My arts management life curriculum started with a Finance degree from Georgetown. I learned on the job in the business office of DC's Levine School of Music while performing, directing, and producing on campus at night.

While I got my MFA in Acting at Case Western Reserve University, I worked in the business office at the Cleveland Music School Settlement and ran the box office for Eldred Theater. Just for fun, I produced and directed cabarets at night.

To get a handle on running all aspects of a business, I trekked back to DC to become Business Manager of Lodging Magazine for the American Hotel & Lodging Association. That's also where I honed my marketing talents and learned graphic design.

Today, I help artists and arts organizations with marketing, business and strategic planning with a focus on identifying your "genius", cultivating smart partnerships, and developing the right online communications to build lasting relationships.

Many of my skills were honed at my most ambitious project, a brand new theater. I produced four full seasons of musicals as Founder and Executive Director of Kalliope Stage in Cleveland, Ohio. Kalliope Stage was established as a professional regional theater with a focus on reinvented classics and the very best new works of American musical theater.

Our theater employed a signature combination of New York performers and local professionals, and was dedicated to presenting virtuosic performances in an intimate, unamplified setting. Kallipe Stage had a modest size, but a huge voice and a mighty spirit.

• "I love everything about Kalliope Stage. Its small, intimate performance space lends itself to riveting, engaging productions. The artistic vision of Paul Gurgol and John Paul Boukis adds a unique and highly entertaining dimension to the area's professional theater landscape. The superb on-stage and backstage talent this theater attracts has yet to offer anything but stellar productions in its four years of operations."
• Bob Abelman, Chagrin Times, 2006.
• "In an age of blockbuster musicals and outsized stagecraft wizardry, it was refreshing to experience this small and quietly charming show [110 IN THE SHADE] in such an intimate setting and with unamplified voices. I am always amazed by the consistently fine quality at Kalliope."
• Fran Heller, Cleveland Jewish News, 2006.
• "Now in its third season, Kalliope Stage, which is dedicated to showcasing the American musical, is presenting its first world premiere: COMING TO AMERICA. What makes it entertaining is the creative staging of Paul F. Gurgol, Kalliope's artistic director; terrific performances by a quintet of actors who sing, dance, and switch characters and costumes with chameleonlike speed; and the theatre's size, in which a small musical like this finds a perfect fit."
• Fran Heller, Backstage, 2006.
• "It debuted over the weekend at the ambitious Kalliope Stage, an operation in Cleveland Heights that has become one of Northeast Ohio's most consistently pleasing and daring producers of musicals. The world premiere of COMING TO AMERICA is yet another feather in the caps of Kalliope founders Paul Gurgol and John Paul Boukis."
• Tony Brown, Cleveland Plain Dealer, 2006.
• "I drove over to the charming little Kalliope Theatre in Cleveland a couple weeks ago to see the world premiere production of Jim Hindman and Ray Roderick's COMING TO AMERICA. The company must be commended for the staging work they have done with this show's first production."
• Talkin’ Broadway, 2006.
• "Brimming with imagination, the fine production at Kalliope Stage completes the magic. Once again, director Paul F. Gurgol has assembled a great cast that sings and acts their hearts out with professionalism and passion. The 100-minute production…flew by, and I was reluctant to see it come to an end."
• Fran Heller, Cleveland Jewish News, 2005.
• "This adults-only production of the edgy 1997 Sam Mendes version [of CABARET] is a clear triumph. The cautionary tale is so raw and intimate at Kalliope Stage, it's hard not to take it personally. This undoubtedly will be the most meaningful musical production audiences will see all year in Northeast Ohio."
• Kerry Clawson, Akron Beacon Journal, 2005.
• "Witnessing a major production of this scale in this small space is enough to take your breath away. CABARET was never this good before."
• Herb Hammer, Chagrin Valley Times, 2005.
• "Step through the heavy black curtains covering the theater entrance at Kalliope Stage and witness a brutally magnificent staging of Cabaret. This Cabaret gets even the small things right."
• Christine Howey, Scene Magazine, 2005.
• Kalliope has quickly become the area's leading producer of musicals."
• Tony Brown, Cleveland Plain Dealer, 2005.
• "Kalliope delivers a fine BABY! If you don't know the musical BABY, it is high time you made its acquaintance. If you’ve seen it before, you won’t see a better production than that at Kalliope Stage."
• Roy Berko, The Times Newspapers, 2005.
• "Kalliope Stage is the perfect space for such a small, intimate sort of theater piece [BABY], allowing the audience to not only partake of the emotions displayed by the actors, but to hear the singers even when they whisper. Given the outstanding vocal talents displayed in this production—it’s hard to imagine a more well-suited group of actors or a better collection of singers—the audience is presented with a nearly perfect production."
• Kelly Ferjutz, Cool Cleveland, 2005.
• "This show [A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC] ranks as a miracle. It is a huge undertaking of one of the wittiest musicals ever written about the follies of romance. Kalliope gets it right."
• Tony Brown, Cleveland Plain Dealer, 2005.
• "As with virtually all Kalliope productions, the assembled voices range from good to spectacular."
• Christine Howey, Scene Magazine, 2005.
• "Kalliope Stage, founded by Cleveland natives Gurgol and John Paul Boukis, is dedicated exclusively to producing the American musical. The goal was to create high-quality professional theater in an intimate, Off Broadway-style house. Gurgol and Boukis score an A-plus on that front: The level of artistry at Kalliope Stage is breathtaking."
• Kerry Clawson, Akron Beacon Journal, 2005, review of A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC.
• "Superlative singers launch Kalliope, a theater for musicals. And based on its first production, A GRAND NIGHT FOR SINGING, Kalliope Stage is going to be a mandatory addition to the entertainment schedule. This GRAND NIGHT is a gleaming treasure of musical excellence."
• Christine Howey, Scene Magazine, 2004.

Founder and Executive Director of Kalliope Stage:

• Researched market, defined organizational priorities, secured innovative location, and managed complete renovation.
• Created strategic and business plans, including initial board development and launch of friends organization.
• Developed and implemented all donor programs and fundraising efforts, including annual fund drives, benefit events, fundraising solicitations, and all grant writing.
• Hired and supervised all employees, including organizing New York City and local auditions for each show, contracting professional performers, negotiating with individual performers, agents, Actors' Equity Association, and the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers.
• Originated box office and front of house protocols.
• Planned web site, and designed all advertising, marketing plans, and materials.
• Developed, produced, and hosted Kalliope Radio Hour, a weekly hour-long radio broadcast focused on musical theater.