A.J. Allegra

A.J. Allegra is the current Artistic Director of The NOLA Project theatre company. He moved to  New Orleans from his hometown of Chicago after graduating from NYU in 2007 and has resided  in the city since that time. He has over thirty credits with the company as a director, writer, and  actor and has been nominated for over twenty Big Easy Awards and has won two, for directing  Assassins (2008) and acting in Mr. Marmalade (2009). Under his leadership, the company has  formed many important cultural partnerships with area organizations, the most significant being  The NOLA Project’s unique partnership with The New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA). In 2012,  he was named to Gambit Magazine’s prestigious 40 Under 40 List. He holds a BFA in Theatre  from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, a Shakespeare in Performance Certification from RADA  (Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts) in London, and MS in Nonprofit Leadership from the  University of Pennsylvania. He currently heads the Musical Theatre division at Lusher Charter  School and previously taught in the NOCCA Theatre Department for seven years.