Acclaimed producer to temporarily lead Laguna Playhouse

A Tony Award-winning producer will temporarily helm a Laguna Beach performance venue steeped in tradition.

Laguna Playhouse’s board of directors recently selected Ellen Richard as interim executive director while it conducts a nationwide search for a permanent successor to Karen Wood, who stepped down earlier this year after eight years with the organization.

“To have found someone with the extraordinary qualifications that Ellen has is thrilling,” board Co-Chairman Joe Hanauer said in a news release.

Richard, who worked as executive director of the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco from 2010 through 2015, negotiated a deal to buy the Strand Theater in the Mid-Market area of San Francisco, overseeing a renovation that created two performance spaces, according to the release. Richard also expanded the company’s educational efforts, creating programs such as San Francisco Semester, which brought international undergraduate acting students to the theater.

Richard is perhaps best known for her roles at the Roundabout Theatre Company in New York, where she worked from 1983 to 2005. She earned Tony Awards for “Cabaret” (1998), “A View from the Bridge” (1998), “Side Man” (1999), “Nine” (2003), “Assassins” (2004) and “Glengarry Glen Ross” (2005).

As producer of more than 125 shows at the Roundabout, Richard supervised all management and marketing functions. She created Roundabout’s Theatre-PLUS programs, allowing patrons to see from cast members what goes into a production.

The Laguna Playhouse, founded in 1920, features plays, musicals, concerts, dances and stand-up comedy routines. It is located at 606 Laguna Canyon Road.

“I have quickly grown fond of Laguna Beach and the Playhouse,” Richard said in the release. “I embrace this extraordinary opportunity to join one of the country’s top regional theatres at this time in its remarkable history.”