I spend my days thinking about directors and choreographers. Lately, I’ve been gratified to find more and more rooms I am invited into where there is a renewed acknowledgment of the role of the director and a desire to build support for these central artists. Along with the work of our own SDC Foundation, Jim Nicola at New York Theatre Workshop has been gathering colleagues to try to understand what directors need; Philip Himberg at Sundance has committed to renewal for mid-career directors; Susan Booth of the Alliance Theatre is doing some important work with Liz Diamond exploring how we can better launch directors; Wendy Goldberg and the O’Neill have established the National Directors Fellowship; Anne Kauffman and Ken Rus Schmoll at Clubbed Thumb have created a directing fellowship focused on new work; and there are others.
I have noticed growing recognition that what a director does within any given production process to transform the written word into the theatrical event often translates into transformative leadership beyond the rehearsal hall. I hear people wondering about what might be possible if we put some coordinated resources behind directors. If you haven’tread your January issue of American Theatre magazine, you must. Everyone at SDC sends our gratitude to TCG and American Theatre for committing the time, space, and expertise to shining a spotlight on directors. Just yesterday I was invited to participate in a convening of directors, public and private funders, and service organizations to spend time evaluating programs and the need for additional opportunities for emerging directors and choreographers on their all-too-dimly-lit career paths. Daniella Topol and Davis McCallum, with NYSCA, called the gathering together. It was a thoughtful, complex discussion. It felt like part of a bigger shift taking place.
As I write, I’m on my way to Chicago for a Membership meeting hosted by Henry Wishcamper at the Goodman Theatre. I am eager to say hello, share some news from headquarters, and listen. Executive Board Member Lonny Price is joining me for what we anticipate will be a dynamic meeting with a strong turnout. SDC is at an exciting and critical juncture as our organizing efforts strengthen, artistic leadership transitions continue across the country, high definition captures and broadcasts of stage productions become commonplace, grosses on Broadway hit an alltime high, and your rights and responsibilities with respect to workplace conduct take center stage. In the coming months you will find members of the staff and Executive Board traveling to communities nationally, even as we continue to tend to the day-to-day in NYC.
In this issue of SDC Journal, we get the privilege of speaking with Patricia Birch. Reading about Pat’s time with Jerome Robbins, Martha Graham, and Agnes de Mille is a reminder of the significance of legacy. I also love the tangible representation of how the relationships we forge in our careers stay with us; in photos representing Pat’s brilliant work on Grease you will find the work of director Tom Moore, and if you look closely at one of the young T-Birds you’ll find ExecutiveBoard Member Walter Bobbie. Deeper in this issue, Ellen Sorrin of the Robbins Foundation and the Balanchine Trust offers some advice to choreographers about the need to find ways to capture their body of work for future generations to understand, replicate (with permission of course), or be inspired by.
San Francisco-based Evren Odcikin, one of the National Directors Fellows, and NYbased choreographer Maija Garcia give us firsthand accounts in the columns “What I Learned” and “Why I Made that Choice.” When we asked Justin Emeka to share his “Pre-Show/Post-Show” reflections, he inquired about whether he might take a slightly different approach. The column was inspired by our desire to bring forward SDC Members working in an academic setting while continuing to practice their craft, and I think Justin’s approach helps us do just that. In “20 Questions,” Sam Gold discusses the rewards of working with actors with disabilities and encourages us to expand our casting pools.
As Woolly Mammoth Theatre artistic director Howard Shalwitz prepares to depart the company for the next chapter in his artistic life, it seems that his time at Woolly has been a complete melding of his own artistic aspiration with his commitment both to the artistry of others and to the theatre in the context of a community. You can clearly trace his growth as a director as he forged ways to create an environment for freelance directors to thrive and risk. Chris Coleman and Dámaso Rodríguez talk about their creative lives in Portland and how they integrate and balance their ambitions as artists with the institutions they are charged with leading and how they support other directors.
Soon Chris sets off for a new adventure at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, opening up a leadership opportunity at Portland Center Stage. This is change. Change in the field. The field, as Howard describes it in his interview, is a “river that is always changing and always evolving.” The field is in the midst of maybe one of the most significant transformations we have experienced since the founding of the regional theatres. The growth and evolution in the not-for-profit field that has happened over these 60 years has, by and large, been incremental. The volume of artistic leadership transitions ahead provides opportunity for a sea change.
In this moment, I hope we all take advantage of every room we enter and every table we are given a seat at to seek answers to thequestion, “What does the director need in the 21st century, and how do we find a way to provide it?” At SDC we believe that the larger ecosystem will benefit if we can answer and identify solutions in an inclusive and unified
voice. Likely we will produce some sort of complex harmony—but I say let’s give it a try.
The return on investment in directors with ambitious visions for their own art, commitment to their freelance comrades, and a dedication to the communities they serve has always been high. It’s exciting to consider what might be possible if some meaningful financial investment were to come to directors and choreographers in this moment of change.
In solidarity,
Laura Penn
Executive Director