Allan Hancock College has selected veteran theatre director, educator, and arts leader Valerie Rachelle as the new artistic director and dean of the Pacific Conservatory Theatre (PCPA), bringing a familiar face back to the nationally recognized conservatory after years of leading professional theatre organizations across the country.
Rachelle’s appointment, which was approved by the AHC Board of Trustees at its July 21 meeting, marks a homecoming for the accomplished theatre professional, who previously served PCPA as an actor, casting director, resident director and choreographer, and movement instructor in the conservatory’s professional actor training program.
Most recently, Rachelle served as the associate artistic director for the Houston, Texas-based Stages. Prior to that she served as the artistic director and executive producer of the Oregon Cabaret Theatre in Ashland, Oregon, where she led significant organizational growth, expanded artistic programming, and achieved record-breaking ticket sales during her 11-year tenure.
“For more than 60 years, PCPA has been a treasured part of Allan Hancock College and an important cultural institution for the Central Coast,” said Hancock Superintendent/President Kevin G. Walthers, Ph.D. “Valerie’s return marks an exciting new chapter for the conservatory. Her outstanding artistic accomplishments, deep understanding of PCPA’s mission, and passion for arts education make her exceptionally well suited to lead the program into the future.”
Rachelle has spent nearly three decades directing, choreographing, and producing productions at professional theatres and universities throughout the United States. Her career includes work with organizations such as the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Syracuse Opera, New York University, Performance Riverside, Fresno Grand Opera, Sierra Repertory Theatre, and the University of Southern California, where she taught in the Department of Theatre. A graduate of the California Institute of the Arts, Rachelle earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in acting before completing a Master of Fine Arts in directing at the University of California, Irvine.
Throughout her career, Rachelle has championed new works, arts education, and expanding access to the performing arts. She co-founded the nonprofit theatre company Lucid By Proxy, producing and directing nearly 20 new plays, and later founded the Southern Oregon Center for Arts Accessibility (SOCAA), a nonprofit dedicated to improving accessibility in the arts. She has also served as a mentor through Statera Arts, an organization focused on advancing gender equity in the performing arts.
Rachelle said returning to PCPA is both professionally and personally meaningful.
“Returning to PCPA is like coming home,” Rachelle said. “I look forward to working with an organization that helped shape me as a professional and as an artist. PCPA has been and will continue to be a place of education, collaboration, creation, and community.”
Founded in 1964, PCPA is one of the nation’s premier theatre conservatories, offering students rigorous professional training while producing a full season of performances for audiences across the Central Coast. The program has launched the careers of hundreds of actors, directors, designers, and theatre professionals working on Broadway, in regional theatres, film, and television.
As artistic director and dean, Rachelle will provide artistic leadership for PCPA’s professional theatre company and conservatory training program while helping shape its future as both an educational institution and cultural destination for the Central Coast.
Rachelle will succeed outgoing artistic director and dean Mark Booher, who is retiring after a 27-year tenure with PCPA, including 21 years as artistic director.
For more information about PCPA, visit www.pcpa.org
