Tom Dunn takes reins at Tilles Center

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Wantagh, Seaford and Levittown are strongly linked by school zoning while their residents share common roads, parks and preserves. These communities can now also proudly lay claim to the leading man at the Tilles Center.

Tom Dunn, a Levittown native, has been named the new executive director at Tilles, Long Island’s premier arts center, on Long Island University Post’s campus in Brookville.

The Tilles Center has drawn artists from all over the world to Long Island, making it easier for residents to enjoy professional performances without trekking into Manhattan. According to its website, the center was the first to bring the New York Philharmonic to Long Island, and Bruce Springsteen recorded “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” there — before it was even known as the Tilles Center.

The venue has seen the likes of Itzhak Perlman, Joshua Bell, Yo-Yo Ma, Jerry Seinfeld, Harry Connick Jr. and more perform there. It also features Broadway shows on national tours. With its main concert hall seating more than 2,000, and its smaller Krasnoff Theater seating just over 500, the center is well suited to draw quality entertainment to the Island.

Dunn said he was eager to usher the center into the post-pandemic era of entertainment, bringing years of theatrical experience, both on the arts side and the management side.

Dunn said he had an upbringing that many South Shore Long Islanders can relate to.

“I had a very idyllic, suburban childhood,” Dunn said. “I grew up across the street from North Village Green. I always loved the public pools, the basketball courts, riding my bike through the neighborhood and, of course, going to Jones Beach. West End 2 was my favorite part of the beach. Levittown was a great place to grow up.”

Dunn lived the typical life of a child in Wantagh, Seaford or Levittown, attending Summit Lane Elementary School in Levittown before enrolling in St. Bernard’s and Holy Trinity, both Catholic schools in the area.

Dunn then attended Fordham University, graduating in 1994 with a degree in English. “I initially thought I wanted to be a theater major,” he said. “But then I wanted to do a little more reading and writing.”

After graduating from college, Dunn entered what he referred to as his “starving artist days.” He started a theater company called Empty Stage Theatre Company, made up primarily of his high school and college friends. Empty Stage rented out black box theaters and did many sketch comedies and skits. Dunn’s shining accomplishment from this time was co-writing and directing the play, “Who Killed Woody Allen?” It was a comedy that had an off-Broadway run at the Triad Theater on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. 

Even during this “starving artist” period, Dunn was working his way up in the management side of show business. “From 1994 to 1998, I worked for a theatrical licensing company called Music Theater International,” he said. “So, my whole career has been tied to the arts.”

Dunn lived in Los Angeles for a bit, going in between jobs, one of which was working as a production assistant for the NBC sitcom, “Daddio.”

He then came back to New York, and from 2001 to 2017, Dunn served in a variety of leadership roles at the Lincoln Center, where he was part of the management team overseeing a $1.2 billion re-development of the campus. From 2018 to this year, he was the director of the Southampton Art Center, helping to keep it afloat during the pandemic.

“At a time when upwards of 15 percent of cultural nonprofits were shuttering, I’m really proud of the fact that we actually strengthened the bottom line of the Southampton Art Center,” Dunn said. “That was a product of incredible support from our community and great leadership from the board.”

Now Dunn said his focus is to make sure that the Tilles Center retains its position as Long Island’s premiere performing arts venue.

“I’m keen on reintroducing Tilles to the market,” Dunn said. “I think as we come out of the pandemic, we’re hungry for live entertainment, and I’m confident that we’re going to continue to attract exciting world-class artists.”

In addition to attracting famous artists, Dunn said he looks forward to giving artists beginning their careers a chance at the big-time stage at the center.

Dunn’s colleagues are thrilled to have him join the team at Tilles.

“It’s always great to infuse new ideas and just reenergize, especially coming off of the years we came off of,” Shari Linker, Tilles’ director of marketing, said. “Thanks to Tom’s efforts, the response from the community has been great in terms of their interest.”

Despite living in Huntington now, Dunn said he hasn’t forgotten his roots and regularly visits Levittown.

“The biggest thing we want people to know is that you don’t need to travel into the city for world-class live entertainment,” Dunn said. “It’s right here, close to your communities.”