Executive LEADERSHIP
Linda Anderson has led arts organizations since 2001 when she took the helm of the the Dahl Arts Center and Rapid City Arts Council. Anderson was a Bush Foundation Fellow in 2006 - 2007. In 2010, she moved to the Black Hills Playhouse to serve as Executive Director. She has had the privilege of contributing to the missions and outcomes of a variety of organizations, sitting on the boards of the South Dakota Arts Council, Dakota Players, Native Pop, the Rapid City Chamber of Commerce, Visit Rapid City, and Magpie Creative.
Anderson is employed by the University of SD and is one of the driving forces behind the expansion of BHP statewide arts programs over the past decade. Linda and her team have worked diligently since 2011, making significant and lasting improvements to the historic Playhouse site. Since 2011, through the generosity of many funders, just over $1.5 million dollars worth of improvements have been achieved on the campus with another $250,000 worth of projects planned for 2021.
She is fascinated by the connections that form between art and culture to strengthen communities and works to help others recognize the amazing potential of the arts to transform the places in which we live, work, relax and play. Anderson believes all people need access to arts programs and is passionate about the ability of arts to help solve complex challenges, create opportunities for healthy expression, bridge cultures, and improve the world we live in. Mother of four creatives, she does her best to promote creative industries for the future of our world.
Dan Workman joined the Black Hills Playhouse in 1990 as an actor. In 1999, he and his wife Debra founded Dakota Players, a touring children's theatre company and outreach of the Playhouse. Today, as Artistic Director, Dan leads the regional summer stock program, providing annual employment for professional artists and technicians and leading the team that creates intimate and dynamic productions in Custer State Park.
Workman holds a B.F.A degree in Theatre Performance from Tarkio College and an MFA in Directing from the University of South Dakota. He is entering his 29th season at the BHP and eleventh as Artistic Director. On the off-season, Dan serves as the Chair of the Theatre Department at Augustana University. Dan is a talented professional actor, director, and manager and his passion for the BHP goes beyond words.
Dan has performed in numerous BHP productions including: Tuesdays with Morrie, All Shook Up, A Year with Frog and Toad, H.M.S. Pinafore, The Importance of Being Earnest, Move Over Mrs. Markham, The Sound of Music, Our Town, Bus Stop, Hound of the Baskervilles, To Kills A Mockingbird, King Lear, The Addams Family Musical, and Manma Mia. He has directed: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Big River, The Boys Next Door, Lend Me A Tenor, The Drowsy Chaperone, Run For Your Wife, Hound of the Baskervilles, and To Kill a Mockingbird, among others.
