THEATER DIRECTOR | Jason McLean | email: jason(at)varsitytheater(dot)org

He sports a record of achievement as a designer, actor, director, producer, pedagogue, restaurateur, all-round impresario and champion of the arts that stretches back more than thirty years. He's a darn good businessman, too, one whose endeavors enrich and enliven the neighborhoods around them. Certainly, the Loring Pasta Bar and Kitty Cat Klub have helped enormously in making Dinkytown the destination-in-progress it is at the moment.

The McLean touch goes all the way back to the birth of the Loring Café. In 1986, that august hole in the wall opened its doors on what was then a sleepy block near a dodgy park. By the time the expanded Loring Bar opened three years later, area shops and restaurants were thriving. The  launch of the expanded Café made the block even more of a hot spot. But it was the Loring Playhouse that really sweetened the deal for most for the businesses near Mr. McLean's concerns and turned the block into a magnet for culture aficionados from all over the metro. The truth of his vision was such that theater and block continue to thrive-even minus the diversity that came with his involvement. Meanwhile, Jason's instincts have only gotten sharper.