Honoring Our Founding Director Lou Tyrrell
Louis Tyrrell Legacy of Theatrical Excellence Fund
Theatre Lab invites you to join us in establishing the Louis Tyrrell Legacy of Theatrical Excellence Fund to support Lou's vision and our work for generations to come. Over the course of the next year, our campaign will work towards the goal of generating a $1 million endowment to support Theatre Lab’s mission to ‘inspire, develop and produce new work, artists and audiences’ in perpetuity. As we embark on this next chapter in our existence, we are deeply grateful for the support of our community.
Louis Tyrrell Artist-in-Residence program
To honor Lou’s legacy of championing early career artists, Theatre Lab, with generous support from The Heckscher Foundation for Children, has established the Louis Tyrrell Artist-in-Residence program. 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.
On August 11, 2026, Theatre Lab, the professional resident company of Florida Atlantic University, hosted a celebration to honor the life and career of their founding director, Louis Tyrrell.
“Lou spent more than five decades championing new work for the American Theatre and the artists who helped create it,” said Producing Artistic Director, Matt Stabile. “In the countless testimonials following his untimely passing, a common thread emerged: Lou was both enthusiastic and steadfast in his commitment to helping aspiring artists of all kinds get their start in the industry and continuing to support them as they advanced their careers. The ripple effect of his impact on the national theatre scene is simply staggering and will, no doubt, be felt for decades to come.”
Below, please find links to the videos used in the celebration and a link to the full recording of the event.
Remembering Lou, a video by Robert Goodrich
What Lou Means to Us, a video curated by Manny Zaldivar
Photo Slideshow, curated by Zoe Garnett.
The live-stream recording of the event is on Theatre Lab’s YouTube page.