She joins PTC Sept. 10, six weeks before the company is set to open the doors of its new venue, the Suzanne Roberts Theatre on Philadelphia's Avenue of the Arts Oct. 21. She will be partnering with the company's producing artistic director, Sara Garonzik.
Claussen comes to PTC after service as managing director at Paper Mill Playhouse since 2004. She had previously served from 1998-2004 as the executive director of Court Theatre, a professional LORT theatre in Chicago. From 1991-97 she was the managing director of George Street Playhouse, a LORT theatre located in New Brunswick, NJ. While in Chicago, Claussen and Court Theatre received the ABBY Award for Arts Management Excellence from the Arts & Business Council of Chicago.
Claussen was the managing director, an assistant professor and director of the Theatre Management Program at Ithaca College from 1997-98.
In addition, Claussen has worked at several leading regional theatres throughout the country, including Yale Repertory Theatre and Seattle Repertory Theatre.
Claussen currently sits on the boards of ArtPRIDE NJ, the Downtown Millburn Development Alliance and the Short Hills/Millburn Chamber of Commerce. While in Chicago, she chaired the board of directors of the League of Chicago Theatres for three years. Claussen has also served on the executive committee for the League of Resident Theatres (LORT) and as a panelist for peer review panels for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and Theatre Communications Group (TCG). Sara Garonzik, PTC's producing artistic director stated, "I am really thrilled to have the opportunity to work closely with Diane. I first met her in 1995 when PTC co-produced with George Street Playhouse and I have continued to follow her career with interest and respect. I know she will ably handle the challenges of our increased administrative complexities and maximize the potential of our expanded presence on the Avenue of the Arts, both locally and nationally."
*
Philadelphia Theatre Company is Philadelphia's only non-profit professional theatre dedicated exclusively to producing world and regional premieres of works by contemporary American playwrights.
Under the leadership of Garonzik, Philadelphia Theatre Company has produced 34 world premieres of new American plays and musicals in its 31 seasons. Recent world premiere productions include Nerds://A Musical Software Satire by Jordan Allen-Dutton, Erik Weiner, and Hal Goldberg; Some Men by Terrence McNally; Adrift in Macao by Christopher Durang and Peter Melnick; Bruce Graham's According to Goldman; and more.
Since 1995, Philadelphia Theatre Company has received 122 nominations and 34 awards from Philadelphia's Barrymore Awards.
Designed by KieranTimberlake Associates LLP, Philadelphia Theatre Company's new Suzanne Roberts Theatre will include a 365-seat traditional proscenium auditorium "designed to envelope both the actors and audience," a flexible studio theatre space, a dramatic lobby and mezzanine level reception areas with commanding views of the city, as well as patron amenities, box office, handicapped accessibility and elevator to all floors.
