About Erica Nagel

Erica Nagel is a nationally-recognized arts manager with over 15 years of experience combining theatre, education, social justice, and organizational change. Before joining the Alliance as Deputy Director in 2019, Erica was the Director of Creative Development and Strategy at McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton, where she served as a senior member of the artistic staff, and lead cross-departmental initiatives such as The Every 28 Hour Plays, The Migration Plays, and sensory-inclusive relaxed performances. Erica previously worked as Director of Education & Engagement at McCarter for seven years, during which time she significantly expanded educational partnerships with the Trenton Public School District and re-imagined audience engagement offerings to deepen the impact of attending live performance.

Erica has taught courses in acting, theatre history, community-based performance, devising, and dramaturgy at Princeton, Texas A&M University, and within the SUNY system, and currently teaches courses in Theatre & Society and Dramaturgy at Montclair State University. She has served as a consultant on curriculum design, pedagogy, dramaturgy, and assessment for arts organizations across the country such as Homes for the Homeless, The Humanities Institute, Octopus Theatricals, New Dramatists, and the New Harmony Project. She is a proud member of the Board of Directors for CoLAB Arts and the Steering Committee for ArtsEd NJ.

Erica studied theatre at Washington University in St. Louis, and earned her MFA in Performance as Public Practice (Theatre and Social Change) at the University of Texas-Austin, where she received the Continuing Fellowship Award for her thesis project, Collaboration, Context, and Common Ground: A Model for Community-Engaged Dramaturgy. Her work has been published in the LMDA Review, Theatre Topics, American Theatre, and Howlround, and has been presented at conferences including Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed, the Steinhardt Forum on Theatre for Young Audiences, Theatre Communications Group, The Intersections Summit, and the International Conference on American Drama. She is a recipient of a TCG New Generations Future Leaders Grant, which “seeks to identify exceptionally talented theatre professionals who will impact the field in a positive way,” and was honored to be selected to join the TCG Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Institute in 2016. She is a  graduate of the 2022 cohort of Lead New Jersey Fellows, and was honored in 2024 with an Award for Distinguished Service to the Arts Community from ArtPride NJ.

Contact Erica