CLEVELAND: Cleveland Play House (CPH) has named Rachel Fink their new managing director. Fink, a Cleveland native, will join the theatre this summer.
“We are very excited to introduce Rachel as our new managing director,” CPH board chair Michael Meehan said in a statement. “The search process was thoughtful and meticulous, and considered many worthy candidates from around the nation. Just as Rachel is thrilled to come home, we are equally thrilled to be bringing her home to Northeast Ohio.”
Fink comes to CPH from Chicago, where she served as executive director of Lookingglass Theatre Company. She has also served as the managing director at Theatre Bay Area, providing direct services and support to over 300 theatres in the Bay Area. She founded the Berkeley Rep School of Theatre at Berkeley Repertory Theatre and was a fellow at the Civic Leadership Academy at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy. She was also a member of the inaugural class of the Aspen Institute Fellowship for Emerging Nonprofit Leaders and the 2016 artEquity anti-racism national facilitator cohort. A League of Chicago Theatres board member, Fink is a former marketing, education, and general management intern at CPH and a participant in the CPH Curtain Puller program. She holds a B.A. from Case Western Reserve University and an MFA in theatre management from the Yale School of Drama.
“I am thrilled to be coming home after 25 years away from the 216,” Fink said in a statement. “I learned to love the arts growing up in Cleveland. I had my earliest exposure to professional theatre here, including time at Cleveland Play House, which I’m now honored to serve. I can’t wait to get started.”
CPH’s search for a new managing director was conducted by Management Consultants for the Arts. The firm is also currently leading the search for the theatre’s next artistic director. Mark Cuddy has served as interim artistic and managing director since October 2022, and will continue to serve as interim artistic director.
Cleveland Play House was founded in 1915 and is dedicated to its mission to inspire, stimulate, and entertain diverse audiences in Northeast Ohio through productions and education programs. As of 2021, the theatre had a budget of approximately $7.8 million.
