About - 5th Avenue

Administrative Office
206.625.1418

The Administrative Office is open Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM.

Box Office
206.625.1900
888.5TH.4TIX

Call the Box Office to purchase subscriptions and show tickets.

You may also visit the 5th Avenue Box Office in person or purchase tickets online.

About the Executive Team

David Armstrong – Executive Producer and Artistic Director

David served as The Theatre’s producing artistic director from 2000 through 2009. During this time he directed acclaimed productions of Vanities, Candide, Hello, Dolly!, Mame, White Christmas, Sweeney Todd, Hair, A Little Night Music, The Secret Garden, Company, The Rocky Horror Show, Pippin, Yankee Doodle Dandy! and Anything Goes. He also established The 5th Avenue Theatre as a national leader in the development and production of new musicals. As a producer, director, writer and choreographer his work has been seen in New York, Los Angeles and many leading regional theaters including The Kennedy Center, Ordway Center, Cincinnati Playhouse, Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, Repertory of St. Louis, Ford’s Theater and Paper Mill Playhouse. From 1990 to 1995, David served as the artistic director of The Cohoes Music Hall in upstate NY. His writing includes the books for the musicals The Wonder Years (winner of seven LA Drama-Logue Awards), Gold Rush! and Yankee Doodle Dandy!

Bernadine (Bernie) C. Griffin – Managing Director

Bernie was appointed Managing Director in January 2010 and is responsible for the administrative, fundraising, information services and facility operations as well as oversight of all activities related to the Board of Directors. Griffin first joined the Theatre in 2002 as Director of Theater Advancement and Development. During her tenure The 5th Avenue has grown from a $10 million to a $22 million organization. She brings to her position 30 years of fundraising and management experience.

Prior to The 5th Avenue, she served as Director of Development for the prestigious Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles as well as The Laguna Playhouse in Laguna Beach, California. Before moving to California, she served at the Seattle Symphony where she is proud to have been part of the team that built Benaroya Hall. In addition to the Symphony, Griffin worked for the Tony Award-winning Seattle Repertory Theatre as well as Tony Randall’s National Actors Theatre in New York.

She began her career at the University of Denver. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Martin’s University in Lacey Washington and is proud to have been born and raised in Walla Walla, Washington. She is a member of the National Alliance for Musical Theater and a board member of Seattle Rotary #4. Most recently, she served as a grants panelist for the National Endowment of the Arts. She is married to award-winning actor, Seán G. Griffin.

Bill Berry – Producing Director

Bill served as The 5th Avenue’s associate producing artistic director and casting director from 2002 through 2009. During that time, he directed productions of West Side Story (Seattle Times Footlight Award), Wonderful Town (Seattle Times Footlight Award), Wizard of Oz and Smokey Joe’s Café. Berry’s directing work has been seen at theaters across the country, most recently at New Jersey’s Paper Mill Playhouse where he directed a critically acclaimed production of On the Town. Directing highlights include Cabaret performed at The 5th Avenue Theatre, St. Paul’s Ordway Center (Ivey Award), San Jose’s American Musical Theatre, and Houston’s Theatre Under the Stars. From 2002 to 2009, Bill served as the producing director for The 5th Avenue’s education and outreach programs. During that time he significantly expanded the scope and impact of these initiatives, including spearheading the creation of Fridays at The 5th and The 5th Avenue Awards honoring excellence in high school musical theater, as well as substantially increasing the reach of the Adventure Musical Theatre Touring Company throughout the Northwest. These programs combined now serve 37,000 students annually. He also initiated our Show Talk series, which seeks to deepen the theater-going experience. Prior to his work at The 5th Avenue Theatre, Bill was a freelance theater artist based in New York City.