Less than two months into his first season as Executive Director of Lehman Center for the Performing Arts, Dante Albertie spoke with the Bronx Times about stepping in to lead an over 45-year-old venue, his vision for future programming and why he wants the Bronx to become an entertainment destination.
Albertie founded Lehman Stages, the professional rehearsal and performance facilities at Lehman College, in 2002. Throughout his decades with the university, he recognized many students weren’t even aware of Lehman Center. When he transitioned into his new role in 2025, he knew he wanted that to change.
“Years before I took this gig, I had that in my head, that there was something missing between the student body and the center,” Albertie said. “I wasn’t coming into this like it was a for-profit music hall. I was coming into it, like, ‘What cool things could we do that would make the community happy and turn people on and sell tickets?’”
When Albertie first began as Interim Director, he was only overseeing a season that had already been programmed by his predecessor. After the opportunity to lead the ongoing 2026-27 season arrived, he knew he wanted to maintain the Center’s connection with the Latino community, while offering diverse programming that could appeal to people of all backgrounds, and ages.
“We know after years of experience that people are really hungry for fun stuff that they can bring their kids to and celebrate as a family, in a place that’s safe and clean and easy to access. This season, when we were putting together [the programming] we put a lot of family stuff in,” Albertie said.
The first performance of Lehman Center’s 2026-27 was headlined by performer Princess Nokia with opening act Yaya Bey. Though Albertie admits the show didn’t sell out, he still considers it a success.
“The audience that they brought in was an audience that I had never seen here before and the people that worked here hadn’t seen here before. It was young people,” Albertie said.
He recalled someone describing the audience of mostly first-time attendees as “incredible lesbian warriors coming from Bushwick,” and that some people even flew in for the event.
Aside from broadening the venue’s community of attendees, Albertie wants to be one thing as Executive Director: replaceable.
“If I get hit by a bus tomorrow, the place has to go on. And I’m not running it right if it stops,” Albertie said.
Albertie’s full title is Executive Director of Performing Arts and Event Venues, which means he continues to manage the operations of on-campus performance sites other than exclusively Lehman Center. Subsequently, he remains ever cognizant of the Center’s placement within the college, and the potential of capitalizing on that, rather than shying away from it.
“What makes us different is, for sure, the fact that we’re on a college campus. I think that that part of our story hasn’t been fully written yet… There’s a big CUNY logo on the front door. So to come in here and try to pretend that it’s not part of a college is silly. But the second you admit that, then you can put that away. That’s something in your toolbox,” Albertie said.
Students from his performing arts management class, which is taught in the lobby of Lehman Center learn how to market the Bronx as entertainment and cultural hub.
“Over the course of the semester they would create a nonprofit organization from scratch. All their organizations had to be placed in the Bronx,” Albertie said. “If you can make a case that Manhattan needs you, go ahead. I can make a case that the Bronx needs you. What I would tell them for the longest time is that the Bronx is absolutely wide open.”
With that said, Albertie celebrates the introduction and success of other venues in the Bronx that contribute to the local community and arts atmosphere.
“Sitting here and watching these wonderful nonprofit arts institutions be created and come up, it just fills me with a sense of incredible pride, incredible joy. The Loew’s Paradise [Theatre], that space, that makes me so incredibly happy…There’s enough room for all of us to sort of be, you know, giving to the Bronx,” Albertie said.
Though he is motivated to have diverse programming and affordable, if not free, shows whenever possible, Albertie considers outreach important for maintaining the Center’s success. His vision for outreach programs include capitalizing on the thousands of families annually who are introduced to the center as a graduation venue.
Looking forward to the future, Albertie wants to create an atmosphere at the venue where attendees and employees alike are excited about the venue and the quality of its offerings.
The 2026-27 season at the Lehman Center for the Performing Arts is ongoing. Upcoming performances include Ginuwine, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Swan Lake, and Marvel Studios’ “Black Panther” in Concert. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit the Lehman Center’s website.
