Theater veteran with deep roots to lead Lost Colony

A North Carolina-born theater consultant with ties to the state’s outdoor dramas has been named CEO of “The Lost Colony” production.

The Lost Colony announced the hiring of Michael Hardy as the production comes to the close of its 73rd season.

Hardy was born in Durham and studied at Duke University and with the Carolina Playmakers at UNC-Chape Hill before earning his Ph.D. in theater at the University of Michigan. He was general manager for the drama department at East Carolina University for two years before pursuing a career in arts management.

Hardy was CEO of performing arts centers in Illinois, New York City, Louisville and Miami and was executive director of the International Society for the Performing Arts. He has consulted for a variety of performing arts organizations, including a year as interim vice president for the Royal Conservatory in Toronto, where he opened a new concert hall.

Hardy’s family has been extensively involved in North Carolina’s outdoor dramas. His father, William Hardy, was general manager of The Lost Colony in the early 1950s and then went on to manage “Horn in the West” before taking on the role of producing director for the Cherokee drama “Unto These Hills” for 35 years. His younger brother Peter subsequently directed “Unto These Hills” for another 16 years.

“My family spent many years in the state’s outdoor dramas,” Hardy said in the announcement of his appointment, “and we all kind of grew up in that environment. My sister was even baptized in the chapel on the stage of The Lost Colony! So, whether this is fate or just in my genes: it certainly feels as if it were meant to be.”

Hardy replaces Carl V. Curnutte, who served as executive director and producer of The Lost Colony for five years. Curnutte resigned to work as executive director of The Elizabethan Gardens.

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