Theatre Staff

Ira David Wood III  |  Executive and Artistic Director

 Founder of Theatre In The Park, leads the staff and volunteers as the Executive and Artistic Director. A graduate of The NC School of the Arts, he was raised in Enfield, NC and became his hometown’s first Eagle Scout. Summers during his college years were spent as a leading actor in The Lost Colony, the oldest outdoor drama in the country. Upon graduation, he became the first Theatre Arts Consultant for the Department of Public Instruction. A year later, he became Director of The Children’s Theatre of Raleigh. He immediately set about the task of broadening the organization’s scope. During this process, the organization established a home in the Pullen Park Armory, changing its name to Theatre In The Park and quickly becoming the largest community theatre in North Carolina.

He has often been credited with raising the bar of theatrical excellence in this area, as well as initiating dynamic outreach programming now adopted by many other theatre organizations. When Memorial Auditorium sat largely unused and undervalued, David produced the first series of theatrical productions on its stage, beginning a process of rediscovery and expansion which eventually resulted in the renovation and expansion that has resulted in the current Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts. In honor of his many achievements, Raleigh’s City Council voted unanimously to rename the theatre’s facility “The Ira David Wood III Pullen Park Theatre.”

Consistently voted Best Local Actor in decades of public opinion polls, David has managed to accumulate impressive film and television credits, having appeared on screen with such stars as Christopher Walken, Natalie Wood, Cliff Robertson, Burt Reynolds and Louise Fletcher.

Though his list of acclaimed theatre roles is unrivaled in our area, David is probably best known and loved for annually portraying the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge in his own musical adaptation of A Christmas Carol, which celebrates its 35th year of production in 2009. With three international tours to its credit, and having played to over one million people, the production is now cited as “... one of the most successful shows in North Carolina theater history.”

An award-winning playwright, David’s additional works have been produced throughout the United States. The proud father of two talented young people, Evan Rachel Wood and Ira David Wood IV, David and his wife, Ashley, remain extremely happy to call North Carolina... “home.”

Ira David Wood III | Executive and Artistic Director
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Board of Directors

Katie Martin, President; Phillip Britt; Donna Cullen; Gary Gardenhire; Patty Gardenhire; Andy Goetz; Carol Gurley; Dr. Bob Harris; David Henderson; Pam Huck; Harry Lawrence; Patricia Mercer; Brooke Miller; David Moore; Carnessa Ottelin; Adrienne Pender; Robert J. Ramseur, Jr; Jeffrey H. Richardson; Tim Ruffin; Li-Chun Young

Board of Associates

Larry Stogner, Co-President; Van Eure, Co-President; Della Basnight; Robyn Diehl Boyd; Candace Covington-Olander; Rufus Edmisten; Bob Hatley; John Jernigan; Arnold Lynch; Dr. Craig Phillips; Jack Radford; Bernie Reeves; Dr. Larry Wheeler; Smedes York

Staff Emails

Ira David Wood III | Executive and Artistic Director
Contact Ira David Wood by email

Ashley Wood | Executive Assistant
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Stephen Barlow | Financial Director          
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Stephen J. Larson | Technical Director
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Erin West | Office Manager
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Brent Simpson | Program Marketing Director – A Christmas Carol
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Thomas Porter | Marketing Associate
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Jeff Nugent | Master Carpenter
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