"Major leadership changes" - Our readers respond

Last week Playlist published one of the most buzzed-about articles in our history, C. Andrew Mayer’s Major Leadership Changes Are Coming. The piece served as both an excellent history of Twin Cities theater – I, for one, learned a ton about why our theater scene is what it is – and a conversation starter about artistic transitions across generations. We’ve compiled some of the most engaging feedback from various comments sections, both on Playlist and Facebook. Take a look at what’s been said and feel free to keep the discussion rolling by adding some commentary of your own. - Ira Brooker Great mull, CAM. I do, of course, have some opinions. I'd like to think that Gen X is completely up to the task. I'm pretty certain that our nomadic habits are simply the product of the fact that the Boomers' hold on the power is, well, has been, iron-fisted. I've never seen higher castle walls than I saw in Minneapolis, except maybe NYC, but you guys hear that all the time and I'm pretty sure you're sick of hearing stuff like that. Simple economics indicate that if you can't get in the door at this castle, there's another one a county or two over where you might make a little professional headway. That said, I truly believe that as the successions of leadership take place, the thrones will fill with whoever really is next in line, and as I see it, the Boomers are, well, have been, grooming Xers for this. The Millennials are still cutting their teeth, so to speak, which is not to say they wouldn't be great, it's just that succession doesn't really roll with that model often. As far as throwing the old man a gig once in a while, absolutely. But while you're throwing the old guy a gig, remember to throw the really young one a gig, too. Because that is where the future really is. Those kids yukking it up at Fringe? They'll soon be throwing me and you (well, probably just you) the odd gig. Start your garden today... - Charlie Bethel Great piece, Andy. How things change. Sometimes drastically. Who would have thought, waaaaay back when, that The Children's Theatre would go on and on without John. Some have total direction change – Chimera morphing into The History Theatre. But some couldn't – Cricket, for example. A lot depends on a strong board, and being able to establish artistic and managing director positions. And then using other directors. Curious to see what does happen to, say, Park Square or Mixed Blood as the years continue. The Playwrights Lab changed dramatically from the ‘70s to the ‘90s to now, for example. Dudley Riggs managed an ownership change that is working. How will The Old Log handle a new direction, perhaps? And that theater alone is such a unique story of two solid generations producing solid successful theater. So many groups today just can't handle 12 months of rent, plus the necessary expenses of putting in a grid and managing the facility, especially without grants. The Twin Cities have always been vibrant theatrically. I remember fondly the numerous companies of the ‘70s: Theatre 1900, At The Foot of The Mountain, Firehouse, Ensemble, two Jewish Community Centers, Edyth Bush Theatre, Actors Theatre, Out and About, Storytalers, Stagecoach Playhouse, Showboat. Strong community theaters in places like Brooklyn Center and Wayzata. (Lakeshore Players continue to be very strong in White Bear, but it is a theater in drastic need of a new space). Other communities have popped up, to limited success. Bloomington going strong, Phipps, Lakeville, Anoka... St. Cloud drawing actors from the Twin Cities. What I have also seemed to notice is that there were very public theater programs at the University of Minnesota, Hamline, Augsburg, Macalester and Bethel – yet I can think of few shows at area institutions that seem to pull anyone these days to come and see on a regular basis, or out of their student and alumni base. A lot of that is change in who is in charge and overall budget and direction. - Joel Thingvall Yep... this is my life. Rick Coleman and I run one of the "far flung" theaters, the Old Gem. Most consider us outside of the Twin Cities because we are in Wisconsin, but just barely. The artists we hire are primarily from the Twin Cities. The Old Gem is my day job, an O/O situation as described in the article. In our "spare time" Rick and I operate Green T Productions, a 14 year old Minneapolis-based theater company. It's a challenging, maddening, sometimes soul-crushing struggle to keep 2 boats afloat, but oh so worth it. Thanks for the insightful article. - Kathy Welch The succession problem is huge - for any founder-driven endeavor. Interestingly, independent bookstores and magazines are running into precisely the same issues now that their Boomer founders are retiring. - Susannah McNeely Schouweiler Well-written article - I do wonder how many of the smaller companies that have started in the last decade will move up, and how many (if any) will have company members leave to work at some of these larger, longer established companies. I think the next decade will be filled with a lot of opportunity for movement and growth within the local theatre community. - Brian O’Neal Educated guess: The pent-up energy and talent of the Millennials will generally eat Gen X's lunch. For a while, the all-round jockeying for competitive advantage will be as engaging to watch as what goes on stages. - Gary Peterson Is there something so specific about theaters that we can't widen out and say that there are already quite a few Gen X leaders in this arts community - and ones that have successfully taken the reins from founders or other Boomer leaders? Just off the very top of my head: Theresa Sweetland, Kathy Mouacheapao, Leah Cooper, Robin Gillette, Sarah Millfelt, Jeremy Cohen, and me and you [Damon Runnals]! - Laura Zabel A minor point: Lakeshore Players, though not on the same level as TRP, has been giving actors and other folks opportunities since 1953. Your larger point is worth thinking about, not just for artists and theaters, but for Boards, too. The pressures to become institutionalized go along with the demand for funding, and big funding tends to play it safe. That means adventurous theaters face expectations (to be good managers and responsible users of resources) that may not go along with artistic experimentation and risk. This is not simply a generational issue. It relates to the sources of money and how they think. The big institution satisfies these expectations by being showy but safe. The smaller institution must scramble, and scrambling for support wears out artistic types. When we searched for a new producing artistic director at The Playwrights' Center, we were advised not to hire a director because a director will want to direct somewhere—and that's not the job at our writer-focused institution. However, with Jeremy Cohen we've found that choosing someone who is interacting with the theater world in a different way is precisely what our playwrights need. My point here is that Boards, too, need to be open to new ways of thinking and different approaches to carrying out the mission of the organization. We can't manage new generations in old ways if we want theater to reflect the world we're in. - Charlie Quimby Great article Andy. I proposed, a few years ago, that all of the boomer artistic directors agree to retire on the same day so that the world could study the end of an era and the beginning of the next. Rick Shiomi, perhaps justly, laughed in my face and others had a two word response. That seismic shift is coming soon and may have already come. I do believe that theatres often get in the way of theatre and that plays can get in the way of programming. The O/O model you coined is already just one option in a pool of many. Whether or not there is going to be a change in leadership, there is going to be a change in the field that is dramatic and unavoidable. Audience behavior and technology will constantly insist on it. May already have. I think it's secondary to look at artistic directors when discussing the future leadership of these non-profits. It's board leadership that should get our attention. Not simply board membership, but board leadership will pave the route for the future and it is board leaders who ultimately have the most influence on selecting new staff leaders (who report to the board). To most, board leaders are disembodied names in a program, but fixing one's attention on board leaders, while harder and more of a moving target, will accomplish more in shaping a vision for the future. Good board leaders don't let missions and visions and core values become antiquated, but insist that staff and board constantly be introspective and contextualize the strategic aim of the organization, whatever its size may be and no matter the age of its Executive Director. Outsiders and insiders have long defined theatres by size – of budget, of seating capacity, of year-round staff, etc. Large theatres, mid-sized theatres, and small theatres capture the vernacular. Some theatres are artistically bankrupt but with full coffers and others vice versa. I have long been on a soapbox to look at right-sized theatres: those doing what they want to be doing at the level and quality they want to be doing it with the resources that they have. Those are the theatres that, by maintaining that spirit, should be around when today's millennials are the age of today's boomers. If the Twin Cities' founding artistic directors don't consider a key part of our jobs to be ushering in the next generations of theatre leaders, we are failing. Our theatre world (and the non-profit universe in general) has already changed. Adaptability is the new sustainability. We're shifting from move-slowly-and-be-risk-averse to move swiftly and embrace (and capitalize) risk. The future isn't waiting for some baby boomers to collect social security. The future is already upon us and many people of many ages can lead organizations to greatness right now. We should all be challenged and even threatened to be at our best at all times, not to create a Darwinism, but to succeed at what Ben Cameron calls successful coopetition, a circumstance in which everybody wins - artists, audiences, staffs, boards, missions, communities, and more. - Jack Reuler, Mixed Blood Artistic Director