Debbie Chinn will step down from Center Stage after a whirlwind two years as managing director of Baltimore's largest and best-known regional theater — a decision she says she initiated.

Chinn, 53, announced her resignation Tuesday during a meeting of Center Stage staff.

"There were gasps," she said, adding that she will leave at the end of December.

"These are extraordinary times that require bold decisions," Chinn said. "I've been thinking about this for quite some time and became convinced that Center Stage should be free to chart its own course without being confined by past practices — even if that meant reconsidering my own position."

News of Chinn's departure comes just four months after Irene Lewis, Center Stage's artistic director, said that she was being ousted from the organization that she has headed for the past 19 years. The current season, which begins Sept. 29 with a production of "The Wiz," will be Lewis' last.

"Center Stage now has an opportunity not only to attract a new leader empowered to set the artistic agenda, but also to develop a new working model for the organization," Chinn said.

Center Stage has both an artistic director who oversees aesthetic concerns — Lewis — and a managing director who supervises daily operations — Chinn. They occupy equal positions on the management chart, and both report to the board of directors. In the future, the board might prefer to have one person at the top.

"Selecting the new artistic director is of paramount importance to us, and Debbie's decision increases our flexibility," said Jay Smith, president of Center Stage's board of directors. "We haven't made a decision yet about the leadership model we'll follow in the future. A lot of that will depend on who we end up hiring."

The board has retained Management Consultants for the Arts, a firm based in Stamford, Conn., to spearhead the nationwide search. The job opening is a plum position in the world of professional theater, and Smith said the posting has received an enthusiastic response.

The listing notes that the new artistic director will have to tackle the declining subscription rate at Center Stage.

The posting also makes it clear that the days are over in which the artistic director worked mainly behind the scenes, leaving most public relations duties to the managing director. The successful candidate, Smith said, "will be the public face of Center Stage. He or she will be active in the community and play an active role with our funding sources."

In September, the board will sift through the applicants, and interviews will be conducted between October and December. Smith expects that a new artistic director will be named in the first quarter of 2011.

He praised Chinn's selflessness in moving aside to allow the troupe maximum freedom in selecting its leaders.

"This gives you an idea of just what kind of leader Debbie has been," Smith said. "She's only been here for two years, but in that short time, she done a terrific job."

Chinn came to Center Stage in 2008 after seven years as managing director of the California Shakespeare Theater in Berkeley.

"She got off the plane right as the economic downturn began," Smith said. "She led us through a very tough year. She herself gave up some of our compensation to help us balance the budget."

Partly because Chinn and Lewis took unpaid furloughs for a month, the organization was able to avoid severe staff cuts and to continue what now is Center Stage's 35-year tradition of ending the fiscal year in the black.

Last winter, as Chinn struggled to slash $1 million from the budget ($6.7 million for the 2010-2011 season) she began to question whether Center Stage really needed a managing director.

"My role is to think outside of the box and to examine every assumption," she said. "That meant I also had to question my own importance to the organization."

Instead of quitting, Chinn decided to take an unpaid furlough. She also became one of Center Stage's major donors. About the same time, she began getting feelers about other arts-related jobs.

"As a person of color, interesting opportunities have been presented to me that I haven't felt free to look at," she said. "I'm not a person who could do both. I didn't think I could go out on interviews and entertain other job offers when my focus was supposed to be on Center Stage."

Chinn said she doesn't know what her next step will be. She's not ruling out another post as a managing director. But "I might help the arts the most by being on the outside," she said.

She can see herself involved in restoring arts education in the schools, an issue about which she is passionate. She might enjoy working for a foundation that donates money to the arts, or in some other advocacy position.

"I don't want to give people the impression that I'm bolting," Chinn said. "I've always put Center Stage first, and I'm putting it first now. Now is the time to think totally about our future."

mary.mccauley@baltsun.com