Director Switch

Fort Worth's Circle Theatre shakes up leadership with an artistic first

Tim Long, Matthew Gray, and Bill Newberry.

Photo by TayStan Photography

A major change in leadership is happening at Circle Theatre. Right before the start of its 37th season, the theater announced that co-founder and executive director Bill Newberry retired in December, and — for the first time in its history — an artistic director has been hired.

Former managing director Tim Long is the new executive director, while Matthew Gray, an original member of Dallas Theater Center's resident acting company and the co-founder of the now-defunct Classical Acting Company, will come on board mid-January as artistic director. To celebrate, Circle will be hosting a come-and-go public reception at its Sundance Square theater on February 7 from 6-8 pm.

Newberry and his wife, Rose Pearson, co-founded Circle Theatre in 1981. Their goal was to bring contemporary plays that had not yet been produced locally to Fort Worth, and since then the company has grown into an accomplished regional theater. Pearson passed away in 2016, and Newberry took over as executive director. In his 36 years at Circle, Newberry appeared onstage, directed, stage managed, and designed over 100 sets for its productions.

"Circle has new strong leadership in place to carry it forward," says Newberry. "I couldn't be happier and I look forward to seeing what the future holds."

Long started as an intern in the summer of 1999 and has since held multiple titles, moving from box office manager to associate producer to general manager, and then, last season, managing director. He also wrote, directed, and produced the inaugural production in Circle's New Directions series in 2003.

"Rose Pearson and Bill Newberry forged a wonderful theater we are eager to grow," says Long. "I am thankful for their mentorship and support. Rose often spoke her mantra 'the show must go on,' and indeed, for both Rose and Bill, it is."

Gray's experience as an actor, director, and designer is both local and national. At Circle, he directed the plays Dex and Julie Sittin' in a Tree and Something Intangible, and he's also worked at Casa Mañana, Kitchen Dog Theater, Second Thought Theatre, Dallas Children’s Theater, and Pegasus Theatre. Gray and his wife, Emily, founded Classical Acting Company and served as artistic directors for four seasons. Prior to his time in Dallas, he lived and worked in New York, namely for Off-Broadway's Pearl Theatre Company, The Flying Machine, Soho Rep, The Samuel Becket Theatre, Interart Annex – 53rd St. Theatre, The Chelsea Playhouse, Theatre 22, and 5th Street Theatre. In addition to his work in the theater, Gray has taught acting and improvisation, including as an adjunct professor at Richland College.

"I am thrilled to be joining executive director Timothy Long and the Circle Theatre family as the new artistic director," says Gray. "It is equal parts humbling and exhilarating to honor what Rose Pearson and Bill Newberry started and grew for 36 years. Because of their work, Circle has always been and will continue to be an open, accepting, and safe place for artists and audiences to explore important and entertaining new plays. Here's to the future!"

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Ancient Sculpture News

Fort Worth museum one of only 3 in U.S. to get rare sculpture exhibit

Lorenzo di Masi/Torlonia Collection

The Torlonia Nile

A major exhibition of ancient Roman masterworks is coming to the U.S. for the first time to be viewed at only three museums — including the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth.

Called Myth and Marble: Ancient Roman Sculpture from the Torlonia Collection, it's an assemblage of works stewarded by the Torlonia Family beginning in the early-19th century, and will be installed at the Kimbell from September 14, 2025 – January 25, 2026.

As part of the Foundation’s mission to showcase these historical works to the public, the exhibition will premiere at the Art Institute of Chicago on March 15 through June 29, before traveling to the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth. Its third stop will be at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, from March 14 - July 19, 2026.

The Torlonia Collection was established during the course of the 19th century by the Franco-Italian banker Prince Giovanni Torlonia and his son Alessandro, then handed down over generations, eventually growing into the largest private collection of ancient Roman sculptures.

Today, the Torlonia Foundation represents the culmination of the Family’s continued passion for art. Created at the behest of Prince Alessandro Torlonia (1925–2017), the Foundation’s mission is to preserve and promote the Torlonia Collection and Villa Albani Torlonia.

In 1876, Prince Alessandro Torlonia (1800-1886) created a museum to house and exhibit the Family’s holdings, which was open to small groups until its closure at the onset of World War II. The sculptures remained unseen by the public from that time until the Foundation’s first exhibition at the Musei Capitolini in Rome in 2020. That was followed by a stint at the Louvre, the first presentation of the collection outside of Rome, where it has drawn more than 600,000 visitors to date, an unprecedented feat.

The exhibit
The curators of Myth & Marble: Ancient Roman Sculpture from the Torlonia Collection are Lisa Ayla Çakmak and Katharine A. Raff of the Art Institute of Chicago. The exhibition is co-organized by the Art Institute of Chicago and the Torlonia Foundation, in collaboration with the Kimbell Art Museum, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and The Museum Box. All of the sculptures in the exhibition have been restored by the Foundation with the support of Bvlgari.

The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue co-published by the Art Institute of Chicago and the Torlonia Foundation, edited by Lisa Ayla Çakmak and Katharine A. Raff, with essays by Silvia Beltrametti and Salvatore Settis.

The North American presentation will feature 58 highlights from the Torlonia Collection, including 24 newly restored works that have not been on view in nearly a century. The sculptures date from approximately the 5th century BCE to the early 4th century CE, with the majority of the works dating to the High Imperial period (1st–2nd centuries CE). Highlights include examples of the most emblematic genres of ancient marble sculpture, acquired by the Torlonia Family from the most prominent collections of Rome’s patrician families, as well as from excavations made on the Family’s own estates throughout Italy.

“The Foundation is excited to be sharing the Torlonia Collection with audiences in North America for the first time. This exceptional group of ancient sculptures is a testament to the enduring cultural legacy of ancient Rome, as well as the vision and passion of multiple generations of the Torlonia Family,” said Alessandro Poma Murialdo, President of the Torlonia Foundation.

The presentation is organized thematically in six sections, featuring sculptures found on the Torlonia Family’s properties in Rome and the surrounding suburbs and their estate in Porto, Portugal, as well as a number of exceptional sarcophagi (stone coffins), among the largest sculpted works in marble to survive from ancient Rome.

The tour reinforces the work of the Foundation to advance the appreciation and understanding of this unparalleled collection and the rich cultural heritage it represents. The Foundation’s mission is carried out through a continuous joint effort between the public and private sectors, including with the cooperation of the Italian Ministry of Culture. The Foundation is supported by a longstanding collaboration with Bvlgari as the principal sponsor of the restoration project since its inception in Rome and throughout the global tour, and Chiomenti, who has lent invaluable support to the Foundation’s core activities.

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