Starcatcher at Perseverance Theatre.

Ishii has worked with Perseverance Theatre as a teacher, director, and consultant over the past 10 years. She last directed Hold These Truths and is slated to direct Vera Bedard’s Devilfish this summer. Ishii has served as co-chair, organizer, and board member for the Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists’ fifth and sixth national ConFest. She was also a founder and co-director for the National Cultural Navigation Theatre Project for the sustainability of theatres and artists of color. She served as a co-facilitator of the launch of the Theatre Communication Group’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Institute, and is a core faculty member for artEquity.

“I’m thrilled and excited to have Leslie Ishii join PT as interim artistic director,” said Bedard in a statement. “Leslie brings an energy and a passion to her artistry that can only be eclipsed by her drive to respect, to learn, and to deeply understand the myriad of cultures and perspectives she encounters in her work.”