Arts Administration, Article 6

 

[Sofía Barrell’s “A Master’s List,” below, is the final article in the American Theatre Special Section on “Approaches To Theatre Training: Arts Administration.”  Coming up next is a seventh article from the same January 2019 issue (36.1) as the preceding six pieces. 

[All seven articles were also posted on 2 January 2019 on americantheatre.org, the website for the Theatre Communications Group’s monthly magazine.  ROTters can read the six installments in any order, but I remind readers that the first post on 2 December contains AT Editor-in-Chief Rob Weinert-Kendt’s “Editor’s Note” for the Special Section.

[The list of theater management and arts administration training programs below  includes links to the web pages of the academic institutions and other facilities described; click on the programs’ names.  (If you have trouble connecting through this blog, go to the online version of the list at https://www.americantheatre.org/2019/01/02/a-masters-list/.)]

“A MASTER’S LIST”
by Sofía Barrell 

12 programs that aim to equip students for leadership in the arts.

As you may have already noticed, a new wave of theatre management is sweeping the country. Older, more experienced artistic directors and administrators are leaving their fields to make way for a new generation, many of them the products of increasingly popular arts management master’s degree programs. That’s where they’ve picked up business and analytical skills from courses on fundraising, marketing, and theatre operations, while also learning through experience in fellowships, assistantships, and internships.

Indeed more universities are introducing programs focusing on arts administration and leadership in several areas of the arts, including music and performing arts. What follows is a sampling of programs with an emphasis on theatre.

The MFA in Theatre at the University of Alabama features a concentration in Arts Management, combining coursework with hands-on work experience. It offers a rotation of assistantships in positions like assistant business manager, marketing coordinator, and education and outreach manager.

The university also offers a three-year, dual-degree program, the MBA/MFA Arts Management Concentration, which allows students to take courses and earn their degree simultaneously through the Department of Theatre & Dance and the Manderson Graduate School of Business. Although the program specializes in performing arts organizations, its stated goal is to provide general knowledge in nonprofits. “It is important to me that the students acquire a full understanding of the business operations of nonprofit organizations broadly, and how they can implement controls to directly impact the type of nonprofit they are employed by,” says director of arts management Dominic Yeager. “In acquiring a full understanding of the operational procedures of these organizations, the student better understands how, when, and if the theories and models they are learning actually impact the day-to-day operations of an organization.”

Brooklyn College, City University of New York gives students the opportunity to broaden their knowledge of the performing arts and business theories and techniques with its MFA in Performing Arts Management. The full-time two-year program requires a structured four-semester internship, residencies with at least three different performing arts organizations, and courses including Principles of Performing Arts Management, Financial & Managerial Accounting, and Fundraising for the Performing Arts. “Our program combines classes in current arts management theory and practice, taught by working professionals in the field, with practical experience gained in internships and residencies,” says interim program head Jessica Bathurst.

Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh has combined its College of Fine Arts with Heinz College, its business school, to create the two-year Master of Arts Management (MAM). The program strives to create art managers skilled in both the creative and business aspects of the field. “Drawing from a unique palette of data-infused management, policy, technology, and hands-on practical learning in the industry, our students are well-equipped for innovation and leadership in the arts and entertainment fields,” claims program director Kathryn Heidemann.

To apply the program’s focuses in arts, analytics, and action, students can take part in four practicum opportunities: a required summer internship; a first-year work-study job at local theatres including Pittsburgh Public Theater and Quantum Theatre; a second-year apprenticeship job; and a capstone management consulting project with clients such as MoMA, City Theatre, and Americans for the Arts. The program is also home to two experiential learning laboratories in which students can work as collaborators and researchers.

The University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music and Carl H. Lindner College of Business combined resources to create the MFA in Arts Management. Founded in 1976, this program’s coursework in business theory and practice is applied to the specific operating conditions for various not-for-profit arts institutions. Only 8 to 10 students are accepted per cohort, and they graduate with both a M.A. and MBA in two years. Graduates are expected to have gained core competencies in strategic planning and decision-making, financial analysis and budget management, leadership, and organizational development.

Students learn within a thriving arts environment that allows numerous opportunities to gain practical management experience. “Cincinnati boasts a thriving professional arts community, which provides our students with many opportunities to learn the day-to-day operations of a non-profit arts organization,” says program director Jean Hamilton. “We are looking for young professionals who are passionate about the arts, curious about administration, and ready for a rigorous academic environment.” Cincinnati’s eight major performing and visual arts organizations, two performing arts centers, and numerous smaller arts groups provide practical experience through job opportunities and internships.

Columbia University in New York City offers two different arts administration programs, one in its Teachers College and the other in the School of the Arts. Columbia’s Theatre Management and Producing Concentration is a two-year MFA program offering courses in Creative Development, Finance, and History and Theory. During their time in the program, students complete 18 required courses, several electives, and three internships. Additionally, students must manage or produce at least one show, a requirement that is designed to foster collaboration between the producing students and the other artists in the theatre program. “Our rigorous, highly individualized curriculum provides a solid foundation for a career as a leader on both the not-for-profit and commercial sides of the industry; the classes and production work with fellow artists build community that lasts well beyond graduation; and our faculty and alumni of working professionals are the contacts that give our students a network they can turn to for support and mentorship,” says program director Steven Chaikelson.

In the 1980s, Columbia’s Arts Administration program moved from the School of the Arts to Teachers College, creating two separate programs within different schools: an M.A. and an MFA. Although the two programs do not formally share courses, students can take elective courses from either program.

Columbia Teachers College’s ARAD Program is a two-year, full-time arts administration M.A., providing students with training to work in any artistic tradition in both the for- and nonprofit sectors. Students complete a 300-hour internship, giving them hands-on experience at institutions like Lincoln Center as well as at grassroots organizations like NURTUREart. Half the curriculum comprises required business, law, and nonprofit management courses, with the other half including electives tailored to fit each student. Another distinguishing feature of the program is the “importance of social justice and community engagement,” says program manager Katarina Wong. “Our students actively want to bring the arts to the forefront in their communities, whether it’s through careers in marketing, development, program management, leadership, cultural policy, or program evaluation.”

Indiana University Bloomington focuses on cultural planning and regional development as well as on nonprofit and community-based arts organizations in its MFA in Arts Administration. The degree, which has been offered at the campus for more than three decades, is housed in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs. This provides students with a vast knowledge of various areas of administration, while still focusing primarily on music and the arts.

The program boasts six full-time faculty in Arts Administration and a range of adjunct instructors with backgrounds in the profession. In 2019, the faculty will launch the Center for Cultural Affairs, dedicated to “developing a new generation of arts management and policy scholars and practitioners, through research partnerships, symposia, and graduate student research support,” says Michael Rushton, director of arts administration programs. “These are very exciting times in the Arts Administration program at IU—a smart, diverse and energized group of students taking on a wide range of projects in the community, original scholarship and research in arts management and policy, and now, with the launch of the Center for Cultural Affairs, engaging in the practice of leadership in the arts.”

New York University’s M.A. in Performing Arts Administration programs, founded in 1971, offers students the opportunity to enroll in short-term (one to two weeks) study-abroad programs, including Emerging Models and Markets for Music in Brazil and Race and Media at NYU London. Students engage with a large number of people passionate about the arts, building and maintaining personal connections and developing a sense of community. Because all required courses are offered in the evening, students have time to complete their two mandatory internships or find work outside of the required coursework.

The latter includes several courses at the Stern School of Business and the Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. “This partnership—among a top music/education school, business school, and a policy school—enables students to experience a wide range of faculty expertise and to engage with students from different academic disciplines,” says program director Richard Maloney. “They can understand business and government leaders because they have been in class with future business and government leaders, yet they also understand artists and arts management through their courses at Steinhardt.”

Roosevelt University in Chicago allows students to complete the M.A. in Performing Arts Administration predominantly online. The program requires two weeks of in-person courses and seminars at its campus in Chicago and offers a two-year, part-time option to allow students to work in the field during their studies. Toward the end of the M.A., which recently celebrated its fifth anniversary, students are assigned a case study and given four weeks to create a written plan of action to address a unique set of challenges. The final course and capstone project presents students with real-world scenarios and the opportunity to hone their skill set within the field. “The program is designed and administered to cultivate the next generation of leaders in the performing arts field,” says program director Ralph Craviso. “As such it affords its alumni a unique opportunity to position themselves for leadership positions in a broad array of performing arts institutions, ranging from symphony orchestras to dance, opera, and theatre. 

Southern Methodist University in Dallas offers a joint 75-hour M.A./MBA in Arts Management. The program combines advanced business courses in accounting, finance, and organizational behavior with small arts administration seminars focusing on fundraising, marketing, and cultural policy. In the fall semester of their second year, students take coursework in Europe’s leading arts and cultural management program at Bocconi University in Milan. Students are also expected to attain full-time internships at Dallas professional arts organizations and others across the U.S. and abroad. “The SMU campus and the city of Dallas is also an asset,” says program chair Alex Turrini. “It’s experiencing a magic and thrilling chance as a vibrant city in the arts thanks to arts district establishment.” 

University of Wisconsin-Madison in Madison established the Bolz Center for Arts Administration in 1969. The Center’s two-year, full-time MBA degree with a major in Arts Administration is one of a few programs based in a business school. “Over the last several years, we’ve seen an increasing realization of the role that the arts and creativity play in developing well-rounded, thoughtful leaders,” says Center director Sherry Wagner-Henry. “The Bolz Center is well positioned to create innovative learning opportunities at the intersection of many disciplines, and it has been my honor to shepherd the growth of the program in this way.”

The program combines business study, hands-on experience, and professional networking opportunities for students. Students take general management courses, as well as a specialized arts administration seminar. In their second year, they complete consulting projects to analyze the accounting, marketing, finance, human resources, and organizational strategies of arts-related organizations.

Yale School of Drama in New Haven, Conn., aims to provide students with the skills they need to enter the field at the highest levels of responsibility through its MFA in Theater Management. Discussions not only include theatre organizations but incorporate other performing arts organizations, nonprofits, and for-profits. The department includes a joint degree program with the Yale School of Management that allows students to earn both MFA and MBA degrees in four years. Students can engage in the management of Yale Repertory Theatre and collaborate with students and faculty from other departments in productions of Yale School of Drama and Yale Cabaret. They are evaluated on their performance in both coursework and professional work assignments. Many also spend one semester of their second year away on a full-time fellowship at another performing arts organization, where they are mentored by that organization’s leaders. 

Students help shape their own curriculum through the university’s unique case study method. “Each theatre management student writes a case study about an arts organization facing a critical management decision,” says department chair Joan Channick. “These case studies are used as teaching material in our own curriculum and are made available to other schools and theatres.”

Many current arts-professionals are also looking to enhance and maintain their knowledge of the field. Several professional development programs are available to provide new perspectives and tips to arts administrators already at work. Here’s a short list:

·         Americans for the Arts (ARTSU).  With webinars, convention sessions, and digital classrooms, ArtsU serves as an online education forum working to expand professional development resources and education for members. The program includes webinars, convention sessions, and digital classrooms. Since its launch in 2015, ArtsU continues to increase programming and hopes to create a new speaker’s bureau, online learning formats, regional workshops, and multimedia research. Some recent webinars include “Ask an Expert: Managing Requests for Monuments and Memorials,” “Advancing the Diversity of Your Board,” and “Setting Ambitious and Creative Goals.”

·         The Kennedy Center.  The Kennedy Center Internship Program is geared toward college juniors and seniors as well as recent graduates. Interns participate in weekly classes on topics like strategic planning, gap analyses, and community engagement, as well as in professional development workshops. The Kennedy Center also offers a fellowship in arts management, in partnership with the Arts Management Program at American University. Fellows work 20 hours a week at the Kennedy Center and are awarded with a $15,000 stipend and six credits of tuition remission per academic year. Fellows also receive intensive training, exposure to executive leadership, and involvement in special projects at the Center.

·         League of Resident Theatres.  LORT is the largest professional theatre association of its kind in the United States, with 75 member theatres located in every major market in the U.S., including 29 states and the District of Columbia. LORT’s semi-annual meetings provide opportunities for members to study, discuss, and exchange information on non-labor management issues such as development, marketing, public relations, education, and technology.

·         National Arts Strategies.  NAS develops education services for artists, cultural entrepreneurs, staff members, board members, and executives in the arts. Through MOOCs (Massively Open Online Courses), its programs unite arts administrators from different roles, facilitate unique conversation, and challenge its members to create chance in their organization. Recent online seminars include “Meaningful Communication,” “Purpose Marketing,” and “Dominant Logic.” As of December 2018, NAS hosts an annual summit to connect arts and culture leaders and program alumni and explore how biases and leadership approaches affect their work.

·         Theatre Communications Group.  TCG holds several annual Theatre Professionals Teleconferences that serve a variety of job categories on a rotating basis. The next two conferences for member theatres will be for education directors and marketing directors. TCG has also created the Rising Leaders of Color cohort of exceptionally talented early-career leaders of color who are advancing their careers in U.S. nonprofit theatre and who demonstrate the potential to positively impact the field. The program includes professional development workshops and networking opportunities, job search training, and one-on-one career counseling with TCG staff. 

[A recent graduate in broadcast journalism from New York University, Sofía Barrell is a production assistant and researcher at NBC News.  She’s written several articles for American Theatre.

[On Thursday, 17 December, I will be posting the last installment of the ROT series, “Arts Administration.”  As I’ve said, that article, “The Case For HR” by Danielle Mohlman, is not formally part of the AT Special Section.  I felt, however, that it belongs in my own series for Rick On Theater, part of my occasional presentation of articles on professions in the arts and culture with which I feel most people are unfamiliar.]

Arts Administration, Article 5

 

[Below is the fourth installment of the American Theatre Special Section on “Approaches To Theatre Training: Arts Administration,” the series that appeared in the TCG magazine’s January 2019 issue (36.1).  ROTters can read the articles in any sequence; however, the first post (2 December) includes AT Editor-in-Chief Rob Weinert-Kendt’s note on the entire series.

[The articles also all appear on the AT website, americantheatre.org, where the series was posted on 2 January 2019. The collection represents my latest entries in my ad hoc series on professions in the fields of theater and culture about which most people outside those fields don’t know a great deal.] 

“THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT: THE NEXT GENERATION OF THEATRE MANAGERS”
by Kelundra Smith 

They’re eager, exacting—and chock full of ideas.

Arts administration is still a relatively new academic field, at least stacked against the history of formal training in the arts. There have always been producers and administrators in and around the arts, of course, but they typically learned to do the job by doing it, or came from other fields. But we’re now a few generations into professionalized management of the theatre, with new graduates poised to change the field by combining enthusiasm for theatre with well-honed business savvy.

There are as many areas of theatre administration as there are types of theatre: production, development, marketing, company management, education, box office, patron services, and more. For students studying arts administration or theatre management at universities in the U.S., getting a taste of every area is critical to their academic experience.

We talked to students who are graduating from various programs around the country in the next two years to ask them why they chose to study theatre administration, what they’re learning, and where their curiosity or passion points them.

Clifton Baker, ’19

A Tuscaloosa native, Baker went to the University of Alabama to study theatre, and his interest in arts management was sparked after taking a class as an undergraduate and working for the Alabama Arts Council. In some ways he followed in his mother’s footsteps—she got her MFA in acting from Alabama in the ’80s, and Baker accompanied her to rehearsals throughout his childhood. He will graduate with an MFA in arts management with the hopes of working in marketing at a large theatre.

What he’s learned so far: “Frequently when arts organizations make decisions, they’re not making them on a whim,” says Baker. “They’ve conducted research, whether it’s census data, interacting with surveys or focus groups—they’re making decisions that are highly informed. It didn’t occur to me until I spent time in this program that research and evidence play such a pivotal role in how our arts organizations function.”

The challenges theatre faces now: “In our venue and event management class, we talked about gathering people in spaces and the safety concerns that come with that. We’ve seen a lot in American culture lately about mass shootings, and it forces us to think about how we can best protect our patrons when they gather for an arts-related event.”

Big idea: “I believe in community building, and I think arts organizations have the ability to help in that endeavor. There’s a legacy of arts managers who do that. I hope to continue that legacy while also utilizing contemporary technology, research, and interaction to help communities flourish, and make communities more livable through arts programs.”

Dóri Bosnyák, ’19

Bosnyák moved to the U.S. from Budapest to study film, theatre, and performance studies at Graceland University in Iowa, where she graduated in 2015. Then she worked for a year in Independence, Kans., to establish a community theatre, which sparked her interest in arts administration. She applied to the Texas Tech University MFA program in arts administration, and has immersed herself in everything from marketing to advising the BurkTech Players student group, which creates autism-friendly performances.

Most valuable educational experiences: “We are required to do four internships, and I have done five,” says Bosnyák. “It has allowed me to make connections in the community. Last year I produced a play at the Lubbock Community Theatre as a fundraiser for the Texas Democratic Women of the South Plains, even though I don’t have a vote. It was wonderful.”

Post-graduation plans: “As an international student, I don’t have the same options as an American student. In an ideal world I’d love to work at a nonprofit theatre company, like Actors Theatre of Louisville; I just love the work they do with the Humana Festival.”

Big idea: “I would be interested in exploring a different kind of funding model for American theatres, because they never know whether a foundation or donor is going to give next year. I see a lot of that here in Lubbock. We had a major donor pass away, and it changed the game in the entire city for every arts organization. I’m always thinking about getting a stronger, more stable stream of income for theatres.”

Mei Li Heman, ’19

Heman was born in New Jersey and grew up in São Paulo, Brazil, where she earned her undergraduate degree in business administration. She then moved to New York City and worked in television production for six years. When she decided to get a graduate degree, she wanted to study something she’d never done before, and the theatre management and producing MFA/MBA program at Columbia University seemed like the right challenge. Heman realized the skills she built as a television producer translated well to theatre production.

Why Columbia: “We’re completely immersed for two years in everything that has to do with theatre management and producing—everything from marketing and budgeting to understanding unions. All of our professors are working in the industry, so there’s a lot of time given to discuss projects they’re working on. We’re asked every day to read certain articles and websites, and we discuss what plays we saw.”

The challenges theatre faces now: “Accessibility. Everyone should be able to appreciate and experience good stories. If I hadn’t been in a graduate program for the past two years, I wouldn’t have known about or been able to afford so much theatre in so little time.”

Big idea: “Recording live performance and making it available on digital platforms can be a valuable marketing tool in the long run. I spoke to someone who works for NT Live, which is the recording branch of the National Theatre, and they’ve been doing it successfully for years. They’ve seen that it doesn’t take away from their audience, it’s just increasing the number of people that are seeing their productions.”

Krissi McEachern, ’20

DePaul University’s arts leadership MFA program accepts only two students each year, and coursework is enhanced by a full-time fellowship with Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Even with steep competition, this was the only school that McEachern applied to after working in accounting for Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis for three years.

Goals for the field: “I’d like to give theatres the tools they need to create the kind of art they want to be making,” says McEachern. “A lot of people who are trained arts administrators tend to be at larger theatres, but I think I could be of service to smaller, less-resourced companies run by an artist who wants to be making their own art, but they’re spending their time doing administrative things. I want to complement someone who is creating art, so I can alleviate the administrative tasks and they can do what they were made to do.

“I would love the opportunity to grow a theatre financially to a larger, sustainable size where we’re employing actors in a way where they can make a living in the arts and also produce work that speaks to the community we’re serving, and allow the community to view arts organizations as a sustainable business that betters the quality of life of the people it’s around.”

Jay Pension, ’20

Pension was introduced to theatre management and producing as a performance major at Salem State University in Salem, Mass. He interned at North Shore Music Theatre, worked at Boston Children’s Theatre, and served as the artistic director of Stage 284 before deciding to apply to graduate school at Florida State University. Upon receiving his MFA in theatre management, Pension would like to work at a large theatre in New York or New England producing musicals or Theatre for Young Audiences.

Lessons so far: “I am nearly halfway through the program and can sincerely say the faculty here have helped changed my perspective on myself and the way I view the world,” Pension enthuses. “They have challenged me to explore and become adaptable in the way I approach problems and work with people. When I complete the MFA, I will be far more prepared to not only produce shows, but effectively engage with those around me as a manager and leader.”

Main focus: “The FSU Theatre Management program advocates a hands-on education. We are challenged to put our learning into practice as we work in our assistantships; managing and leading real offices, in a real business, with real consequences. Even while in grad school, we are able to have a positive impact on the staff in an arts organization. When I complete the program, I am committed to leading by example in a company, with the technical skills and the interpersonal skills I’ve gained in the program.”

Amber H. H. Porter, ’19

Porter earned her bachelor’s degree in theatre from Dartmouth College in 2014 and worked for a playwriting agent before starting the MBA program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The program in the Bolz Center for Arts Administration allows students to take classes with students in other areas of business so they can think about how to apply best practices in a variety of fields in the arts. After graduating she hopes to eventually become a managing director.

Lessons so far: “The Bolz Center has a focus on creative placemaking and talking about how you go into a community, listen to a community’s needs, and take that information to design things that are relevant,” says Porter. “The work we’ve been able to do in that space is applicable to so many things. We also have informal lunch ’n’ learns, which are invaluable, and I facilitated one last year on the theatre’s response to the #MeToo movement.”

Post-graduation plans: “The three theatre companies that I admire the most due to their business models are the Public Theater, Manhattan Theatre Club, and Roundabout Theatre. MTC and Roundabout are able to have full Broadway and Off-Broadway houses, and the way the Public is able to consistently develop musicals that go to Broadway is one way that a theatre can diversify its funding model, because when you’re a part of developing musicals early on, you secure a percentage of what that play goes on to make throughout its life. If I were able to work at one of those powerhouse theatre companies, that would be most rewarding.”

Big idea: “We can’t just be checking the boxes. We can’t say we’ve succeeded because we’ve provided an appropriate percentage of opportunities to women and people of color. These need to be conversations that continue to happen. I get fatigue when I read an article that says, ‘We have succeeded because we had this many [fill in the blank] this year.’”

Lisa D. Richardson, ’19

Richardson didn’t intend to work in theatre. She wanted to become a veterinarian at NASA, and accordingly went to the University of Maryland, College Park, for animal care and management, with a minor in astronomy. But after graduation she found herself spending all her money on theatre tickets, and financing her habit with work in public relations and event management. So she changed careers. After doing a development internship at the Public Theater, Richardson applied to get her MFA in theatre management from Yale University. After she graduates, Richardson intends to go into fundraising and development.

Why development: “I think development is a fascinating part of the industry. It’s not always fun, but it feels like I can make a real difference,” says Richardson. “One thing that stuck with me from my time at the Public is that you can get a million-dollar gift from somewhere that could help someone see their vision actualized in a way that’s really fulfilling.”

The Yale difference: “I was originally going to business school, and Yale is the only non-business program I applied to. The suggestion to apply came from a friend of mine who graduated from the playwriting program in the ’80s. The more I looked into it, the more I realized how similar it was to a business school. We learn by the case study, we have a lot of financial and accounting classes. I feel like a lot of business schools focus on for-profit work, and a lot of the good theatre coming out is coming from the nonprofit world, so this is giving me a base in nonprofit management.”

Big idea: “I would love to be in a world where there are as many developmental programs for writers of musicals as there are for straight plays, and as many places to workshop musicals as there are straight plays. I think it will change how they are perceived in the industry in a wonderful way and if I can help in that, I would be very happy.” 

[Kelundra Smith is an arts journalist based in Atlanta.

[This is the second-to-last entry in AT’s “Arts Administration” Special Section I’m republishing on Rick On Theater.  (The sixth and last article in the ROT collection is, as I indicated, from the same  issue but not formally part of the AT section.)  I’ll be posting the fifth  of the six installments on Monday, 14 December, and I hope readers will return to this blog to finish it up.]

Arts Administration, Article 4

 

[Welcome to the third part of my series of American Theatre articles on “Approaches To Theatre Training: Arts Administration” from the January 2019 issue (36.1) of the Theatre Communications Group magazine.  Stuart Miller’s “Charged With Taking Charge,” below, is entitled “7 Educators On Training For The Future” online, where it was posted on 2 January at americantheatre.org.

[“Arts Administration” is part of my occasional series on Rick On Theater of coverage of theater and arts professions about which I believe many people are unfamiliar.  The seven articles in this collection stand on their own, but the first installment, posted on 2 December, includes Editor-in-Chief Rob Weinert-Kendt’s general introduction to the Special Section of AT.] 

“CHARGED WITH TAKING CHARGE”
by Stuart Miller 

When teaching arts administration, data and tech are important tools to have, but the human connection remains paramount.

In the past decade, the U.S. has undergone rapid changes and experienced tremendous tumult: the devastating impact of the Great Recession, the dangerous acceleration of climate change, meddling in our elections by foreign governments, the rise of a reactionary president who riles up his base via Twitter, the birth of the #MeToo movement.

Many of these shifts—the economic turmoil, the explosive growth of social media, the attention paid to sexual abuse, the dramatic alterations in domestic policy—have also had a tremendous impact on arts organizations. There are other pressing factors as well, from the dwindling of subscriptions at the expense of single-ticket sales to the growth of data analytics.

“Arts and culture are facing pretty serious headwinds,” concedes Zannie Giraud Voss, director of the National Center for Arts Research at Southern Methodist University. “More than half of arts organizations in the country have more constrained working capital than they did four years ago, and half of the arts and cultural centers are seeing attendance decline. Arts and cultural organizations are not really well prepared to weather another recession or economic downturn.” On top of that, adds Voss, “There’s a lot of uncertainty about what’s going to happen to contributions with changes in the tax laws and the constant cuts in federal funding and changes in consumer preferences.”

Voss suggests that the key to survival is gathering information and understanding what it means and how to best deploy it. “Arming arts and cultural leaders with more facts and knowledge can give their organizations more long-term stability,” she says.

It also means equipping a new generation of arts administrators with these tools. To that end American Theatre convened a virtual round table of leaders from a half-dozen graduate programs around the country to discuss these changing times and what they mean for the future of the field. The participants in the conversation are Jessica Bathurst, interim head of the Performing Arts Management Program at Brooklyn College; Joan Channick, chair of the Theater Management Program at Yale University; Kathryn Heidemann, assistant dean of Heinz College and the College of Fine Arts and director of the Master of Arts Management Program at Carnegie Mellon University; Cameron Jackson, executive director, producing artistic director, and director of the theatre management program at Florida State University; Thomas Karr, head of theatre management graduate studies at Wayne State University; Alex Turrini, chair of the Meadows Division of Arts Management and Arts Entrepreneurship at Southern Methodist University; and the aforementioned Zannie Giraud Voss.

STUART MILLER: How has the field of arts management changed over the past 10 years?

ALEX TURRINI: It is more professionalized—you cannot improvise as a manager any longer! The manager should know more about management techniques and tools than in the past. You have to be faster and faster, coping with all the information available.

ZANNIE Giraud VOSS: There’s a growing interest in and appetite for more knowledge about data and what it can do for the field. It’s not field-wide yet, but we’re trying to build a national culture for data-driven decision-making.

KATHRYN HEIDEMANN: Arts didn’t used to exist in the space of Big Data like our corporate colleagues, but it is being integrated everywhere now. There are now repositories of central data for larger field-wide trends, which we haven’t had before. There are more tools available and more consulting companies, and a lot of it has become less expensive. And the field is getting better at telling the story of what’s behind the data.

CAMERON JACKSON: Social media has become such a big player—the question is, how do you analyze it and mine it for things that might help? 

THOMAS KARR: The biggest change is in the technology we use to make our decisions. What I learned in school 20 years ago, in that aspect, is largely obsolete. We have the ability to get deep dives into data and to personalize messaging. It’s so important now; you can forget we didn’t have these tools in the same robust sense even a decade ago. We are able to make smarter decisions. Once we were throwing a really wide net out there and hoping a couple of fish would be caught. Now we’re casting individualized hooks.

JACKSON: Another change is that people want to have a different experience, one that isn’t necessarily as passive, facing in one direction along with everyone else in a dark room, waiting to be entertained.

HEIDEMANN: I’ve never seen as much cross-sector movement within the arts—there’s arts and community development, arts and business, arts and tech. You need to think outside the box. There has also been a lot of cross-pollination and “de-siloing” overall, which informs managerial practices. For instance, there are more collaborations with museums presenting theatre or music or dance. And there’s the “de-siloing” of marketing and development. The ability to collaborate and experiment—and to learn from any mistake—is vital. That willingness to be innovative can build new audiences.

KARR: When I started, marketing had its list, and development had its list, and ne’er the two mixed. There’s still some residue, but we really have seen those barriers come down.

JESSICA BATHURST: One big change is the push for better communication skills and better teamwork—there’s less of a top-down management approach. Another change is the new emphasis on diversity, inclusion, and equity, which is starting to be implemented across the field, though it might be a few years until those programs are fully in place, in terms of hiring and board recruitment and who’s not in the room and who needs to be represented.

Do these changes translate into a difference in what the audience sees, or just how the organizations are run?

BATHURST: In terms of diversity, inclusion, and equity, it will change what you see on the stage, because the people making the decisions will have a broader outlook.

TURRINI: What is changing are not the artistic decisions but the ancillary services, the space in arts venues devoted to different types of experience around the performance, including even those not connected to the show. It’s about delivering an overall experience to the audience.

HEIDEMANN: There are so many ways audience members can develop a relationship with the company; the artistic process is now part of audience consumption before, during, and well after the performance, so the process is no longer mysterious. Artists have warmed up to that.

JOAN CHANNICK: As theatres become more participatory and more responsive, we think about our physical spaces and about the audience and how they connect with you. We are thinking much more holistically about the relationship, which is a catalyst for discussions within the communities, as theatres make a real effort to become more central to community.

JACKSON: Part of that engagement in the community has meant that devised theatre has started to be a little less fringe, a little more mainstream.

What tools does someone in arts management need to thrive in this era?

CHANNICK: We are training people to be leaders, so the curriculum is not unlike curriculum in business school, albeit through the lens of theatre—you must be able to plan and execute those plans, and that means you need communication skills and political skills. You need to be flexible and adaptable.

BATHURST: You must have the ability to talk to people, to make a plan, and work together as a team.

KARR: You must be able to adapt, to make decisions based on new information on almost an hourly basis.

VOSS: It’s not that everyone who works in arts and culture should be a data analyst—just like not everyone should be a lighting designer—but even people who are not into doing analysis themselves must know what stories the numbers are telling. That’s how you understand your current situation and make better decisions. It’s not about numbers for numbers’ sake, and you should not base all of your decisions only on data; there are qualitative issues and expertise and intangibles. But data should be an important element that helps you understand what is going on.

HEIDEMANN: You need a passion for the arts and for the mission. You have to love it, but that alone won’t enable you to run an arts organization. Even a phenomenal visionary must at end of day raise money and market programs and balance books. So strong business   acumen and quantitative management skills are important tools now. But then emotional intelligence—empathy, asking questions, being humble, being curious—is also critical, especially in leadership. You can have those other skills, but you may not get things done (or even get the job) if you have shortcomings in emotional intelligence.

JACKSON: The umbrella that all these things fit under would be nimbleness—everything is going to change, and once you learn these rules, tomorrow’s rules might be different.

How has your program evolved to keep up with the changing times?

CHANNICK: We’re trying to get away from the old-fashioned anecdotal style of teaching and into something more structured, more disciplined, and more intellectually challenging. War stories are helpful to illustrate a point, but our teaching has become more rigorous. In the last decade we have largely adopted the case-study method of teaching—looking at complex real-life examples as a way to acquire lot of experience in a brief period of time. It’s not passive learning, so you’re not just sitting and listening to lectures. But we found a dearth of cases specifically about the arts and nonprofits, so we have been generating our own case studies—every student here researches and writes their own case study. We now even license these cases to other universities.

VOSS: Data analytics is increasingly part of the curriculum—looking at box-office data and patron data to see how you can better understand your audiences, your pricing, and customer behavior. So increasingly the next generation of arts leaders has these capabilities and is bringing them into arts organizations.

TURRINI: We are focusing attention on reading the data, then making decisions on the basis of evidence you can gather from different sources. Data arts is a major initiative.

KARR: We now have a course on data-driven decision-making for the arts, where students learn how to extract and analyze data. Those tools are also used in the other classes to help them make hard decisions.

HEIDEMANN: We started doing data back when “data” was a bad word. Now we also like them to do cross-disciplinary learning, not just taking theatre classes but also taking, say, one in museum management, to make you think differently. We pay a lot of attention to what our alumni are doing, and we are seeing job titles that we’ve never seen—“visitor experience manager,”  or “audience engagement manager.”

JACKSON: What used to be soft skills have also been foregrounded.

BATHURST: We are working with professors to figure out how to be more intentional about it, to emphasize how to collaborate. Sometimes it is using more team projects, sometimes it’s having students working through improvisation—not straight-up acting, but using those techniques to work through role-playing situations.

KARR: I restructured students’ practical work so when they are working on teams, they are now constantly switching out partners. We want them to have that experience of working with somebody new who may have a very different opinion. It has proven to be really powerful. Students say, “I thought I had the answer, but I realized I had an answer.” There are other ways to do things and ours aren’t always the smartest.

JACKSON: We want to improve our understanding, our own blind spots and prejudices, not just in terms of #MeToo and sexual harassment but gender, not being binary, and all these issues you now need a sensitivity to. This is threaded throughout courses, not compartmentalized.

KARR: We are redeveloping curriculum for 2020 with some courses to better serve the students on topics like legal and ethical issues in the arts.

CHANNICK: We’re trying to introduce a greater multiplicity of voices on the faculty—the changing demographics of our field demands that. We have a very diverse student body, but our faculty has been less diverse, so that is one of my big priorities. Some courses now have multiple teachers so students are not just hearing one person’s perspective. We have also built beyond full-semester courses with an extensive array of half-day workshops that can be a single session or series of up to four. These mini-courses allow us to teach subject matter that maybe doesn’t warrant a full semester yet needs to be in the curriculum. It is also a way to bring in lots of additional faculty members to diversify our department.

Since social media is so vital now, has your program adapted to incorporate it into the curriculum?

BATHURST: Social media marks the biggest change in marketing. It didn’t exist not that long ago, then it did exist but was totally free. Now there are things you have to pay for. So in our marketing class we now teach how you maximize it, but also we teach that it is a tool with all the other marketing strategies you have—it’s not a replacement for, it’s an add on to.

HEIDEMANN: I’m learning from our students. It’s interesting to watch how they interact with arts organizations. Social media continues to evolve: Four years ago we talked a lot about Twitter, now we are not talking about Twitter quite as much. Facebook is still relevant, but now it’s Instagram and Snapchat. The trends are constantly changing.

KARR: What social media has allowed us to do is become better listeners—we are getting immediate feedback about our work, so we can make decisions quickly on the fly that we couldn’t before. Our students are also using it as a tool to network among their peers, having conversations with graduate students or young professionals in other states, asking advice when they find people who may be facing the same issues.

JACKSON: These topics absolutely must be part of their education and their experience in hands-on training. It could be looking at building an app for an organization and learning how to keep up with it—the technology itself becomes part of the education. As more things are consumed on the phone, our students must adjust: They might shoot a trailer to promote an upcoming show, because people like that (they relate it to the movies), but they must learn what will look best on the mobile device in their hand rather than on the giant monitors we have when we’re editing it, in terms of colors, cinematography. Arts managers didn’t used to have to worry about things like that.

What about the role data analytics plays in your program and how that is changing?

JACKSON: It has been foregrounded in the marketing classes—it’s not just an add-on. It’s not only a bigger part of marketing but also of community engagement. We teach how you might mine data for free and what more you get if you can pay for it. But the bigger part of it is: Now that you have it, what do you make of it? What does it mean for the show or organization? They need to learn to make it into a tool rather than just a report. You might have a segment of your audience that wants to be marketed to a certain way, so you can really customize it—if there are 500 people and we know how each one would prefer things, then we can group them together to disseminate information and engage with them on their preferred platform.

BATHURST: But we are also making the need for communication of the ideas explicit. Ideally what you want is someone who has as much facility talking to a person as dealing with all that data, but people are going to have their strengths and weaknesses, so you have to emphasize both.

HEIDEMANN: At Carnegie Mellon we always had core courses of statistical methods and advanced data analytics, but what has changed is that we’ve integrated the data more in our marketing and development classes. Still, human interaction is really important. We teach that not only in our negotiation course but by taking students to conferences and networking events and by holding mock interviews and mock solicitations. Today’s students need more guidance about talking to strangers and learning to find common ground in a way that’s authentic. You can’t just send a text and hope people will donate.

CHANNICK: That is a weakness for us. I don’t think we do enough to emphasize quantitative skills and ata analytics. We need to be writing more case studies that require data analytics. Our workshops are a good way to test this, and maybe then we will develop something into a full course. We’re not sure yet.

There has been a lot of attention focused on #MeToo, gender identity, and equity, diversity, and inclusion. It has started to change the field. Are you addressing those issues in your program in a way that you weren’t three or four years ago?

BATHURST: These issues do get addressed in the classroom, and we are looking at how organizations can and should handle them, but we are going to have to think about how to have them put more explicitly into the curriculum.

JACKSON: These issues must be inextricably bound in all the things we’re talking about in courses—season selection, marketing, engagement. If we’re doing Taming of the Shrew, is it seen as misogynistic? We’ve had people say you couldn’t do South Pacific because it’s teaching racism. We must prepare for the conversations to start to take place, so you’re not having a reactionary response.

KARR: Students understand the conflicts and the concern, but the marketing person may have a different viewpoint from the artistic side, and they need to learn to say, “There’s going to be backlash if you’re not prepared for it!” The students have to be prepared to address the questions the public is going to have.

CHANNICK: We’ve been trying to raise awareness of and to prevent sexual misconduct more in recent years, to create an environment where it’s reported more often so people know where to go and what kind of help is available. We’ve also been offering bystander intervention training for several years, so people can defuse situations in a low-key way. #MeToo has certainly been a wake-up to our field. Our students feel angry and betrayed by institutions that turn out to be condoning bad behavior. They are determined to do better when they are in charge.

On equity, diversity, and inclusion, we’ve been working for three years to provide training for our students, faculty, and staff, including three lengthy workshops. It’s part of the fundamental training. We are trying to create a truly inclusive environment here. If our students bring these practices out with them, they can influence the field. So we are trying to equip them to create more equitable and safe institutions, and we hope to make our training and our environment here a model. 

[New York City-based journalist Stuart Miller writes regularly for American Theatre.

[The series on ROT is half over now.  I hope you will all come back on Friday, 11 December, for the fourth installment and every three days after that for the two remaining parts of “Arts Administration.”  I also hope the series has been informative and has helped you understand how valuable, even indispensable, the work of arts managers and arts administrators is to cultural institutions.]

Arts Administration, Article 3

 

[This is the second installment on Rick On Theater of the American Theatre Special Section on “Approaches To Theatre Training: Arts Administration” from the January 2019 issue (36.1).  The first post in this series, published  on Wednesday, 2 December, consists of two articles, including AT Editor-in-Chief Rob Weinert-Kendt’s general introduction to the series. 

[The seven articles making up this collection on ROT each stands on its own, but it would be a good idea to go back to the first installment to read Weinert-Kendt’s “Editor’s Note.”  “Arts Administration” represents the latest entry in my occasional series on arts and cultural professions which I deem unfamiliar to most readers of this blog.] 

“MAKE IT WORK”
by Theresa J. Beckhusen 

Theatre administrators don’t make art—they just make art possible.

Though I’d taken an administration class as a part of my theatre major in college, it wasn’t until I was at my desk at D.C.’s Shakespeare Theatre Company as a newly minted artistic fellow that the day-to-day work of administration really hit home. Reconciling American Express statements, organizing headshot archives and audition notes, scheduling travel and hotel stays, nights at rehearsals checking sight lines—all important work, but not especially glamorous.

Then I’d have days where the dramaturg and I would read through a draft of a commissioned play, making notes about its structure, characters, voice, and pace. Or I’d sign in actors as they came to auditions, learning a little more about their lives. I saw run-throughs before many other people did, relishing small changes the actors and designers incorporated along the way to make the production the best it could be.

Administration is made up of tasks that are sometimes tedious and sometimes wonderful, but always necessary. Scanning pages and sealing envelopes aren’t the most exciting things in the world, but they have to be done. They ultimately serve the art.

Hallie Martenson, director of development and communications at Pig Iron Theatre Company in Philadelphia, reminds herself of this all the time. Her father, once the executive director of the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, would say: “We are theatre people first. Managers second.” She says it’s become her mantra.

Not every theatre administrator comes from a theatre family like she did. There are as many paths to working in theatre administration as there are administrative titles. You don’t need a degree (unless you want one). For the admins who contributed to this article, the common denominators were passion and meaning. They really want to believe in their work. For some, theatre is a lifelong passion. Others came to it later and found the meaning they didn’t even know they were seeking.

The theatre admins below share their careers paths, advice, and why they love the work they do.

Angelina Gurule
Marketing Coordinator,
Su Teatro Cultural and Peforming Arts Center in Denver

“The day I gave my notice at my super corporate job was the day Su Teatro posted the marketing coordinator position,” says Gurule. “It was time for me to start looking into jobs that I actually had an interest in. I knew I would be with a community that would support me and wanted me to be successful and understood that I also wanted to give back to my community.” 

At the time of writing, Gurule had been in her position with Su Teatro for just about four months. But Gurule’s relationship with the theatre goes back much further: She’d been an actor and singer with them for about seven years. She said that Su Teatro’s mission—promoting, producing, developing, and preserving the cultural arts, heritage, and traditions of the Chicanx/Latinx community, and establishing respect and avenues for cultures to come together—is what really galvanized her to move out of the corporate world.

Though she hadn’t worked in theatre administration before, her education and experience suited her to tackle the position of marketing coordinator. Gurule had studied communications at the undergrad level and worked in digital marketing for 10 years. All of that work made her realize, she says, that it was “time for me to do something I was actually passionate about.” Now Gurule is working toward a Masters in Arts, Communication & Leadership at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash., and is even thinking about one day teaching communications at the college level.

To those who hope to work in theatre administration, Gurule says, “Not everyone understands your work, but hopefully they will appreciate it.” 

Garrett Kim
Program Director,
52nd Street Project in New York City

“There are lots of different ways to make a life in theatre!” effuses Kim. “There are lots of different paths, and everybody’s is different.” Kim himself studied theatre at Fordham University, concentrating on playwriting and directing, but says he learned everything about his role as program director while on the job. Kim had interned with 52nd Street Project, among other places, before taking on his current position, a role that surprised him in some ways.

“I had always known that I wanted to work in theatre education to earn a living while I pursued my own artistic career,” he explains. “I imagined this would take the form of being a teaching artist, but it turns out I’m well-suited to the full-time work of being on staff at a nonprofit, community-based, educational theatre company like the Project.”

At the Project, which focuses on creating new plays for, and sometimes by, kids in Hell’s Kitchen between the ages of 9 and 18, Kim tackles a variety of tasks every day. One day he might be interviewing prospective teaching artists, attending tech rehearsals, and “responding to a bajillion emails.” On another day he might update contact information, create curricula, or support teaching artists in the Project’s workshops for young people. “The variety of the day-to-day keeps me on my toes, and it’s one of the reasons I really love my job,” he says.

Kim is also working on balancing his job with his own artistic ambitions, heeding advice he’s received about the importance of work-life balance. “Just one more email can turn into 45 more minutes at the office, or working through your lunch break,” he notes. “But I’ve noticed how much happier I am and how much better I’m able to do my job when I take the time and space I need to take care of myself.” 

Alix Kolar
Finance and HR Manager,
Portland Playhouse in Portland, Ore.

Kolar came to Portland Playhouse with a robust administrative skill set learned and honed at previous jobs in arts nonprofits. Learning on the job was possible because they had “mentors who were available to me for questions and guidance,” Kolar says. “I started out doing admin and program support, and over time I professionally developed into also taking on facilities, IT, and bookkeeping/finance.”

Kolar’s passion for the arts stems from a “specific interest in music and performance with a commitment to creating a space for cultural work coming from marginalized communities (queer/trans, POC).” When they moved to Portland and were seeking a job, they felt the Playhouse’s mission of quality performance and of theatre as a space for all people to come together to celebrate the complexity of shared human experience was a great fit.

Once at the Playhouse, Kolar started doing bookkeeping—and extended the same service to other arts nonprofits around town. But they later moved into an “expanded finance role” after a few years of getting to know the people and daily operations.

Looking ahead, Kolar plans to stay close to nonprofits focused on social justice and to stay up to date on best practices in the nonprofit finance world. For hopeful admins out there, they recommend that folks “keep the bigger goal of helping to put great work into the world in the back of your mind while you’re doing the day-to-day work. Think about who you’re not reaching, and figure out how to reach them. Make sure to take the time to enjoy the art that you’re helping to support.” 

Amy Lacy
Director of Publications,
Dallas Theater Center

“Previously in my career I was a partner/art director in a small ad agency,” says Lacy. “Many of our clients were corporate or industrial. Good work, but sort of cog-in-the-machine. I knew I wanted to spend my talents, skills, and time in a way that was more meaningful to me, and in a way that could improve people’s lives mentally or spiritually. When an opportunity presented itself at Dallas Theater Center, I pursued it relentlessly until it was mine.”

That was 18 years ago. Since then Lacy has settled into her role as DTC’s director of publications, which she described as “a lovely hybrid of art and function.” That search for meaningful work has paid off. “Though through my own personal experience I could already speak to the importance of the arts, my time here has shown me so many incredible, potent ways that art can (and does) make an impact,” she says.

She’s seen productions about difficult and complex topics that inspire dialogue among audience members. She’s thrilled by Project Discovery, DTC’s program that gives high school students a chance to explore theatre, free of charge. “People from all parts of our community are galvanized to form partnerships that never would have existed had they not been so moved by a moment at our theatre,” Lacy said. “Powerful, good magic happens here.”

Lacy’s love for the arts goes back further than her time at DTC. “As long as I can remember I’ve had an intense love for the arts, a passion that is truly in my blood,” she says. Growing up, her father often played his guitar, and the family would sing along together. Lacy also spent a lot of time with her uncle, a visual artist.

Given the ephemeral nature of theatre work, Lacy continually pushes herself to grow and keep learning. “Working at that pace makes repeatable processes attractive but not necessarily beneficial,” she explains. “You have to remember that stasis is death, and keep pushing to learn new ways of doing things.” 

Hallie Martenson
Director of Development and Communications,
Pig Iron Theatre Company in Philadelphia

“We’re not saving babies,” Martenson concedes. Not the answer you might expect when you ask for the best piece of advice she’s ever received. “It sounds flippant, but it’s something that’s easy to forget,” she goes on. “It’s a stressful field to be in.” Martenson is sensitive to the issue of burnout, of committing yourself so completely to a production—treating it like a baby, she said—that you forget everything else. She knows because she’s been there. 

After college Martenson joined AmeriCorps, and was then hired full-time at a youth development nonprofit. At the same time she and her friends were running a theatre company. “I loved every second of it, and also loved my day job, but it was killing me,” she recalls. “I was directing a production of Urinetown in a found warehouse space at night while working full-time with screaming fifth graders during the day. I was soaking my blistered feet, working on marketing copy at 1 a.m., and it hit me—something’s got to give. And the idea of giving up theatre didn’t even feel like an option. 

She decided to pursue an M.A. in theatre with a dual degree in nonprofit management at Villanova University.

“I was attracted to the Villanova program because it allowed me to keep doing it all,” she says. “I wanted to be a leader and learn the ins and outs of running a nonprofit theatre, but I also wanted to continue to act, direct, and pursue academic inquiries. That degree has been very useful in a city like Philadelphia that values a well-rounded theatre professional.” The program equipped her and sharpened her skills in dramaturgy, acting, budgeting, and fundraising strategies. “I think I have a clear, full picture of what theatremaking is and what it involves, and that’s been a big benefit to my career.”

After graduating, Martenson became communications director at FringeArts, which produces Philadelphia’s Fringe Festival. While she learned a ton and forged a lot of relationships, the pace and scope of the work was at times “kind of like being dropped into the ocean from a helicopter.” She was thrilled when the position opened at Pig Iron, as she loves contemporary, devised work.

Her time at Villanova prepared her to tackle everything on her plate at Pig Iron, where she manages the company’s brand and communications as well as institutional and individual fundraising. She writes grants and press releases, maintains the website, stewards donors, and produces the annual benefit. “M.A.s in theatre are rare in this country,” says Martenson. “But I’m so happy that I never pigeonholed myself into a single track. I feel like I have the tools I need to hold my own in just about any position in the theatre.”

Ultimately Martenson wants to be “a theatre enabler,” eliminating obstacles artists encounter so they can focus on their work. To that end she hopes to run a theatre sometime in the future, likely applying the same advice she offers to one-day theatre admins: “Know the work. Spend time in the rehearsal room. Go see plays. Talk to artists. Make art on your own. Do everything you can to dissolve the imaginary boundary between artist and administrator. Believe that you are an artist and visionary too, and keep believing it even if no one else does.” 

Randy D. Pease
Director of Education,
Indiana Repertory Theatre in Indianapolis

Randy Pease describes his journey to his current role as “a circuitous path.” He started out as an actor and producer in Louisville, but when he and his wife moved to Indianapolis, he found a day job in an elementary school—something steady while he looked for acting work. “After about 18 months, I realized I had stopped looking for gigs and was completely fulfilled in the classroom,” Pease says. He threw himself into teaching full-time and joined Teach for America, eventually working in teacher leadership development.

But theatre wasn’t out of the picture. One summer, Pease worked at IRT’s Summer Conservatory for Youth. “I had an incredible experience, and made sure that Janet Allen, our artistic director, knew it,” he recalls. When his current position opened, Allen emailed Pease directly to invite him in for an interview.

“Once I had left performing behind, my career aspirations were focused completely toward teaching and educational leadership,” he explains. “It wasn’t until this specific role came onto my radar that I understood there was a fit for me in the world of administration. 

But Pease wasn’t coming in green. He had a B.A. in Theatre and Communications from Indiana University-Southeast, and an M.A. in teaching from Marian University under his belt. He had also racked up admin experience in his previous theatre and teaching jobs. Managing productions and teams of teachers prepared him to handle the nearly 40,000 students who come through IRT’s doors every year for the student matinee program. When it’s A Christmas Carol season, Pease manages 1,300 students a day throughout the run.

On tap for the season ahead is an increased commitment to increasing the accessibility of IRT’s work, both through reaching students in low-income communities and those with disabilities. After piloting a sensory-friendly performance of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Simon Stephens last year, IRT is offering three sensory-friendly performances this year.

“I consider what we do as administrators to be exciting, if a little unglamorous,” Pease says. “We sometimes forget that even we are part of ‘the magic of theatre’!” 

[Theresa J. Beckhusen, a writer and editor based in the Twin Cities, is a frequent contributor to American Theatre magazine. 

[This series includes six installments; I’m posting them on ROT at three-day intervals.  I hope readers will come back on Tuesday, 8 December, to catch the third part of “Arts Administration.”  (Theresa J. Beckhusen’s article above was also published on the AT website, americantheatre.org, on 2 January 2019.)]