Will Carl Trice (1979–)

Will Carl Trice is an accomplished theater producer who has received multiple Tony Awards for his various productions, among other accolades. He began serving as the executive artistic director of the Arkansas Repertory Theatre (the Rep) in 2019.

William Carl Trice was born in Little Rock (Pulaski County) on January 31, 1979, to William Trice and Judy Trice. He grew up in Little Rock, where he graduated from Central High School in 1997. Trice’s father was a family lawyer and his mother a theater teacher at Hall High School; both performed in the Arkansas Bar Association’s Gridiron Show, a satirical musical production that pokes fun at prominent figures in politics, business, and law. Trice’s sister, Kathryn Pryor, is a lawyer in Little Rock and performer who has made appearances at the Rep and the Weekend Theater. As a teenager in 1994, Trice appeared in the Rep’s production of Neil Simon’s Lost in Yonkers.

Trice completed a BA in 2001 at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, with a music major and business minor. Between his undergraduate degree and his master’s degree in theater from Northwestern University in 2005, Trice trained as an analyst for McKinsey & Co. After moving to New York, Trice worked for a few years at the Metropolitan Opera in artistic development. Trice went on to an internship that led him to working in press and marketing for the company producing Porgy and Bess.

Beginning in 2010, Trice began working as a theater producer on Broadway, in London’s West End, and for national tours on nearly thirty shows. Trice is a three-time Tony Award winner for his work on All the Way, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, and The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess. He has also been nominated for several Tony Awards and Drama Desk awards for productions including Fiddler on the Roof, Wolf Hall Parts One & Two, You Can’t Take It With You, The Glass Menagerie, The Bridges of Madison County, and Gore Vidal’s The Best Man. Trice married John Pettengill on October 11, 2014.

Looking for a new chapter in his life, Trice offered his help to the Rep after it suspended its operations in April 2018. In January 2019, the Rep announced that Trice would assume the role of executive artistic director (a newly created position at the Rep) in August 2019. However, the Rep was forced to suspend operations the following year in the wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

For additional information:
Brazzell, Kyle. “William Carl Trice.” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, September 30, 2012, pp. 1D, 5D.

Harrison, Eric E. “The Rep Names Trice to New Executive Post.” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, January 3, 2019, pp. 1B, 3B. Online at https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2019/jan/03/the-rep-names-trice-executive-artistic-/ (accessed July 15, 2021).

“Will Trice.” International Broadway Database. https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/will-trice-490947/ (accessed July 15, 2021).

Katelynn Caple
Henderson State University