Only days after the Dallas Theater Center opened It’s a Bird … It’s a Plane … It’s Superman — one of its most ambitious and expensive projects — the company announced that it will start searching for a new managing director. Its current one, Mark Hadley, plans to leave the DTC after the 2010-2011 season starts in September.

Hadley has been managing director for six years and general manager for three. He helped run the theater through its transition from artistic director Richard Hamburger to Kevin Moriarty and its move into the Wyly Theatre in the AT&T Performing Arts Center.

The full press release after the jump:

Dallas Theater Center Board of Trustees launches nationwide search for new managing director

DALLAS (June 28, 2010) – The Dallas Theater Center Board of Trustees announced today that it will launch a nationwide search for a new managing director as current Managing Director Mark Hadley has announced plans to leave the company after the 2010-2011 season starts in September.

In more than six years as managing director and three years as general manager, Hadley guided DTC through the tumultuous post-9/11 economic downturn, managed an artistic leadership transition, and facilitated the intricate challenge of moving the theater’s operations to the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre at the AT&T Performing Arts Center. Hadley will remain in his post through the summer as the Board of Trustees initiates the search.

“Closing our first season in the Wyly Theatre with It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Superman completes a major transition for Dallas Theater Center,” Hadley says. “While there is never an opportune time for a change such as this, I am confident that with a visionary artistic director and a dedicated Board of Trustees leading the company, the theater is well poised for success in its new home.”

Chair of the Board Frank Risch says, “Mark Hadley has served Dallas Theater Center with great care, loyalty, and a deep concern for the art we put on the stage and the people on our staff who make it all happen. He has been a true partner of two artistic directors and a succession of board leaders, helping to bring about a major transformation of DTC in its new home in the Wyly Theatre. Mark’s contributions to Dallas Theater Center over the past ten years are innumerable, and we wish him the greatest success.”

Artistic Director Kevin Moriarty says, “For the past three years I’ve been at Dallas Theater Center, Mark has been an insightful and supportive collaborator in leading our company to greater artistic heights. Achieving the mission and vision we’ve set forth of creating impactful theater immediately meaningful to our community would not have been possible without Mark’s dedication and hard work.”

In its first season in the Wyly Theatre, DTC has seen record-breaking ticket sales and welcomed the largest audiences in its 51-year history.

DTC’s Board of Trustees will engage an executive search firm to conduct the search for a new managing director to assume the responsibilities of day-to-day operations, and expects to have a new managing director in place by fall