Jason Southerland's new gig

I hadn't heard this around town ( I'm always the last to know), but it seems our own Jason Southerland (left), a founder of Boston Theatre Works, will be moving to Chicago very soon to become the Artistic Director of the Next Theatre Company, "Chicago’s destination for socially provocative, artistically adventurous work." Full announcement is here. As local theatre buffs know, Boston Theatre Works was a casualty of the declining funding environment in these parts, despite a universally-hailed production of Angels in America last winter; only weeks after that success, it was announced the company would be going "on hiatus." Looks like the hiatus will be a long one. The loss of Jason is, of course, a blow to the Boston theatre scene - let's hope it doesn't represent the start of a trend. In the meantime, best wishes to Mr. Southerland on his new gig.