Rod Lansberry, one of the longest-tenured artistic leaders in the Colorado arts community, announced his surprise resignation Thursday, ending a 30-year run at the Arvada Center, the last six as Producing Artistic Director of Musical Theatre. His final day on the job is May 13.

When the pandemic shutdown began in March 2020, Lansberry said: “This is going to be the biggest challenge the Arvada Center has ever faced in its 40-plus years.” But even though the Arvada Center had to close both of its two most recent musical offerings early because of COVID spikes, Lansberry believes the worst is over.

“It’s time,” Lansberry said. “Because we’ve gone through so much in the last two years, and we really have come out the other side.”

Lansberry, 63, leaves behind a canon that includes dozens of milestone productions, notably “Les Misérables” and “Ragtime.”

The decision to leave now, he added, was “definitely” his own.

“I wouldn’t be doing this if I felt it was going to be detrimental to the Arvada Center,” he said. “But we’re in good shape and well-positioned for the future.”

Lansberry joined the Arvada Center in 1992 as a stage manager for a production of “42nd Street.” He rose through the ranks until 2007, when he replaced Kathy Kuehn as Performing Arts Director, essentially assuming the role of producer over all theater productions and continuing to direct most of the company’s musicals.

The Arvada Center has operated under an unusual leadership structure since 2016, when CEO Philip Sneed essentially split the Artistic Director position, adding Lynne Collins to oversee the production of plays while Lansberry continued to supervise the musicals. The Arvada Center recently announced a 2022-23 season that includes the musicals “Into The Woods,” “Beauty and the Beast” and “Damn Yankees.”

Sneed said Lansberry’s duties will be assumed temporarily by internal staff until a decision is made on what the overall artistic leadership and structure of the Arvada Center will look like next.

“Rod has been a positive force,” said Sneed. “His steadfast dedication to our organization is inspiring, and we are grateful to all that he has brought to our staff, artists, actors, designers, crewmembers and patrons.”

Lansberry has been there for most of the Arvada Center’s biggest milestones, including opening an outdoor amphitheater, a new state-of-the-art studio theater for plays, and the theater program’s jump to a fully professional, union company.

Lansberry, raised in Rochester, N.Y., came to Colorado to visit relatives and enrolled at Loretto Heights College, then the best undergraduate theater school in the state. He came to the Arvada Center with skills in costume design, properties management and scenic design.

His first directorial effort was “Violet” in 2000, beginning a body of work that received dozens of Henry Awards from the Colorado Theatre Guild as well as Denver Post Ovation and True West awards. In 2018, the Arvada Center broke the Henry Awards’ all-time record for nominations with 29. And he put most of his musicals together under an aggressive three-week rehearsal schedule.

Lansberry hired thousands of local and national actors, designers and crew, many of whom made the Arvada Center their creative homes. Megan Van De Hey, who starred in “Ragtime,” said Lansberry’s departure is the end of an era.

“It breaks my heart,” said Van De Hey, who recalled snapping an Achilles tendon in rehearsal for “Mamma Mia.” “Rod was on the phone with me until 2 in the morning when I was in the hospital,” she said.

“I love the fact that for a theater as large as the Arvada Center, Rod was present at every initial audition, and he was always attentive. And he truly cared about actors. I think he’s pretty special. I don’t think they make them like him anymore.”

Lansberry said will take time off before making himself available as a guest director at other theaters. “I am definitely not done,” he said.