Anne Hamburger
Anne Hamburger is a serial cultural entrepreneur and the Founder and Executive Producer of En Garde Arts, founded in 1985. At the center of everything she does is bringing people together not normally in conversation and providing opportunities to reach the uninitiated. En Garde creates multi-media, documentary theatre, site-specific theatre and immersive work. Hamburger has a 360 degree approach to producing shows where content, form, place and community and audience are all interwoven into the producing process. Her specialty is putting together artistic and production teams and developing shows from the ground up with some of the theatre's most esteemed writers, directors, composers and designers. A description of current projects under development can be found on her web page www.Engardearts.org.
Anne Hamburger was Executive Vice President of Walt Disney Creative Entertainment from 2000–2008,[1] the global organization which was founded with her arrival to the Disney Company. She spearheaded the creative development of all the major stage shows, parades and daytime and nighttime spectacles for all the parks worldwide. She brought a whole host of well-known theatrical artists into the theme parks for the first time in Disney history, creating Broadway caliber productions around the world including Diane Paulus ("Hair", "Porgy and Bess"); Robert Lopez ("Avenue Q", "The Book of Mormon"); Eric Schaffer ("Million Dollar Quartet"). Her production of "Aladdin" directed by Francesca Zambello recently celebrated its 10,000th performance in the 2,000 seat Hyperion Theatre in California.
Prior to joining The Walt Disney Company, Hamburger was the Artistic Director of La Jolla Playhouse in 1999–2000. Thoroughly Modern Millie the musical began production under her tenure and later transferred to Broadway and won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2002. She also was one of the original producers for the Tony Award winning Spring Awakening, giving the creative team their first workshop in 2000.
Called "an invigorating urban presence" by The New York Times, En Garde Arts is the recipient of six Obie Awards, two Drama Desk Awards and a special Outer Critics Circle Award. Hamburger was recognized with the Edwin Booth and Lee Reynolds Awards for the impressive body of her work. She graduated with an MFA from the Yale School of Drama.