MU IS HIRING ITS NEXT ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
We’ll keep this page updated throughout the search process!
updated Aug 19, 2025
You’re invited to a town hall on Aug 26!
Join Mu staff and Evolution Management Consultants—our partner during this leadership transition—on Monday, Aug 26, for a presentation on the artistic director search as well as an open forum for you to ask questions and provide input on the future of Theater Mu.
See you Monday, Aug 26, from 6-8 pm in the Prior Works Community Room (755 Prior Ave. N, Saint Paul). Please RSVP here.
If you have any questions about the search process, please email emc@emcforward.com.
Leadership announcements
Theater Mu announced May 15 that artistic director Lily Tung Crystal will step down from her full-time role at the end of Mu’s 2023/24 season to lead Los Angeles-based East West Players, the oldest and largest Asian American theater company in the United States. During her tenure, Mu was named a Regional Cultural Treasure by the Ford and McKnight Foundations, doubled the size of its staff, and doubled its budget from $650,000 to $1.3 million.
Starting August 2024, Katie Bradley will be Theater Mu’s interim artistic director, joining managing director Anh Thu T. Pham in co-leading the Midwest’s largest Asian American theater company. As interim, Bradley will report to the board of directors, produce the 2024/25 season programmed by departing artistic director Lily Tung Crystal, and oversee Mu’s ongoing outreach and community programs. Bradley has worked with Mu since 2006 as an actor, teaching artist, producer, and director, most recently directing the 2024 world premiere of Hells Canyon by Keiko Green.
Tung Crystal says, “I have a deep love of Mu and while it breaks my heart to leave, I am thrilled that the theater, as well as the artists and work I’ve shepherded for our upcoming seasons, is in Katie and Anh Thu’s capable and loving hands while the board launches a search for my permanent successor. I also look forward to providing assistance where it’s needed during this rich time. Mu is so treasured by the Twin Cities and Asian American communities that I hope and trust they will continue to support the company during this exciting transition.”
>> Theater Mu press release on Lily Tung Crystal co-leading East West Players
MEET THE CONSULTING FIRM
Evolution Management Consultants (EMC) is a new consulting firm working to support the development of a nonprofit sector that is increasingly healthy, inclusive, expansive, and forward thinking. It offers search and strategic planning consulting services to help nonprofits understand their past and examine their present in order to be intentional about their future. EMC places its clients as a top priority by providing a highly individualized and boutique experience throughout our process, which is guided by its core values of authenticity, teamwork, and care. | emcforward.com
Support Mu’s Next Chapter
As we embark on Theater Mu’s artistic director search, we are committed to keeping Lily Tung Crystal’s philosophy of “widening circles,” which has led us to tell more diverse stories from across the AAPI diaspora, to invest in emerging artists, and to work from a spirit of abundance for our community and those we stand in solidarity with. That’s why this August, we are asking for donations to the Lily Tung Crystal Widening Circles Fund, which will support this transition and ensure that Mu’s nationally recognized artistic excellence and community engagement remains steadfast. Will you help us raise $50,000?
MORE TO KNOW
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