Louis Tyrrell Artist-in-Residence program
In honor of his profound impact on both the South Florida theatre community and the national industry at-large through his legacy of championing new artists in the field, Theatre Lab, with the generous support of The Heckscher Foundation for Children, has established the annual Louis Tyrrell Artist-In-Residence program beginning in the 2026-27 season.
The program will continue Lou's legacy of providing meaningful opportunities for early-career artists - in all areas of the industry - by enabling the selected artist to work closely with Theatre Lab over the course of a full season to gain experience and professional credits in their desired field.
What is an early-career artist?
For the purposes of this residency program, an “early-career artist” will be defined as an individual who is in the initial stages of their chosen artistic field (generally 1-3 years of experience) and actively seeking additional professional opportunities to build their resumes, portfolios, and artistic reputations for future employment. “Early-career” does not relate to the actual age of the artist. This term can apply to any individual pursuing a new direction or course in their career and seeking opportunities to gain the necessary skills and experience. For instance, a seasoned actor may, later in their career, become interested in directing, design, educational outreach programming, or even arts administration. Individuals like these will absolutely be considered for the Louis Tyrrell Artist-In-Residence program.
How will this program work?
Each year, following an application and review process, Theatre Lab will identify an early-career artist whose career aspirations and artistic goals align with the needs of the company as the Louis Tyrrell Artist-in-Residence for the upcoming season. Selected artists will receive a cash award and no fewer than two artistic contracts in their desired field on Theatre Lab productions that season.
Over the course of the season, the Louis Tyrrell Artist-In-Residence will work closely with Theater Lab staff and guest artists to develop their skills and build professional credits in their chosen field. The goals and objectives for each residency will be specifically tailored to each recipient. Depending on their chosen field, the recipient may work on full productions, reading and development events, educational outreach, and the many other areas of operation in a professional theatrical season.
2026-27 Winner: Manny Zaldivar
A graduate of FAU’s BFA Theatre program, Manny began his career as an actor - in fact, he appeared in a series of short plays as part of The Lab’s first ever educational outreach program in 2015. His aspiration to make films led him to LA where he continued to hone his craft as a writer, actor, director, and producer. The pandemic brought him back to Florida where he “began implementing video production into the theatre community of south Florida by creating promos and trailers…and recently discovered the avenue of projection and video design for live productions”.
In addition to his impressive resume and work samples, one phrase from Manny’s artistic statement particularly resonated with the committee: “We are all stories…Who we are, who we were, and who we could be.” No one understood this better than Lou and we know he’s with us tonight celebrating all Manny has been, is now, and is on his way to becoming.
For the 26-27 season, Manny will serve as the Projection and Video Designer for multiple productions including: the world premiere of Baker Street Beginnings by Gina Montét (a Heckscher Theatre for Families commission & world premiere, The Joanna Castle Miller Bad Faith Trilogy, and the world premiere of Recognition by Ken Weitzman.
Please join us in congratulating Manny Zaldivar, the recipient of the 2026-27 Louis Tyrrell Artist-in-Residence at Theatre Lab.
Thank you to The Heckscher Foundation for Children for making this and all of our educational programming possible!
