Kristen Coury

CEO of Gulfshore Playhouse

Kristen Coury is the Founder and Producing Artistic Director of Gulfshore Playhouse. Hailing from New York City, Kristen and her then-husband drove through Naples accidentally and immediately decided to sell their apartment in NYC and become permanent Naples residents. Determining there was a niche to fill in this arts-loving town, Kristen proceeded to found Gulfshore Playhouse upon arrival in 2004 and never looked back. Carefully and quickly she brought the Playhouse from a staff of one (herself) and a budget of zero, to a staff of 25 and an annual budget of nearly $2.5M with no debt. She has directed many of the Playhouse productions to date, of which her favorites include: Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol, All My Sons, Tartuffe, A Streetcar Named Desire, Art, A View from the Bridge, Blithe Spirit and The Glass Menagerie. Kristen made her feature film directorial debut with Friends and Family, a comedy starring Tony Lo Bianco, Anna Maria Alberghetti, and Tovah Feldshuh, which was released around the US and Europe. Kristen has directed several new works, produced a CD and worked on a variety of musicals in various stages of development, including Steel Pier on Broadway, a Broadway workshop of The Jazz Singer and Houdini at the Goodspeed Opera House. Kristen worked in production/management for Walt Disney Theatrical Productions (working on international productions of Beauty and the Beast and King David), Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Company (Sunset Boulevard on Broadway and Joseph…on Tour), and for London’s English Shakespeare Company in the Press and Marketing Department. Kristen was honored to be named one of the “Top 40 Professionals Under 40” by Gulfshore Life Magazine in 2008, a “Star in the Arts” by the United Arts Council of Collier County in 2011, and one of the Men and Women of the Year by Gulfshore Life in 2013. Kristen is an avid ballroom dancer and dances competitively around the State of Florida.