Kristen Coury

Kristen Coury is the Founder, CEO, and Producing Artistic Director of Gulfshore Playhouse, where she scaled a grass-roots startup into a regional cultural engine with a $17M debt-free budget and a team of nearly 100.

A visionary leader, Kristen spearheaded the creation of the iconic Baker Theatre and Education Center at the gateway to downtown Naples. To realize this landmark facility, she orchestrated one of the largest public-private partnerships in city history, driving a pivotal land swap and donating over an acre of land to Naples for a municipal parking structure.

Kristen’s impressive background includes Broadway tenure with Walt Disney Theatrical Productions and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Really Useful Group, directing the feature film Friends and Family, and investing in Broadway hits like A Beautiful Noise. A prolific director, she has helmed nearly 50 productions for Gulfshore Playhouse, including My Fair Lady, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, and the Baker Theatre’;s blockbuster opening production, Anything Goes. Most recently, Kristen created a new adaptation of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and will be directing it this winter.

Appointed by Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, Kristen is new serving her second term on the Florida Council for Arts and Culture. She also serves on the Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce board and completed two terms with Theatre Communications Group, the national advocacy group for professional theatres. Her civic and cultural impact has earned her honors as a Gulfshore Life Person of the Year (both in 2013 and 2025), the Murray Hendel Civic Achievement Award, multi-year recognition among Naples Illustrated’s Top 100 Leaders, and a spot on the 2025 Florida Trend 500 list of the state’s most influential executives.