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Daniels, 46, has been named Arizona Theatre Company’s artistic director.

He grew up in Mesa, is a member of the extensive Udall family (his great grandfather was Jesse Udall, a member of Arizona’s Supreme Court from 1960 to 1972), and learned to love theater watching plays and taking classes at ATC.

“I was 8 or 9 when I first saw a show there,” he said. “It’s the theater that made me fall in love with theater.”

Daniels, currently artistic director at the well-respected Merrimack Repertory Theatre in Lowell, Massachusetts, is a champion of new works. They have been a regular feature at Merrimack, where he is currently directing his adaptation of Jack Kerouac’s novel “The Haunted Life” — the first book that the Kerouac Estate has allowed to be adapted into a play.

“I think new works are a great way to engage a community, and a great way to put the theater on a national level,” said Daniels.

One of Daniels’ first tasks will be to select the plays to open and close the 2019-20 season. An announcement on those should come within the next month.

He plans to continue the efforts the departing artistic director, David Ivers, began to make sure Arizona artists are represented on and off the stage.

“Supporting local artists is essential,” Daniels said. “Local reflects you and your community on the stage. Everyone should know they can work there. And eventually they can be artistic director.”

He will have Phoenix and Tucson people in mind, too, when he selects seasons.

“The work needs to reflect our community and our audience,” he said. “Planning a season is a great exercise for the community.

“At Merrimack we have a season planning process that involves staff, the board and community members.”

He also plans to explore ways to engage the community and grow audiences.

“We can invite community members into the building, to rehearsals, whatever,” he said. “If we do that year after year, you have people who can speak fluently about the art form. We need to empower the community to talk about the theater.”

Daniels’ commitment to community is one of the attributes that attracted ATC’s managing director, Bill Russo.

“What I love about him is that his vision for a theater — and what he did at Merrimack — is that the work on stage is as important as engaging the community,” said Russo.

In addition to his experience at Merrimack, Daniels has directed extensively around the country, was artist-at-large at Geva Theatre Centre in Rochester, New York, and associate artistic director and interim artistic director at the Tony-winning Actors Theater of Louisville (Kentucky).

He, his wife and their 9-month-old daughter will settle in the Phoenix area by May, Daniels said. He’ll make that his home base because there is so much family there but will also maintain a residence in Tucson.