How and why oh why does an actor become an artistic director?

How and why oh why does an actor become an artistic director?

When I decided I wanted to be an actor I never thought I would become an artistic director. Actually, I never thought I would become a director either, but at least that’s a career most actors dabble in at least once in their lives. When I began my training at the National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts, I had big ambitions that didn’t involve standing on the producer’s side of the aisle, trying to both write and find excellent material, balance a budget and fill seats. Fast forward seven years to 2008 and I am artistic director for the New Plays for Young Audiences series at Charter Theater. I just wanted to be on Broadway.

Looking back I can now see how I got to where I am – and I couldn’t be happier. This blog is a reflection on how a career evolves. After completing the advanced acting program at the Conservatory I attended the United Professional Theatre auditions in Memphis and left a month later for a national tour of Tom Sawyer the Musical with American Family Theatre. I had the very good fortune of working with some extremely talented artists, and we traveled to 28 states (I got to see almost our whole great country!) and performed for four months for audiences ranging from one hundred to four thousand screaming and excitable children, and somewhere along the way, I began to develop an extreme attachment to theater for young audiences (TYA.) While my sights were set on the great White Way – I was beginning to get really interested and excited about theatre for kids. After working for American Family Theatre I began an 8 month stint at Wayside Theater in Middletown VA, where I performed in four plays for young audiences (fourteen in total) and began to study the TYA style and what opportunities would be available in that market once I returned to home to Washington, DC.

What I learned from my research was that DC, a metro area that serves almost 1 million families, had only two truly professional theaters that served children; Imagination Stage, in Bethesda MD, which is one of the finest theaters in the country, and Adventure Theater in Glen Echo Park MD. My research showed me that there was room in the DC market for more theatre for young audiences and I wanted to help bring more of that to the city! So, with the help of my best friend and mentor Nan Ficca, I decided to dive into creating a theater that would combine all of the things I loved about bringing the experience of live theatre to a new generation of young people. Charter Theatre – a company dedicated to the development of new works for the stage was looking for someone who could help them start up a TYA program, so, along with Nan I did. Suddenly – I was the artistic director of Charter Theatre’s New Plays for Young Audiences Series. We’re now coming to the end of our third season, and I’ve budgeted, planned, written, performed and/or directed 7 shows, and I know now that theatre for youth is passion that will continue to be a focal point of my career as an artist.

I also realized that it was my training at the Conservatory truly prepared me to be able to jump into the role of Artistic Director of a theatre company. In addition to the regular class schedule in acting, I had seminars in directing, producing, lighting design, and more and as a member of the advanced program ensemble I was engaged in all aspects of putting a project together including marketing, front of house and box office, props, sets, lights, props, costumes – literally everything – so I had not only an understanding – but actual practical experience in each of these areas. The boss should fully understand and be able to do everything he or she expects their staff to do – and I did. And in most cases it is I and Nan with the help of Conservatory alumni and students filling all of these functions for our fledgling company. And that is the really cool part – I DO know how to do all of these things. And even cooler is that taking on this project has created an opportunity for other conservatory students and alum to get involved and continue to learn to be producers and explore the many, many exciting aspects of putting it all together for an audience.

To sum up – I never imagined I’d be an artistic director – and here I am and I couldn’t be happier. In future blogs – I’ll be talking more about Theatre for Young Audiences –it’s not only super fun and fulfilling but also vital to the future of young people who are in schools where the first budget cut that happens in hard financial times is arts instruction. I look forward to your questions and input let’s talk TYA!

If you are interested in TYA – please come see our current production of Princess Peanut’s Rainy Day which runs Saturday and Sunday at 1:00 through May 24^th. All the detail stuff you can find at our web site: here. And let us know what you think about the show – AND what any young people you bring to the show think – input from the audience is always welcome. You can check out our OurKids.com review from opening weekend here.

And if you are interested in seeing the things I’ve been able to do as a part of this endeavor, I’ve linked to some of my reviews below.
Doug directed “Princess Peanuts Rainy Day” (even though the review says someone else did).

Doug wrote and performed in “The Prince and Troubadour”

Doug directed “The Chicken of the Family”