Ron Peluso, artistic director of St. Paul's History Theatre for more than half of its 44 years, will step down at the end of the year.
"As always, it comes with mixed feelings. The day-to-day administrative stuff that we all deal with can be a struggle or keep you up at night, but the time in the rehearsal room I will miss, and the creation of new work. I think we did 90-some new works while I was here," said Peluso, 71, who shepherded such world premieres as an adaptation of "Sweet Land" and the record-breaking musical "Glensheen" during his 27-year tenure.
Peluso said History Theatre's board has been putting together a succession plan for several years to assure stability.
Noting that he took over the theater when it was in debt and the departure of founders Lynn Lohr and Lance Belville left its future in doubt, Peluso said: "When I was given the keys to the car, there were two flat tires and no windshield wipers and now I can hand over the keys."
A freelance director before he took over History Theatre, Peluso has no plans to continue that work after he retires but he hopes to get to know his collaborators.
"I hired people and they looked to me for work and I've always kept people at arm's length. I'm a notorious non-hugger," Peluso said. "So it'll be nice to retire and be able to reach out to people I would like to be friends with now. That's the thing I'm looking forward to the most."
