LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. — Lawrenceville's popular Aurora Theatre announced two major leadership changes Thursday.
The theatre announced the appointment of Katie Pelkey to the role of general manager and David Kote as the theater's new director of education and artistic associate.
Katie Pelkey, a 12-year veteran of the Aurora Theatre, has been promoted to general manager. A graduate of New York University, Pelkey has served in a variety of roles at Aurora including company manager and resident stage manager.
She looks forward to taking on this new role of leading the theater.
"It's really exciting," she said. "It's a challenge but I'm excited to be on both the administrative and creative side of Aurora."
Pelkey has been interested in theater from a young age.
"I was drawn to theater because someone told me 'no'," she said.
"I decided that I'm just going to keep doing it because I like it."
She said from that moment, theater became a 'thriving passion.' She intends to bring that zeal to the Aurora Theatre and to the Lawrenceville community.
"I think there's an opportunity to work more closely with our artists, our community and the businesses we've partnered with," Pelkey said.
David Kote, the Aurora Theatre's director of education and artistic associate, also wants to expand the theater's outreach with acting classes.
Kote attended Tri-Cities High School in Atlanta and later returned to serve as the school's director of theater arts after he spent time working as a professional actor with credits that include CBS and TNT.
Kote told 11Alive that he is passionate about connecting underrepresented people to the theater.
"My passion for underrepresented communities will be a benefit in this role," he said. "I understand what it means to be an artist of color and what it means to be inclusive."
Both Pelkey and Kote said they will continue to expand the Aurora Theater's community outreach and creative offerings.
The Aurora Theater is currently undergoing a $31 million expansion that will be completed in the fall of 2020.
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