Michael J. Bobbitt Bio
Michael J. Bobbitt, Executive Director, Mass Cultural Council
Michael J. Bobbitt has dedicated his professional career to arts leadership. He is a theatre director, choreographer, and playwright. On February 1, 2021, he joined Mass Cultural Council as Executive Director, becoming the highest-ranking cultural official in Massachusetts. Upon joining Mass Cultural Council, Bobbitt was invited and agreed to serve on the New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) Board of Directors.
Beginning in March 2019 he served as the Artistic Director of the New Repertory Theatre in Watertown, MA; immediately prior he held the same position at the Adventure Theatre-MTC in Maryland for twelve years. While in Maryland Bobbitt led the organization to be a respected theatre/training company in the DC region, as well as a nationally influential professional Theatre for Young Audiences. He led a merger with Musical Theater Center, increased the organizational budget and audience, commissioned new works by noted playwrights, transferred two shows to Off-Broadway, built an academy, and earned dozens of Helen Hayes Award Nominations, garnering eight wins.
Bobbitt gained extensive experience in nonprofit arts management by training at Harvard Business School’s Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management, The National Arts Strategies Chief Executive Program, and Cornell University’s Diversity and Inclusion Certification Program. He has served as an Associate Professor of Theatre at both the Boston Conservatory at Berklee and Howard University and volunteered on numerous nonprofit boards, including Non-Profit Village, Maryland Citizens for the Arts, Leadership Montgomery, Weissberg Foundation, Watertown Public Art Commission, and ArtsBoston. In 2021 he was selected to join artEquity’s second cohort of the BIPOC Leadership Circle, and in July 2022 he was awarded a certificate of completion for the Senior Executives in State and Local Government Program from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, Executive Education. In October 2022 he was presented with the Action Bearing Award by MassOpera for his leadership in the development of an equitable cultural sector and recognized by Speak Out for his efforts to build a more inclusive cultural sector. In February 2023 Bobbitt received the prestigious Kennedy Center Gold Medallion in recognition of his commitment to the arts and educational theatre and was appointed by Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey to serve on her Advisory Council on Black Empowerment.
Bobbitt has directed/choreographed at Arena Stage, Ford’s Theatre, The Shakespeare Theatre Company, Olney Theatre Center, Studio Theatre, Woolly Mammoth Theatre, Center Stage, Roundhouse Theatre, The Kennedy Center, and the Washington National Opera. His national and international credits include the NY Musical Theatre Festival, Mel Tillis 2001, La Jolla Playhouse, Children’s Theatre of Charlotte, Jefferson Performing Arts Center, and the Olympics. As a writer his work was chosen for the NYC International Fringe Festival and The New York and Musical Theatre Festival. He has plays published by Concord Theatricals/Rodgers and Hammerstein Theatricals, Broadway Publishing and Plays for Young Audiences. Bobbitt has received the Excel Leadership Award (Center for Nonprofit Advancement), the Emerging Leader Award (County Executive’s Excellence in the Arts and Humanities), and Person of the Year Award (Maryland Theatre Guide).
Compact version
Michael J. Bobbitt, Executive Director, Mass Cultural Council
Michael J. Bobbitt is an award-winning theater director, choreographer, and playwright who has dedicated his professional career to arts leadership. He began his tenure as Executive Director of Mass Cultural Council in February 2021 and is the highest-ranking cultural official in Massachusetts. Bobbitt serves on the New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) Board of Directors, the National Assembly of State Arts Agency’s (NASAA) Board of Directors, and was selected for artEquity’s BIPOC Leadership Circle. He is the former Artistic Director of the New Repertory Theater in Watertown, Massachusetts and the Adventure Theater in Maryland. Bobbitt gained extensive experience in nonprofit arts management by training at Harvard Business School’s Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management, The National Arts Strategies Chief Executive Program, and Cornell University’s Diversity and Inclusion Certification Program. As a director and choreographer he has worked nationally and internationally. As a writer his plays have been published by Concord Theatricals, Broadway Publishing, and Plays for Young Audiences. Bobbitt is the recipient of the Excel Leadership Award (Center for Nonprofit Advancement), the Emerging Leader Award (County Executive’s Excellence in the Arts and Humanities), and Person of the Year Award (Maryland Theatre Guide), along with eight Helen Hayes Awards.
Photo: Johnny/BTS Design Studio.
