Academy of Music names Dumont as new executive director

The Academy of Music Theatre has announced Raymond Dumont as its next executive director.
Photo credit: Raymond Dumont

NORTHAMPTON — The Academy of Music Theatre’s Board of Trustees has announced that Raymond Dumont will take over as executive director of the theater on July 1 after current executive director, Debra J’Anthony, announced she will step down after 18 years in the role.

“I’ve had an amazing, full career, and I think now is time for me to step forward and to have some fresh perspective and fresh energy come into the space,” J’Anthony told Reminder Publishing.

Dumont will move to Northampton from his hometown of Lewiston, Maine, where he has spent the majority of his over 30-year career in professional theater as a performer, educator, director, choreographer and producer. Most recently, Dumont has been the executive director for The Public Theatre in Lewiston and also has over 25 seasons of work at Maine State Music Theatre located on the Bowdoin University campus in various capacities, including four years as managing director from 1999-2003.

Dumont said creating art that starts conversations, provides entertainment, brings people together and improves the quality of life in communities is what motivates him.

He attended Boston University School of Management, where he majored in finance and marketing. Having fallen in love with performing, Dumont said his major and passions weren’t exactly aligned, but he eventually landed an opportunity to work in the marketing department of a theater group and saw firsthand the path to a career in theater.

“It was an amazing eye-opener that you can have a life in the professional theater in any number of ways,” Dumont said, adding that eventually working with Maine State Music Theater is what refined his thoughts and showed him he could work on the production side as well. “Working at Maine State was really where I learned what it means to actually manage an arts organization.”

Dumont will take the reins from J’Anthony, who served the organization for 18 years and spent 16 years as the executive director at the Shea Theater in Turners Falls. J’Anthony’s tenure at the historic venue ushered in extensive restorations and renovations to the building and updates to theatrical equipment; expanded programming that includes a Season Series, several community-based series, greater youth educational offerings and a re-establishment of the Academy of Music as a center for live performance in the Pioneer Valley.

J’Anthony called Dumont “a full package” due to his experience in managing theaters as an art director. She shared that she is excited for him to step into the role and bring the Academy forward. She explained that she gave the Academy a three-year notice of her pending retirement so that the organization was able to put a strategic plan in place for the next chapter in its legacy. During this time, she said that she has found herself reflecting on so many different aspects of her tenure, including what the Northampton community has grown to mean to her.

“I think what I’m feeling the most [is] all the people that have walked alongside me to help lift up the Academy and make it what it is today. Through all of the renovation projects, all of the programming that has grown, the promoters and arts organizations that have come in to take a chance and utilize the space, to the patrons who have come together and shared in the art, to the children who are taking our youth program classes and productions who are passionate about the arts. I can’t say that there’s any one thing, I think it’s just the whole of the organization and what it means to this community,” J’Anthony said. “I just want to say that this community has been such a kind and generous community, and because they highly value the performing arts, it has made my team here so much fun. Certainly, there have been challenges, but I have felt the love and support of this community, and I feel it back towards them.”

Dumont said he is eager to take the baton from J’Anthony. He plans to uphold the standards she helped set and carve a new path forward for the Academy.

“I’m very, very well aware that I have massive shoes to fill and of Debra’s impact on the Academy over 20 years. You can’t be somewhere 20 years without making a really big difference. So, I look forward to seeing where I fit into the history,” said Dumont.

Looking ahead, Dumont said that on top of the various work he’s done in professional theater over the years, arts education has become a passion of his work, and he sees a great opportunity in expanding the existing youth education program.

“One of the things that attracted me to the Academy is that they have a real commitment to arts education, and all they can do is grow. There’s so much room to grow, and I think that’s really exciting,” said Dumont. “I’ve seen firsthand what arts education can do. I’ve seen it change children, literally change children, and I just feel like, not to get morbid, but I feel like some of my experiences kind of prove to me that theater saves lives and that sits with me every time I get in front of a group with young people.”

Dumont also wants to grow diverse audiences across the community for various shows, both produced and presented by the academy. Dumont shared that he worked on audience development during his time in Lewiston, and he hopes to bring that experience to Northampton.

“We want to bring things to people that they want to see. During the course of my interviews, I was saying I’m not trying to fix things that work, why would I do that? But then, there’s got to be room for trying new things, and seeing what makes sense, but that’s not something I can necessarily put my finger on until I see the entire operation,” he added. “I really feel like my background in arts education and certainly in theater will be something that I want to bring to the fore, but also I’m really excited to learn about the presenting part of the organization, which is booking in those big acts on stage and bringing people in from all over to perform in that wonderful community, so I’m really looking forward to seeing how I fit into the landscape.”

Dumont said he is eager to get started on July 1 and expressed much gratitude for the opportunity for the next chapter of his professional career.

“I feel like I found my niche. You spend your whole life trying to find the thing that makes you fly out of bed every day, and I’ve been lucky enough to make performing arts, by in large, for the last 30 years, my source of income, and that’s a blessing,” said Dumont. “I hope that I can be there for a good long time and have the kind of impact Debra had, but make it my own. We don’t do that alone; it’s all about the team. You never do this in a vacuum. All arts at their best are a collaboration.”