ATLANTA: Theatrical Outfit has named Gretchen E. Butler its new managing director. Butler began in her new role on Sept. 25. She succeeds Lee Foster, who departed the company in 2017.

“Oh happy day!” said artistic director Tom Key in a statement. “Every member of our staff and board is wearing a smile because Gretchen Butler has arrived at Theatrical Outfit to be our new managing director. With Gretchen we are graced with a leader who is quick of mind, warm of heart, and courageous of soul, just the kind of person to keep all the soul stirring we’ve got going on downtown in our theatre stronger than ever!”

Butler is an arts administrator with more than 20 years of nonprofit arts leadership. She worked as a freelance stage manager, box office associate, and arts educator throughout Atlanta. Most recently, she served as director of operations of the Serenbe Institute for Art, Culture and the Environment. Previously she served as managing director of Serenbe Playhouse and also production manager at Georgia Ensemble Theatre. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Omicron Delta Kappa, and Atlanta Woman’s Club, where she chairs the Education Community Service Project. She also serves on the Board of Trustees of Kingswood United Methodist Church and the Capital Campaign Committee of the Sunflower Initiative, which funds scholarships for students attending women’s colleges. She holds a BA in Theatre from Randolph-Macon Woman’s College and an MFA in Theatre Management from the Hilberry Theatre at Wayne State University.