Music Theatre International (MTI) announced today that John Prignano has been appointed to the newly created role of Director of Education and Development. Prignano will continue as the Company's Chief Operating Officer as well, having overseen MTI's licensing and internal operations for many years, including the development of MTI's licensing and finance systems and facilitating MTI's integration with its offices in Europe (MTI Europe, based in London) and Australia/New Zealand (MTI Australasia, based in Melbourne).

For over two decades, Prignano has been instrumental in coordinating the development of shows in MTI's exclusive Broadway Junior® collection and MTI's ground-breaking School Editions, working with MTI's authors and partners to create abridged versions of great Broadway musicals directed at the elementary, middle school and High School markets. In addition, Prignano has played a key role in identifying the obstacles that educators and community theatres face in producing Musical Theatre, allowing MTI to develop and provide the industry-leading resources that remove or reduce those obstacles and in turn increase the number of productions licensed by MTI each year.

Drew Cohen, MTI President and CEO commented: "John's two decades of work in theatrical licensing and, in particular, his dedication to driving the growth of the Amateur and Educational markets, have kept him in close contact with the large volume of schools and groups who license our authors' shows. His sensitivity to the goals, challenges and needs of these customers--including many whose performers have special needs--has allowed MTI to be both responsive to those needs and proactive in developing the means by which these groups are able to produce more musicals." Cohen added, "John's personal reach extends from groups with the youngest performers, through high schools and beyond, all the way to the Community Theatre and Professional/Regional theatre market. Importantly, a great deal of John's work involves supporting teachers and students in underserved schools with inadequate arts programs, schools and groups with students who have special needs, and performing arts centers that feature youth theatre programs. John's reach and impact have been simply immeasurable."

In addition to his career at MTI, Prignano is currently on the board of directors of the Educational Theatre Association (EdTA). He continues to work closely with the American Association of Community Theatre (AACT) to develop programs to help better serve their members and make the right shows available for their stages. Prior to joining MTI John was an accomplished performer/choreographer. After receiving a B.A. in Dance/Theatre from Montclair State College he traveled around the world as a performer in many musicals. He also choreographed and directed many industrial shows before joining MTI in the 1990s.