DreamWrights Center for Community Arts is pleased to welcome Gregory DeCandia to York as its new Artistic Director. DeCandia, an actor, director, writer, and all things theater professional, comes to York from Philadelphia and Oklahoma, most recently.
“Successfully surviving a pandemic year positions us to pivot even further, embrace more new ideas, and develop stronger programming and community connections,” Executive Director Ann Davis said. “We are truly delighted to add Gregory to our team at this point in our continued growth. His creative inspirations will allow us to blossom beyond your imagination! Come see for yourself.”
DeCandia has hit the ground running at DreamWrights arriving at the opening of its first indoor show since COVID-19, West Side Story, School Edition, as well as the start of summer camps. He is also creating the organization’s new Community Connections program as an effort to draw other community partners into the fold.
“We want to tell the stories that people want to tell and how they want to tell them,” DeCandia said.
“And if they don’t’ have the means or know-how, we can help them work it out. Writing dreams, it’s in our name DreamWrights, and our mission is to make it possible.”
In only a few short weeks, DeCandia has already started meeting people across the city to understand what DreamWrights means to them and get to know his new home.
“Everyone I’ve’ talked to who’s been at DreamWrights said my kids went there all the time but they haven’t been back in years,” he said. “I want to find the gap between elementary and elder and engage them.”
Aside from helping guest directors run shows and all other artistic director tasks, DeCandia will be directing this year’s holiday show A Christmas Carol, as well as performing his own piece Silhouettes of Service on Veterans Day that is 75-minute solo verbatim theatre piece derived from 26 interviews of soldiers from World War II to the present. He’s also planning a similar piece for the 2022 Season called
“If You Knew York,” where he’ll engage residents to hear about their town.
“The arts do not encompass just performance,” he said. “There are many means of artistic expression, and I want DreamWrights to be a place where all these disciplines are showcases and celebrated. Our goal is to welcome all types of individuals and organizations and amplify their art while enhancing the community we serve.”
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