Meet Mark Ferraro Hauck

Our New Artistic and Executive Director

After an extensive search, Mark Ferraro-Hauck has been selected as the new Artistic and Executive director of SteppingStone Theatre. The Board of Directors and Staff are pleased to introduce Mark to you.

Mark succeeds Richard Hitchler, who stepped down in the fall of 2015 after 18 years as SteppingStone’s Artistic Director. Mr. Ferraro-Hauck comes to SteppingStone Theatre with extensive experience in youth development and arts education. He was the principal investigator for a federal study of the role of the arts in building resiliency with traumatized youth, and he has conducted teacher and parent training in arts-based wellness strategies for youth.  He is passionate about providing all youth an opportunity to grow and discover their strengths and their world through the arts.  Mark is also an experienced director and designer, with over 60 plays to his credit throughout the Midwest at both professional and educational theaters. Mark founded the Public Theater of Minnesota in 2010, a program focused on professional Shakespeare productions featuring young actors, and he was a founder and Executive Producing Director of the Great River Shakespeare Festival in Winona, Minnesota.  In addition to his work in the arts, Mark spent 15 years as the principal designer and co-owner of a nationally recognized residential and commercial remodeling firm.

FROM MARK FERRARO-HAUCK

The First Few Days

In my first 10 days at SteppingStone Theatre I had the privilege of seeing first handwhat our friends, families, teachers, and supporters create. There are many stories to share, but one in particular sparked my imagination as I start this new adventure as SteppingStone’s third Artistic and Executive Director.

At L’Etoile Du Nord, St. Paul’s French Immersion School, thirty 2nd graders shared the play they had created during a ten-week residency with SteppingStone teaching-artist Taous Khazem. The play, performed in French, was about a day in the life of Habiba, a little girl living in Afghanistan.

At the end of the play the children described the hurdles they had to overcome as they worked together: remembering what came next, being quiet while others performed, staying focused, using their imaginations to be a herd of sheep—all appropriate challenges for a 7-year-old to master.

And then they described what they learned or loved. Child after child talked about their connection to the teaching-artist, about making a new friend in their classroom, and about the surprise discovery that Habiba loved school and had to go to a common well to get water.

This is what SteppingStone Theatre is to me. It is a place where young people are inspired to think about themselves and the world in a big way–to work hard mastering new skills. It is an experience of belonging, connection, and empathy nurtured through the magic of theater.

Moving Forward

Your commitment makes this wondrous place possible.

It is such an honor to be joining SteppingStone at the beginning of the 30th anniversary year. Over the next few months I will be learning more about the organization, meeting our friends and neighbors, and working with the community of parents, youth, teachers, and individuals committed to the well-being of young people. Our world, community, and city are changing. Young people, more than ever, need a place to be artists: to imagine and create a world where their voices matter and their future is limitless.

The next few months are going to be an adventure I want to share with you. Visit our improved website, which makes it easier to get involved, and follow us on social media to stay up to date on the activities, classes, and productions at SteppingStone. We still have room in a few summer classes and in LEAP, our middle  school and high school summer musical intensive. Seussical, Jr. will appear on the Mainstage starting August 5th (produced by the LEAP company). Be sure to put it on your calendars and order your tickets.

Thank you for being part of this community!