#175: Craig Hassall (Playhouse Square) — Surprise & Inspire the World — Cleveland’s Artistic Renaissance

Lay of The Land

Craig Hassall, CEO of Playhouse Square

Craig is a mainstay in the international theater community, with decades of experience operating and curating the most prestigious venues across Europe and Australia. Over his career, in addition to his role as CEO of the Royal Albert Hall in London, he was also CEO of Opera Australia which oversees the Sydney Opera House, and he was the managing director of the English National Ballet. He also held senior roles for major projects including the 2000 and 2012 Olympic Games in Sydney and London, respectively, in addition to many other endeavors!

In 2022, Craig was named as the new President and CEO of Playhouse Square — one of the world's premier arts districts & second largest performing arts center in the United States, outside of NYC. Playhouse Square has an amazing history here in Cleveland dating back to the early 1920’s, and today is home to a plethora of resident organizations:

• The City Club of Cleveland,
• Cleveland Ballet,
• Cleveland International Film Festival,
• Cleveland Play House,
• Cleveland State University Department of Theatre and Dance,
• DANCECleveland,
• Great Lakes Theater
• Tri-C JazzFest,

...and more — in addition to its role as one of Broadway’s premier touring partners.

I loved the opportunity to sit down with Craig — as a fellow non-native-Clevelander, it’s always fun to find a kindred spirit with a shared appreciation for this city, the excellence within it, and the opportunity ahead of it, on a world stage. In this great conversation, Craig and I unpack his love for performance arts, the arc of his professional career and his path to Cleveland, the history and state of Playhouse Square today, and his ambitious vision for the future.

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LINKS:
https://www.playhousesquare.org/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/craig-hassall-4bb7469/
https://www.instagram.com/playhousesquare

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Past guests include Justin Bibb (Mayor of Cleveland), Pat Conway (Great Lakes Brewing), Steve Potash (OverDrive), Umberto P. Fedeli (The Fedeli Group), Lila Mills (Signal Cleveland), Stewart Kohl (The Riverside Company), Mitch Kroll (Findaway — Acquired by Spotify), and many more.

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