ARTS · BABYLON VILLAGE

The Argyle Theatre has a new artistic director, and he is not a stranger to the building.

Tommy Rainieri, who grew up in Commack, has been named to the job, succeeding Evan Pappas — who is retiring after nine years at the Main Street theater.

Rainieri directed Disney’s “Newsies” at the Argyle earlier this year, and he arrives from three seasons as artistic director of Timber Lake Playhouse in Illinois. He earned a directing degree from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, and he started out in Long Island theater — at the John W. Engeman Theater and the CM Performing Arts Center.

He was direct about why Babylon.

“For my whole life, I’ve always wanted to do shows where I can be at home and direct at home and my grandma can actually see the show I’ve done,” he said.

Pappas leaves a long list behind him: “Guys and Dolls,” “The Producers,” “Cabaret,” “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” “The Full Monty,” “Miracle on 34th Street.” Argyle owners Mark and Dylan Perlman credit him with building the theater’s reputation for Broadway-caliber work in a village of 12,000 people.

The two men met in the lobby after the Argyle’s very first production. Pappas remembers the introduction well — Rainieri walked up and complimented his scene transitions, of all things.

“When he said that, I thought, I need to know this guy,” Pappas said, “because not a lot of people pay attention to that.”

Sources: Greater Long Island · The Argyle Theatre