New Dramatists Names Christie Brown as New Executive Director and Prepares to Select a New Artistic Home

New Dramatists has announced that Christie Brown has been named the new Executive Director. She will join veteran Artistic Director Emily Morse to lead the organization. Brown's cumulative service to New Dramatists spans 15 years in various leadership roles.

 

“It's an honor to join Emily at the helm of this magnificent organization, dedicated to supporting a group of extraordinarily talented playwrights,” Brown says. “We are ready to chart New Dramatists' course forward with our unique mission: empowering playwrights to develop their work on their own terms. I feel proud to take over from Joel Ruark, who has elevated New Dramatists substantially over decades.”

 

“Christie's immense creativity and impressive managerial acumen makes her infinitely suited to step into the position of Executive Director,” says Morse. “She is exactly the leader we need at this moment, and I am eager and honored to collaborate with her to steward this exceptional organization, and work dynamically in service of the visionary artists comprising New Dramatists' playwright company.”

 

“New Dramatists' Board of Directors had identified a natural successor to the Executive Director role in Christie Brown. The various roles she's held in the organization encompass many of its facets, from her first assignment as Literary Director to her leadership of its fundraising efforts, to her recent management of Finance, HR, and general administration. In that role, she was a key part of the leadership team that engineered New Dramatists' successful navigation of the COVID shutdown,” commented Board Chair David Rosenzweig.

 

This leadership transition occurs at a significant moment, as New Dramatists prepares to embark on the next step of its real estate strategy to provide a workspace that will offer greater inclusiveness for the entire New Dramatists community in the 21st Century. Denham Wolf Real Estate Services, a trusted advisor and expert in non-profit real estate, is representing New Dramatists in the sale of its current building on West 44th Street and the selection of a new artistic home.

 

Brown assumes the Executive Director role from Joel K. Ruark, who departs New Dramatists after 26 years of distinguished leadership.

 

Ruark said, “There is simply no-one more qualified to take the position of Executive Director at New Dramatists than Christie Brown. The New Dramatists community is quite fortunate that she will join Emily Morse. There is great light in the possibilities these two extraordinary women bring to the American theatre. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to serve New Dramatists and proud of our numerous accomplishments.”

 

Christie Brown's 25 plus years of arts experience is grounded in her commitment to supporting artists and organizations that feed the future of the field. Her background encompasses new play development and production dramaturgy; artist advocacy and literary management; directing fundraising initiatives; and for the last six years, nonprofit management in finance and HR, working in close partnership with her career-long mentor, outgoing New Dramatists Executive Director Joel K. Ruark.

 

Christie's career as a mainstage and new play dramaturg launched at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. She managed agent offices at ICM New York and Los Angeles, assisting leading literary agents in theatre, film, and television. As an organizational advocate, she managed the annual fund for Arlington, VA's Signature Theatre while Signature successfully ran an ambitious $16M capital campaign to construct a dual-use public arts space in Shirlington. She was part of the highly successful fundraising team for the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Maryland, which perennially exceeded its campaign goals to strengthen its degree-granting departments, culturally focused interdisciplinary institutes, art museums, and the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center.

 

Christie's service to New Dramatists is the centerpiece of her career; she's held multiple management positions at the org and holds a deep understanding of the organization's mission and operations. She began her 15-year tenure as the organization's Literary Director (a position she was delighted to see subsequently filled by now-Artistic Director Emily Morse). Her desire to support New Dramatists' strength and longevity led her to accept a position as its primary fundraiser in July 2001; she was part of the management team that helped the organization navigate the tumultuous funding environment post 9/11 in New York City. She also helped New Dramatists secure seed funding to launch PlayTime, its illustrious play development studio that has cradled numerous play and musical projects from inception to full realization. Her second tenure at New Dramatists showcased her fundraising leadership as a development director and major gift officer, when she oversaw several six figure grant awards and the organization's first seven figure planned gift. In the role of Finance and HR Director, she was a central part of the senior management team that guided New Dramatists through the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, and into the current COVID-era realities of safely developing and presenting theatrical work in person.

 

As a freelance artist, Christie's production dramaturgy, educational dramaturgy, and guest lecturing credits include projects and assignments with the Shakespeare in DC Festival, the Source Theatre Festival, KC-ACTF at the Kennedy Center, Catholic University, UTexas-Austin, the Valdez Theatre Conference, and the University of Maryland. She was particularly honored to assist theatrical legend Zelda Fichandler (Founding Director, Arena Stage) as a dramaturgical consultant, as Zelda wrote several of her final essays and developed the TCG-published collection of her written work (The Long Revolution, release date, fall 2023).

 

Christie holds dual degrees in Theatre Arts (Juniata College) and Psychology (University of Maryland/University College). She is a past President of Juniata College's Alumni Association. She is the proud partner of her husband, actor/professor/author Gary Sloan, and parent to Julia and Owen Sloan.

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