Administrative Staff

PRODUCING ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

OWEN M. SMITH

owen@playhousestage.org

Owen is a proud Capital Region native, and resident of the City of Cohoes. A former Playhouse Stage Company student himself, he has served as the Producing Artistic Director of the Playhouse since 2010, leading the company through a period of transformation and growth. From 2012-2018 Owen also served as the Managing Director of the Palace Theatre in Albany, helping to lead significant growth in the historic venue’s programming and financial performance.  In 2014, he was pleased to be named one of the Albany Business Review’s 40 Under 40, and he received The Norman Rice Arts, Culture & Education Award from the Downtown Albany BID in 2015.  Before returning to the Capital Region in 2010, Owen was a founding member of The Clockwork Theatre in New York City, and directed several productions off-Broadway for the company. During his time in New York, Owen served as the Associate General Manager at New York’s Theatre for a New Audience, and his work as an actor was seen in the 40th Anniversary National Tour of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF. Owen was inducted into the Bethlehem Central High School Hall of Fame in 2017.

DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION/ASSOCIATE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

ASHLEYSIMONE KIRCHNER

ashley@playhousestage.org

Ashley has worked with Playhouse Stage in many capacities since 2010. Ashley grew up in Harrisburg, PA, where she trained under Marcia Dale Weary at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet and Sandra Carlino at Pennsylvania Regional Ballet. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Marymount Manhattan College, under the direction of Katie Langan, with a BFA in Dance. Ashley has danced professionally for a number of years before finding her passion for theatre education. She teaches and choreographs at theaters and dance studios across the country and is an adjunct professor at the University at Albany in addition to her work at the Playhouse. She was formerly the lead dance instructor and choreographer for the Musical Theater Department at Regional Center for the Arts in Trumbull, CT and Director of Education at the Palace Theatre in Albany. In addition to her administrative duties, Ashley is also the Resident Choreographer for Playhouse Stage Company where her work has been called "captivating", "spectacular" and “utterly sublime”. She can also occasionally be seen on stage, including productions of Avenue Q, Spamalot, Cabaret, Hairspray, The Producers, and Annie Get Your Gun.

MANAGING DIRECTOR

CHUCK KRAUS

chuck@playhousestage.org

Chuck is a native of East Greenbush and a graduate of the Department of Theatre Arts at SUNY New Paltz. Chuck has been affiliated with Park Playhouse in multiple facets since 1998, when he began as a student in the Park Playhouse II program. Arts administration credits include Theatre for a New Audience (NYC), Hartford Stage (Hartford, CT), Palace Theatre (Albany, NY). For the Playhouse, he has directed numerous productions, including Always… Patsy Cline, Godspell, Little Shop of Horrors & Urinetown.

PRODUCTION MANAGER

DENNIS STRAINGE

dennis@playhousestage.org

Dennis has been working with Playhouse Stage since 2015, after receiving his BA from Le Moyne College in Syracuse where his work in theatre began. Dennis has worked in a variety of positions with local arts organization such as Barrington Stage Company, Capital Repertory Theatre, IATSE Local 14, and served as the Technical Supervisor of the Palace Theater. Dennis, a Capital Region native has fond memories attending Park Playhouse productions as a youth, sparking a an early love of the performing arts. Outside of the theatre, Dennis is involved in a variety of community building projects in the City of Albany and the great Capital Region. Dennis is committed to making space for professional fabricators, artists, and craftsfolk of all backgrounds in the wide scope of professional arts production and administration.