Philadelphia Theatre Company proudly announces the appointment of DIANE CLAUSSEN to the newly-created position of Managing Director. She joins PTC September 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 October 21. She will be partnering with the company's Producing Artistic Director Sara Garonzik.

Diane 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, New Jersey. 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 said, "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."

"Diane was the unanimous choice of our Search Committee after an extensive national search. She brings with her a love of the theater, a respect for Sara and what she has accomplished, and a vast amount of experience that will help us use the occasion of our new home to expand upon our accomplishments, regionally and nationally," said PTC Board President E. Gerald Riesenbach.

"I am delighted to be partnering with Sara, having long admired her artistic aesthetic and social consciousness as an artistic leader. I am also very excited to have an opportunity to help PTC build its audience and donor base at this important juncture in PTC's history," said Claussen. "I am looking forward to immersing myself in the dynamic and rich Philadelphia cultural community and playing a vital leadership role not only for the Philadelphia Theatre Company but also in the city for many years to come."

Philadelphia Theatre Company is Philadelphia's only non-profit professional theater dedicated exclusively to producing world and regional premieres of works by contemporary American playwrights. Under the leadership of Producing Artistic Director, Sara Garonzik, Philadelphia Theatre Company has had ever-increasing national impact having 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 (recently produced at Second Stage Theatre); Adrift in Macao by Christopher Durang and Peter Melnick (produced at Primary Stages last Winter); Bruce Graham's According to Goldman; Jeffrey Hatcher's A Picasso; Daniel Stern's comedy Barbra's Wedding (moved to the Westside Arts Theatre in 2003); John Henry Redwood's No Niggers, No Jews, No Dogs; J.T. Rogers' White People; David Ives' Lives of the Saints; three-time Tony Award-winning Master Class by Terrence McNally, starring Zoe Caldwell; Bunny Bunny by Alan Zweibel (Lucille Lortel Award, 1997); and the American premiere of Birdy by Naomi Wallace. A Picasso received its New York premiere at the Manhattan Theatre Club in April 2005. Philadelphia Theatre Company was chosen Best Theatre Company 2003 by Philadelphia magazine, Theater Company of the Year by Philadelphia Weekly in 2005, Best Theater Company in the 2005 City Paper Readers' Choice Awards, and named Best Theater by Philadelphia Style Magazine in 2006. 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 state-of-the-art Suzanne Roberts Theatre will include a 365-seat traditional proscenium auditorium designed to envelope both the actors and audience, a flexible studio theater space, a dramatic lobby and mezzanine level reception areas with commanding views of the city, as well as superior patron amenities, box office, handicapped accessibility and elevator to all floors.

For further information, please call 215-985-1400 or visit www.philadelphiatheatrecompany.org.