Veronica Claypool

Veronica (“Roni”) began working in theatre as Company Manager on Broadway shows such as “Home”, “Morning’s at Seven”, “Mass Appeal” and the European tour of the original Houston Grand Opera production of “Porgy and Bess”, among others.  She was General Manager for the smash Broadway hits “Lena Horne: The Lady and her Music,” the national and international tours of Duke Ellington’s “Sophisticated Ladies,” and the Broadway run and national tour of “The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe” starring Lily Tomlin.  Roni also worked as General Manager of the Ahmanson and Doolittle Theatres at the Los Angeles Music Center during seasons which included August Wilson’s “The Piano Lesson”, “Les Liasons Dangereuses”, “Into the Woods”, “Phantom of the Opera”, among others.  She also worked in production on the film, “The Fisher King”, starring Robin Williams, Jeff Bridges, Mercedes Ruehl and Amanda Plummer, directed by Terry Gilliam, for Columbia/Tri Star Pictures.  Roni returned to New York after managing the 1995 national tour of the Houston Grand Opera production of “Porgy and Bess” and joined Theatre Development Fund as managing director from 1996 through 2010.  She has served on the Tony Awards Nominating Committee, the Lucille Lortel Nominating Committee, National Endowment for the Arts Theatre Panel, the New York State Council on the Arts Theatre Panel, the Mayor’s Midtown Citizens Committee, and the Board of the League of Professional Theatre Women.