Theater creates empathy through metaphor--and by expanding definitions of how we are alike, we better understand one another. No stronger platform exists to realize this ideal than a regional producing theater of scope and scale fully reflecting its community’s cultural perspectives.
An essential regional theater embodies the best attributes of school and church, community center and living room, and street corner and dinner table, as well as arts organization. Its lively, welcoming environment supports exuberant celebration, rigorous debate, deep reflection, and bold exploration of the ideas and emotions engendered by the world-class entertainment at its core.
But to realize these ideals, a theater must be more than its productions. As next-generation and non-traditional attendees clamor for more interactive and more inclusive experiences that ripple ever outward into the community, a theater must also be its Education Department, its Community Engagement endeavors and partnerships, its staff and stakeholders, and its audience. Each must reflect back on and amplify the art, and all must endeavor in total alignment to fulfill the institution’s civic obligations.
I believe in leading from the front--transparently, and by building consensus and investment. I believe that earnest questions deserve sincere answers. I believe that collaboration is our most powerful tool. I believe that the only worthwhile preoccupation is the strongest possible result achieved through the most efficient and inclusive process, devoid of preciousness or ego gratification. I believe that only in its focus on the local can a theater meaningfully join a national conversation. I believe that an institution cannot be strong externally before it is strong internally. I believe that equity and access to the art are essential to its survival. I believe that institution is paramount. I believe that mission is sacrosanct. I believe that leadership is service.
And I believe in an honest day’s work--and in the amplified power that comes from a lifelong succession of them in the company of the like-minded, as we strive to meaningfully improve the community that we collectively call home, and to realize the dreams of our most optimistic artistic expressions.