Darrell Rodenbaugh
Chief Executive Officer
Darrell has served the role of operating executive since 2015 and was named Chief Executive Officer in 2018 during his dozen years of leadership on behalf of NTPA. He has served on a pro bono basis and without compensation, donating his time to a cause he believes in … providing to as many children as possible the profound experience of taking the stage and having their voices heard.
Darrell and his family are the largest private financial and in-kind contributors to the North Texas Performing Arts in its thirty-two-year history.
Darrell joined the Plano Children’s Theatre Board of Directors in 2010 and served pro bono as Executive Director through 2011, guiding it through financial difficulties. He was elected Board President for eight consecutive terms leading the organization to over 10X growth and to evolve into the North Texas Performing Arts. Darrell served the dual role as Governing Board President and the chief operating executive overseeing all day-to-day operations for three years and left the board in 2018 to assume the full-time role of Chief Executive Officer.
Darrell created the AMP Awards, the ACE (Acting Company for Excellence) Program, the North Texas Performing Arts organization and structure, the “Ten Characters,” and the NTPA Academy. Under his leadership, other new programs were successfully launched including NTPA – Fairview, NTPA – Frisco, NTPA – Dallas, NTPA – Starcatchers and NTPA – Repertory, and the NTPA Community Theatre, Collegiate Pursuits, and NTPA Studios.
Darrell is responsible for the creation of the Willow Bend Center of the Arts, convincing Starwood Retail Partners to provide the space on favorable negotiated terms. He negotiated and secured bank financing engaged the construction partner, and designed much of the facility, serving full-time for almost two years on a full-time uncompensated basis as a pro bono Project Executive. He recruited and worked alongside the incredible “Team of Steel” volunteers who generously contributed their time and talent to design and construct the mainstage theatres.
Darrell and Lisa Rodenbaugh and their children Chris and Lee contributed the largest private cash gift in NTPA’s history to help underwrite the Willow Bend effort.
Lisa has served in volunteer roles for a dozen years at NTPA and was the creator of the “Curtain Club”, the precursor to the current NTPA Membership Program and volunteer system. Lisa serves as Chairperson of the NTPA Repertory Theatre Management Board and is its Programming Chair. Chris and Lee were founding members of the ACEs and together participated in over 70 NTPA productions. Chris completed his BBA and MBA at Loyola of Chicago and is studying law at Northwestern Law School, and Lee completed her BS in Neuroscience from Baylor and is pursuing her Doctorate in Physical Therapy at Texas Women’s University in Houston.
Darrell is a Plano-area investor and volunteer who spent twenty-five years in the high-tech industry in sales, sales management, and general manager roles with IBM, Oracle, Yahoo!, i2 Technologies, and prior to this role was SVP and General Manager for McAfee’s global $300M Mid-Market business division. He went on to build a security and life-safety services company and a residential services company and currently serves on other company boards.
Darrell is a graduate and now a Trustee at Washburn University and earned his MBA at the University of Houston.