HerStories
HerStories
Telling Our Stories with Brooke Flanagan
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Brooke Flanagan, Executive Director of Chicago's Steppenwolf Theater joins Maria to tell her story and discuss theater and the arts as modes of storytelling and change.
I am Rhea Dowdy, president and CEO of the Chicago Network, Chicagoland's premier women's senior executive organization. Join me to hear inspirational leadership journeys as our members share her stories and how they empower women to lead. On today's episode of TCN Talks, I'm in conversation with Brooke Flanagan, Executive Director of Steppenwolf Theater Company. In 2020, she became the first woman to lead Steppenwolf in its history, and she has guided it through a pandemic, a campus expansion, and a Pulitzer and Tony winning production.
SPEAKER_00Brooke, welcome to Her Stories. I'm so glad to have the time to talk to you. Thank you, Maria, for having me on. It's always a joy to be in your pleasure from your company. Right back at you, my friend.
SPEAKER_01Okay. There's so much here, and you've had such an amazing professional and personal journey. And you have been in this arts and culture space really as a through line in your entire career. But I think there's things that people do not know about you because they're used to seeing you in this leadership role and an organizational leadership role as CEO executive, but you have a whole performing background that people are unaware of, and that whole truly creative side that I want to dig into because I think it shaped basically who you are, helped shape who you are today as we as we sit here. So let's start from the beginning. Okay. Where did you grow up?
SPEAKER_00Oh, well, I grew up, you wouldn't be able to tell by my accent, but I grew up in Nashville, Tennessee. And I loved being in that city that is a vibrant tapestry of arts and culture. You know, people come from all over the world to make it big and the music scene in Nashville. But theater and visual arts and dance and opera were part of my childhood and part of the ecology of the place where I was raised. Um are you an only child? I'm not. I um I have an older brother, Bill is his name, and he is an amazing athlete and and wild adventurer. But we grew up, my parents were very young when they had him. He's seven years older, and I was sort of the last gasp of their relationship before their divorce. So so we he spent most of his life sort of living in different cities than I did. But our DNA is, you know, founded from the same stuff. So did you did you spend your whole childhood in Nashville? No, it's it's a it's a circuitous journey. So so because of my parents divorced when I was young, I was sort of raised by a village, right? And so I spent some of my childhood with my maternal grandparents. My paternal aunt and uncle have always been a guiding force in my life. And my mom was a bit of a gypsy. So I spent part of my childhood in Nashville. At one point, I moved with her to Lahaina, which is on the island of Maui, went to Lahaina Luna High School for a while. And then she was back to the house. Was Obama is not President Obama's No, different Oahu is where he was. Yeah. A little different. We didn't see if there's any connection there. No.
SPEAKER_01I think he's a bit older than you are, but yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um, but I, you know, I ended up my childhood was a bit unconventional in that I also was living independently or with friends for the majority of high school. And the through line for me, Maria, really was theater. Theater was my family. Theater was community. From the time I was three, I was acting and dancing and singing, and that sense of community, that anchor that theater can provide was really the thing that defines my memory of my childhood.
SPEAKER_01Was there, are you, were you is there one thing that was calling to you in the arts? Like, you know, you always ask, as you know, I've got a theater kid. Yeah. He's not a kid anymore, but a theater, theater adult. Once the theater kid always a theater kid. Pretty much, pretty much. And I totally understand what you're saying about that theater family. Because it really is. I mean, his tribe were the people in in his theater world, whether it was the dance world or the stage or whatever the performing piece was. Did you have a love of music versus dance versus like performing theater?
SPEAKER_00I would say that theater acting was the thing that made my soul sing from the time I was young. And in high school in particular, I had this theater teacher who we referred to as Mama Reeves. And, you know, because any high school student who's living by themselves ends up n making some interesting choices, as I did, right? And so, you know, I was on the turancy list and couldn't get my driver's license. And I was working three jobs, but trying to go to school and not making it there on time and getting into, you know, drinking and drugs and all those things that like happen when you're an independent human that hasn't yet matured 15 years old. And Laurel Reeves at that time was the one who said, act in this play, right? Direct this play, help co-write this play with me. And and because of her invitation to me, I ended up spending most of my time after school instead of partying and you know, being out doing things that could get me in a lot of trouble long term at the theater. And I and I also found, Maria, that that thing that they say about theater, right? You as an actor, you're a vessel. And it's like the the these whispers of the past through playwrights, you know, you become a conduit. And journeying through their footsteps, I empowered myself with confidence, with agency, with intelligence, with grace of self-respect that I didn't have otherwise. And I have a lot of amazing friends and family who have always loved me, but the circumstances of that time in my life meant that theater had to step in in that time to really be my compass and to lead me to believe that I was more than my circumstances were telling me that I was, and that my future was actually in my hands. I had agency to make choices to become a functioning member of society.
SPEAKER_01You know, it's such a profound art reflection as you shared it. I and this is why I just the arts are so critical to kids. You know, the importance of the arts, and we're so blessed in Chicago to have so many incredible arts and cultural institutions. But that you know, taking away the arts from schools and budget cuts in this area is just it's the damage is beyond people even to their comprehension, right? Is uh it it saved your life.
SPEAKER_00Oh, a hundred percent. And and I've seen it, you know, I've I've had the pleasure of working for uh extraordinary institutions across the course of my career, and all of them have had a depth of arts and education programs, including Steppenwolf. And I see it that it arts infused within the curriculum increases uh engagement, retention of subject matter, synthesis, and also in addition to the academic continuum, it boosts the social and emotional fluency. And and that's what leads to students, no matter what is happening before they enter the classroom or when they leave school at the end of the day, it makes them engaged in the process and owning their space. And and it's you know, it arts and culture on its own is a curriculum, but when you marry it with English and history and math and science, you get the alchemy of an engaged classroom where we are really truly able to mold the next generation of leaders.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's so true. So while while we're on this topic, I don't mean to jump, but I do want to kind of stay on this theme for just a sec. So what is Steppenwolf doing in this space? I know you do things with CPS and with others, but anything you wanted to highlight as it relates to the work that you're doing with young people?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, we're really, you know, I I love telling this story. Steppenwolf was founded by Gary Sinise and Jeff Perry and Terry Kenney when they were in their late teens, early 20s. And so the theater itself was really founded by teens. And so the programs for teens have not been a tertiary part of our mission. It's been it's central to who we are. Our programs currently start with a nucleus of teens themselves. Our young adult council that comes from this year, we have 31 high school students from across high schools that apply and get accepted. They're with us in residence every Wednesday. And they work with our professional education team and teaching artists to create curriculum that goes into classrooms across Chicago. And then our team then invites about 15,000 students in to see live performance. We have student metinees for four of our five produced shows every year. And that young adult council goes further than to curate weekend activities for their peers. So they'll have cool hangs with the artist involved in a show that are open to teens. At Steppenwolf, we offer any high school student can come to attend a show for $5, any of our shows.
SPEAKER_01Oh, how do they find out about that, Brooks? They can go online?
SPEAKER_00Through their schools online, yeah. And then we have we have a positive connotation to a teen takeover at Steppenwolf. So our teen, our young adult council takes over the theater for the day. And you know, we can have upwards of 150 teens coming on their own to see a show and hang out and get to know the artists behind it and do cool activities led by our young adult council.
SPEAKER_01Okay, that's really, really cool. That is super cool. Okay, let's go back to you. I had to do that little pause for a second, side, side tangent. So let's talk about the fact that you produced and wrote and directed an award-winning show at 16. Share, share that story because it's pretty crazy. How did that whole happen?
SPEAKER_00So that is back to Mama Reeves. So she had always wanted to write a story, and this was in the mid-90s in Nashville. It was before Schindler's List was produced. And it was at a time where the majority of Americans did not have an awareness of the Holocaust and believed that actually it was a hoax and some or propaganda. And so she had a desire to tell a story about the Holocaust through survivors. And so the Holocaust A Gathering of Stones was the play that we collaborated on. And then I was fortunate enough to be able to direct the show. And we partnered with Jewish community centers across Nashville during the run to engage folks in conversation about the work and to elevate awareness and discourse through the lens of the atrocities and the perseverance of the folks who made it through and could tell their stories. And then I was the recipient of the mayor's Acts of Excellence in 1994 as a result of the project that we were doing.
SPEAKER_01You were 16, 17, how old were you?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I was senior, so it's like 17, 18 years old. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Which is just mind-boggling. And you know, we you're as you're talking about it, you know, we have talked about this since because you've had the building of the National Holocaust Museum and the the Illinois, the one that's in Illinois. But this is all pre-all of that. This is pre-any of the stories being told. So it pretty is. It's it's extraordinary how that vision and you know how the story, how you were able to get it out so publicly and being recognized. A heavy, heavy topic at such a young age. But I suspect that given your life at the time, this was something that, you know, you you dealt with so much that it you could understand and empathize in a way probably with some of the challenges. Obviously, the the horrific situation is not, you know, empathizing with that necessarily, but it's more of, you know, the the heaviness of sadness and and resilience and coming back and all the things that I'm sure that the show was really meant to portray.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. And you know, Laurel Reeves herself was Jewish, and so she had a first-person perspective on the journey through a religious and cultural lens. And I think, you know, I, in partnership with her as someone who was raised in the Christian faith, really brought, as you intimated, this sense of the the the gaze of a of a young person who could synthesize the atrocities of that time and find the hope. The hope of, you know, Fred Rogers used to say, right? There always look for the heroes, always look for the people, the helpers who will step in. And so I think that there was a there was a grit and a sense of resilience that I was trying to cultivate within myself, that she married with that project that was very personal to her, that was an honor for me to partner with her and also to really understand for the first time. I had acted, as I mentioned, since I was very young on stages, both in schools and professionally at Tennessee Performing Arts Center. And that was the first time that really I started to understand what it meant to look out into the audience and to think about how the stories that we were sharing on stage could go further to catalyze conversation and engagement and really sit at the table as a tool for mutual understanding and societal growth. And it it and it was really formative in terms of how I've moved through the world as an arts administrator.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean, it's it's Steppe Wolf. You've just literally described Steppa Wolf. Yeah, and particularly what it did, you know, in 2020 and in that those, you know, years after the murder of George Floyd. I mean, you guys stepped into difficult conversations and shows that were heavy, but it was this amazing ability to really bring people into this conversation. And there was a lot of conversations, some of those shows, as you remember. I mean, I remember so vividly the power of how you were all using the stage to be able to have these really difficult conversations.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I mean, I I think that's the thing that I that I clutch at when people try to politicize the arts because it is one of it I describe it as, you know, in whether you're in a theater or a dance hall or an opera, the the door, the transom, it should be neutral. So it so anyone can walk into a performing arts facility and journey through the two or three hours traffic of the stage and and have a a unified experience, no matter what our political persuasion, religious affiliation, racial or cultural identity, socioeconomic position, right? That that that is a space that since it's founding in the Greek and Roman times, right, in in our society, like telling our stories to each other makes us stronger. And so, you know, I feel that we have a responsibility as the stewards of arts and culture organizations to make sure that we're not only providing entertainment and escapism, but also work that truly is reflective of our time. And that's why I feel that I've been at Steppenwolf twice in my career now, because it is a place that really doubles down on that idea of moving through the difficult conversations and bringing people together so we can end up stronger for the journey. I think it's so true.
SPEAKER_01Okay, so you graduate high school and you decide to take a journey west for college. Did Mama Reeves, was she part of the reason why you ended up where you ended up?
SPEAKER_00Oh no, poor Mama Reeves, who she unfortunately passed away in 2017. So she hasn't been able to see the end of my story. But she, God bless her, she asked me, you know, early in my my final semester, my senior year, if I had applied to college. And I was, you know, what? Okay, I guess I should do that. And she facilitated an amazing opportunity for me at Belmont College, Belmont University, which is in Nashville. And the day before orientation, I bagged out. Oh, and I went west with a boyfriend who was uh who is, I'm sure, a lovely human now, but was not a great choice for me at the time. But nevertheless, I went west. By way, we first stopped in New Orleans, as you know, an 18-year-old maybe would do back then. And then and then we ended up in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where my mom was at the time. And and I worked there at a pet and vet supply store and took film classes from a woman named Jezreel Jeffries, thinking I would move to LA. I had a as all 18-year-olds do, right? I mean, theater. Yeah, yeah. And I had been uh, you know, I had my first year of high school, I had gone to school with Reese Witherspoon and she was in LA, and there was, you know, we had a a director. She was she grew up in Nashville. Uh-huh. Yeah. I didn't know that. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And Harmony Kareem, who was a great uh film director who did kids, had was from Nashville. And so, you know, I was like, well, LA is kind of like I should go there. But we ended up doing the stop in Santa Fe. And my aunt, who is my guardian angel and best friend, she called me around the holidays and said, I'm in New Orleans. I just met this person who is involved in the Christian Brothers, and there's a school that Greer Garson started, a theater and film school in Santa Fe. We have an appointment for you. You know, you have to get, you have to get your ass to school. Like it's time. And so I I ditched the boyfriend. I ditched the boyfriend. Um, and I auditioned and was admitted to the College of Santa Fe, which is unfortunately no longer they they their endowment went belly up. But it was this beautiful old Christian brother school founded as St. Michael's in the 1800s. And the actress Greg Garson, who of course did Mrs. Miniver, who was, you know, talk about propaganda that encouraged the U.S. to get into the war to support the UK. But she, there was this amazing theater facility and film program. And um, I started my my journey there as a BFA in theater with an acting concentration.
SPEAKER_01And I I know you just blossomed. I mean, you've talked about that with just kind of like glitter in your eyes when you speak of it, that it was just an incredible experience for you overall during those entire It was it was amazing.
SPEAKER_00And and you know, I I worked my tail off. We had a program where it was a liberal arts college, but it was really almost a conservatory for the theater program. And you had to do hours in every discipline. So we learned to sew and build sets and hang lights and call shows and work the box office while we were also doing an intensive in acting. And I had the opportunity to, you know, I sort of went from this identity hat of, you know, the screw up who is living by herself and partying and like the the theater kid to really owning my ability to turn my life around. And I had some amazing friends there who we looked at each other and said, you know, we're gonna, we're gonna be those, those kids who like, you know, are straight A students and like change the world. And so I ended up being student body president as a junior and worked with the board to tour the board through the cafeteria to change the food and tour the board through the housing and raise money to build student housing. And and I met, I hosted the speaker for commencement when I was a junior, who was Jane Alexander, the amazing American actress who was at the time the head of the NEA. And she told me all about advocacy and how, you know, because at that point I really was still in the space of being an actor. And she opened my eyes to what it could mean to have an impact beyond bringing the shows to life, that I could work on policy, I could work on advocacy, I could make sure that every child had access to arts education, and that also through stewardship of institutions. And legacy, I could expand the physical plants and the systems that could support living artists of our time. And so she really, you know, I I've never had the pleasure to thank her, but she really opened my eyes to an opportunity for me to make an impact in a way I didn't know was possible.
SPEAKER_01I say that all the time to people. It's like you never know what you say that will touch somebody and impact their lives. Yeah. So, you know, do it. Like don't don't be afraid to to make those statements and say those things because you never know what's going to resonate with somebody. So it's it it's pretty great that you even remember it to this day. So so you got your degree. What would you say to people? You know, what would you say that you got from your theater degree that people wouldn't expect that mattered in a C-suite role?
SPEAKER_00Oh, uh, what didn't I get? I mean, I mean, theater is the study of human behavior. And you learn if you're in a good theater program, you learn how to connect with people, how to bring an authenticity to your engagement, the art of communication and storytelling, and the importance of that narrative arc, not only in leading, but also in communicating impact. And then I think collaboration. You know, we we as a you know, the the joke is if you want anything done, just put a group of theater geeks together and we'll do it for you, even if we've never we don't know the vocabulary or the concepts. Because it is out of limitation comes creativity in our field. And, you know, we we can make magic happen in the most unexpected ways. And I love that. I love the grit and the perseverance and the audacity and the and the compression of time, right? Most of the time when we're creating a show, it's a very limited budget and a very limited amount of time. And and and yet, you know, in the spirit of the improv scene in Chicago, we have the yes and approach.
SPEAKER_01I love that word audacity. It's perfect. It's the perfect word. Okay. You worked, if I remember now, you went to Santa Fe Opera. Did you work at the Santa Fe Opera?
SPEAKER_00I did. Yeah. I went to I finished school in London. I did an immersive semester there, which was amazing. And I came back. I Where were you studying? Ithaca College in New York had a London center. And so we had a the College of Santa Fe had a program with them. And yeah, so we were a great conservatory.
SPEAKER_01Like they have a good musical theater program at the one on the top. Yeah. Oh, very interesting. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So there were four of us College of Santa Fe kids in with all the Ithaca.
SPEAKER_01Where what school in London? Because Austin did uh did a semester there when he was at heart.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, the Ithaca had their own standalone in South Kensington. And they had some great British instructors. And Timothy Kidd was the name. Tim Kidd was the head of the program, and it was called Doing the Knowledge. Okay. So I mean, you gotta do.
SPEAKER_01I mean, if you're gonna be in theater, Shakespeare is has got to be a part of your repertoire at some point.
SPEAKER_00Oh, a hundred percent. I love classical theater, which is, you know, I spent 10 years at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. So that was my my deep dive there. We're getting we're getting there. We're getting there. Yeah, but but I yes, but I when I returned from London, because I realized, you know, I I couldn't just like stow away somewhere there without a visa. I went back to Santa Fe and I had worked at the opera in the summers in the box office.
SPEAKER_01And um And they have for those people who may not know, actually I'm going to Santa Fe on Wednesday. Oh such a special time. I know I love it. I love Santa Fe, but the Santa Fe Opera is one of the most acclaimed opera program, you know, opera companies in the country. Yes, it's amazing. It's extraordinary.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and it runs in the summer, which is when the major opera companies of the world are not in rep. And so the talent that they attract from all over the world is extraordinary. The company was founded by a man named John Crosby, who I had the fortune of working with while I was there. And and, you know, I started off, as I mentioned in the box office, but then my first full-time job there was doing special events, which that was my first foray to realize how to translate my career as an actor, my my professional training as an actor into starting into administration. Um, I had, you know, taken one class as a theater management major and made a PERT chart. And I charted out 10 years of choices I needed to make to run a major regional theater. And that was one of the first ones was to get a job with the acclaimed company where I could start learning the different disciplines and modalities. And so directing a play and producing a special event were pretty similar. And um, so off I went. So, but that's so interesting.
SPEAKER_01When I mean you're so still so young. When did the uh flip switch in your mind that you decided you wanted to be on the business side versus the stage?
SPEAKER_00You know, it was a it was gradual. I think when I was at the Santa Fe Opera, I was still doing theater. I did this production of The Cherry Orchard. I was Anya. It was the longest production I think I've ever been in for months and months. And then I wanted to move to a major market, scoped out five major cities, and fell in love with Chicago. And one of the reasons I wanted to move here, Mario, was because I believed I could do both. I thought that I could really focus on both leading a company and continuing to act and direct.
SPEAKER_01Did you ever been to Chicago before you came? Never. And you went to the League of Chicago Theaters, right? What where did you go? Where did you go first to Chicago?
SPEAKER_00I did. So I moved here. One of my college roommates, Amanda, was living here, and I sort of couch surfed with her first. And then and then my my boyfriend from Santa Fe, who later became my first husband, moved here. And we, you know, I was like temping for a law firm when I first moved here and eating their ramen noodles in their kitchen. Thank you, whatever law firm that was. I don't remember.
SPEAKER_01Um, it's like my son who is basically bartending and serving for like the first several years of his professional life.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. You do what you can survive, yes. Yeah. But I had my perch chart. Right. So I was like, okay, I need to make sure that whatever job I say yes to is giving me access to the ecosystem. If I if I want to continue to act and direct and and lead. That's so sophisticated.
SPEAKER_01I mean, that strategy at like strategy at like highest levels.
SPEAKER_00Well, I mean, I may have been in my early 20s, but I've been living alone since I was very young. And I was like, I had that survivor instinct. And and I and I also had a great coach and my aunt who said, you know, you can do anything. Like you've got to go out there and, you know, you you just focus on what you want and believe you can get it and go. Love it. And so so yes, so I ended up, I had interviewed at a few places and ended up saying yes to the League of Chicago Theaters. A woman who is an extraordinary strategist, Marge Halperin, was leading the organization at the time. And it gave me the opportunity over the course of a year to understand the broader ecology of Chicago theater, to meet the leaders at the time. Marge was an amazing Chicago leader and political strategist. And she gave me the lay of the land of the city that was now my adopted home. And while I was there, actually, the bookkeeper embezzled a large percentage of the budget. So I learned an amazing lesson in leadership. And also, you know, our staff at 13 went down to like six or five. And so I was doing a lot of different things. And we started the first fundraiser for the league, which now continues. I'm on the board of the League of Chicago Theaters now. And I really circle. Full circle. Yeah. Yeah. But it was, it was a great, a great introduction to this crazy landscape. Chicago has over 200 theater companies. And I remember when I first moved here, Hetty Weiss from The Sun Times had interviewed two shows side by side. Mary Zimmerman show, I think it was called 11 Rooms of Proust, next to this small production by a company called Slim Tack that was done in a one, like a studio apartment in Andersonville. But they were given equal ink on the page. And I thought, yes, this is the town I want to dive into because it is about honoring the artist and celebrating the audacity again of creativity and vision. And whether you're an acclaimed director like Mary Zimmerman producing in a large scale, or you know, this you know, company with you know, just like two pennies and a and a and a prayer in your studio apartment that audiences are invited in by one of the major publications to come and enjoy the show. It's so cool. Yeah. Okay.
SPEAKER_01Did you I can't remember timing on this? So you're with your then was did you get married quickly? I can't remember how that's you got married really young, right?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I got married when I was 24 and I was still working at the league. Right. And uh just almost right after our wedding, I ended up moving up to Ravenia Festival. And and that move was, you know, Wells Kaufman had just become the CEO at 39 years old, brilliant administrator who I learned so much from. And Wells, I became, I started off as doing special events. So I went back to sort of producing events again because it felt familiar. And then within a year, I was promoted to the associate director of operations and programs there. So I was, you know, in my early 20s, 24, 25, and working with some of the leading CEOs and civic leaders of the city to steward this almost 100-year-old premier music festival in home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. And Ravinia Festival, similar to the Santa Fe Opera, is such a special place. It is, you know, the caliber of artists that perform there, the, you know, the acres of lawn that are next to the pavilion and the Martin Theater. It was established to increase ridership on the train in 1904. Right. So crazy. I saw Miranda Lambert last month.
SPEAKER_01And it was just like you forget, you know, it's in my backyard, and you forget just the magic of just the experience, right? You're in the pavilion, you're on the lawn. It's just such a fascinating dynamic as a venue, right? Even and the performer, I can I can oh, how many shows were you doing at the time? Were you doing like all the programming, like all the events, like the calendar of events?
SPEAKER_00I was doing the special, so the fundraising events. I was in the fundraising department, which I found that that was the an area where I could lean in because I could talk about it's going back to that theater major. I could talk about the impact of an investment on the life of an artist and the experience of the audience. Right. And it was it was amazing. And I, you know, I missed theater terribly, but I knew that going to a larger organization like a symphony and a and a presenting house like Ravinia with a larger budget would teach me the things that I needed to learn to eventually end up running an organization.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. You know, and it you said something that's so interesting, right? You uh the this this reflection at a young age, again, that you were going to be in rooms with CEOs and civic leaders in Chicago. And it's the thing that I talk a lot about often is the importance of business people, whatever sector you're in in business, being connected to the arts somehow and investing in the arts from a corporate standpoint or a private standpoint, whatever it is. But the fact that there is so much dedication by our civic and business community to the arts in Chicago really is so special. And it it is this investment and commitment. And so you hit it right because the board of Ravinia is pretty much the who's who, right, of some extraordinary leaders. And it back then I'm sure it was just as it is today, right? I mean, it's always been like the who's who.
SPEAKER_00It was amazing. And and you know, my my husband at the time also worked there. He was a musician, right? Um, he was trained, yes, on the violin and also was an amazing, is an amazing runner. And but he was also working in the development area. So we we sort of came up together. We worked together at the opera and then we're working together at Ravinia. And, you know, it they they refer to the community there as the Ravinia family. And it's true. You spend, you know, it's an immersive four-month experience where you're all in with each other and welcoming and hosting artists from all over the world. And, you know, board chairs David Weinberg, Mike Lavin, Eden Martin, who was actually also head of the civic committee. And Eden, you know, shared with me the importance of the commercial club and the civic committee and architecting the vision for Chicago and really of leaning in and the legacy that folks like Lester Crown had of when a new CEO came to the city of Chicago, of being welcomed and also sharing what the responsibility was to steward what Chicago had evolved into. That we don't, and you know, we said this a lot during the pandemic. Our city is only as strong as how the people who call it home lean in and engage in the cultural organizations, in the restaurants, in the storefronts, in the neighbor, the 77 neighborhoods. And and so that was sort of my first foray into the potential that we have as a large American city to really be a global leader, not only in stewarding the artistic and cultural organizations who exist here, but in really figuring out how we can lead the way and set examples for other cities, not only in the United States but around the world, of how culture can sit at the table with civic leadership to um really manifest big changes for our city.
SPEAKER_01Remind me, did you end up being like a managing director at Ravinho? Did you were you in development the entire time?
SPEAKER_00I was, yeah. But Wells was amazing in including me on the leadership team.
SPEAKER_01And so I am that's where I thought you because I knew you were on on on you were very respected leader member of the leadership team.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it was it was it was amazing. We, you know, we he was a big dreamer for the future of the company, and I was able to, you know, help support his strategy and work with the board and the women's board and associates board. And he also he had a relationship with Stephen Sondheim, and that was when I first met Sondheim, who sort of has been a bit of a motif through my career. But we did a series of shows of Sondheim's leading up to his 75th birthday, and I got to be a supernumerary and sweeney Todd with uh Patty Lapone and Neil Patrick Harris. Oh, come on. Yeah, it was awesome. It was awesome. That is awesome. Yeah. Oh, that's a memory. Yeah, but wow. Wells is very kind to make sure that I had access to theater, even though I was taking this sort of four-year hiatus in the classical musical music world to learn about arts administration. What's what are you most proud of from that time? Oh, all the art that we created and and and the partnerships, learning truly how to collaborate with the extraordinary men and women who are stewards of that organization, the board, the women's board, the associates group. It just they really, you know, as you said, they exemplify that civic engagement that has made Chicago the proud home to so many amazing cultural organizations.
SPEAKER_01And I think you did a lot of great fundraising too. I mean, yes, that's what I was trying to get at. Oh, I see, I see. Yes, you raised a you helped raise a lot of money for that organization. You raised a lot of money. Yes, you raised a lot of money. And that is not an easy thing to do, my friend. I I know that personally, very, very difficult. So it takes leadership and vision, all the things you were talking about. Because I do think it it it really is important for people to understand the why. And when the why is coming from somebody who's in it and gets it and has been changed by it, yeah, then it's an easy why to lean into without question.
SPEAKER_00Oh, a hundred percent. Yeah, a hundred percent. And it's you know, mm fun money is energy, right? And so it really is about how we invest our energy and the things that we want to manifest for the world. And it was my honor to partner with that whole team on that and and also to know when it was time to leave, and mainly because my husband at the time, who continues to be at Rivenny, he's the chief development officer there, Greg Walter. He's an amazing champion for that organization. And you know, I I needed to roll to theater, which was my passion, and he was able to stay and grow where he was planted there.
SPEAKER_01So then you went to Shakespeare, right? Did you go to Shakespeare?
SPEAKER_00No, that was my first journey at Steppenwolf. Oh, yes, okay, yes, yeah. So I went Martha Lavy, the artistic director of Steppenwolf, who was there for 20 years. She was an icon, had just started a partnership with David Hawkinson, who was executive director of Steppenwolf for 11 years. Yeah. And they were looking for someone to come in originally for individual giving. And similar, my my MO is I'm usually at organizations serendipitously when they're going through a sea change. I usually start in one role and then it expands to I think that's a typical Chicago network member, by the way. Oh, nice. Nice. I'm glad to align with the archetype, the stereotype. There we go. So, yeah, so I was there for seven years. Uh, it was also when I had my children and an amazing time for the theater. We were getting ready to turn 30. There were a lot of questions about the organization and who Steppenwolf was as an entity beyond the personalities who comprise our artistic ensemble. And Martha, you know, again, I was invited to leadership meetings and retreats and was there when we decided under Martha's leadership that we wanted to continue our commitment to the ensemble, but really double down on being a launching pad for new work. And that led to the investment in a play by our ensemble member, Tracy Letz, called August of Sage County, which at the time it was unheard of that we would, you know, pass a deficit budget to afford the opportunity to do the show. And that show, of course, went on to win the Bulger Prize and the Tony and translated into a million languages and you know swept the world.
SPEAKER_01And did you say like, okay, so when you when you first read it or saw it, did you know? Like I always think, I'm always curious. Like, do you know? Yeah. Like, did you know purpose? We'll talk about purpose in a second, but did you know when you when you feel it?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so so here's you know, the the the narrative on the show was Tracy's written this play. It's you know based on a dysfunctional family in Oklahoma, which is where he's from. It is a three and a half hour play set in a three-story home with, you know, an incredibly large cast. And so, you know, everyone was we support the big, hairy, audacious goals of our ensemble at Steppenwolf, right? That's why we exist. But going in, it was a little bit of a okay. And and I remember Maria being there for the first reading. We used to read have the plays read for the staff as we were going into programming them. And no one thought that it was three and a half hours that we sat through. It was the most engaging, wild ride of a theatrical experience. And that was like actors with music stands and scripts. So we we did, for to your point, like on the outset, the idea, the concept of it, you know, we knew we believed in Tracy, we believed in Anna Shapiro, who brilliantly directed it, and all of the incredible ensemble who were in it. But but when you heard those words come off the page, you just it was magic. It was magic. And it was like our one of our ensemble members who's an artistic director, Audrey Francis, says our work is like lightning in a bottle. And it felt like that. It was like like this is so uh remarkable. The the audacity of the show, the talent of these artists, and the vision. And then to see it come to life and premiere and then have its journey. I mean, Anna, the the play is quite complicated. I'm looking forward. There's a production going up on the West End in 2027 that I'm looking forward to seeing. You know, Anna's direction of that play so brilliantly overlapped the dialogue and the scene work, and it's a it's a connection. Piece. Right. And so, you know, it's it's it's a master class and ensemble work for whatever company takes it on. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So what rem so what were you were you doing fundraising for Steppenwolf? It was.
SPEAKER_00I started off as the director of individual giving and then I expanded and started the major gift program. And then I took over the special events area and ended up strategy and working a lot with the board. And and and I felt, you know, you have one of those moments where I mean Steppenwolf was extraordinary. And I I learned even more about the civic landscape of Chicago and the importance of that was when Pat Ryan was leaning in for the Olympic bid. And Nora Daly, who is a force of um of an arts leader in our city, was involved. And I worked very closely with her then. That was the beginning of a what I consider one of my most important friendships and collaborations. She's just extraordinary. But the the idea that on a micro level at the at an organization level up to the macro level of the city of Chicago, that all of us have, like when we all have that DNA of global city with the grit and vision and burnum of make no small plans, the power that that can have of affecting change and impact for the citizens who call this place home was palpable. And so I was really like, there were a lot of lessons in theater leadership and ensemble practice. You know, Martha was a visionary artistic director. David Hawkinson had led brilliantly so many regional theaters and had been at the NEA for a long time. So I learned over those seven years, as I was having children and, you know, doing all the things that a working mom does, I learned the potential of what leadership could look like. And then I got a call that the founders of Chicago Shakespeare, Barbara Gaines and Chris Henderson, were looking for a partner to manifest a vision they had been, you know, aiming to achieve. And I cried for two months after I gave my notice that I was leaving Steppenwolf, but I knew that it was the right step because Chicago Shakespeare had moved to Navy Pier in 1999 and was an extraordinary success story. But at that point, really needed to figure out how to cement the legacy that Barbara and Chris had had started through, you know, the expansion of their campus, through the growth of endowment, and through really the articulation of their mission in a way that it could be transitioned to a next generation of leadership. And so I left and began a 10-year journey that uh ended in, I was the managing director there when I left.
SPEAKER_01But so you were doing everything, but I remember like you've done everything at Shakespeare. You did everything at Shakespeare.
SPEAKER_00It was, you know, Barbara and Chris were very generous in terms of the shared leadership model. So, yes. So I partnered with all of our leadership team across, you know, my A led directly led the development function. I partnered with our leads in marketing communication and education and engagement. And together we, you know, we architected and launched Shakespeare 400, which was an international celebration of a bit macabre, but Shakespeare's 400 death. But we we had over 60 companies coming in to celebrate Shakespeare in some way across Chicago and worked very closely with the Emmanuel administration to make that a celebration of Chicago. Um, we also worked with the Emanuel administration and the commissioner at the time, Michelle Boone of D Case, to launch under the night Nights in the Park, Nights Out in the Park umbrella Shakespeare in the Parks, which was a free touring production of Shakespeare.
SPEAKER_01I think they still do that now this summer, right? They do.
SPEAKER_00They have an amended program, I think, that Kim and Ed have evolved appropriately under their leadership. But yeah, at the time we went, we expanded it very quickly to go to 18 neighborhoods. And along with our professional performance of Shakespeare, there were community artists that shared the stage and activated the culture inherent in all of those neighborhoods that we embedded and performed in. And we, you know, the the original design when I went was a freestanding theater on Navy Pier next to the existing theater. And in the end, the University of Chicago study set in stone, which talked about the overcapitalization of the arts, led us to instead design a building that was built under the tent over the parking garage, the yard, which is a modular space that we're we were all super proud to do the fundraise for and build and open.
SPEAKER_01It's a fabulous space. It's a fabulous space. Yeah, it's magic in there. So what are you most proud of from that legacy? Oh let's see. I mean, so many. I mean, you literally were instrumental in shaping so many things that are critical to our.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, our partnership, you know, Barbara and Chris, Rick Boynton, who is the creative producer, and Chris Plevin, who is the director of production, like there was just an amazing team. And I think the the the productions that we were able to share with Chicago, Maria, again, we did a lot of we did a lot of Shakespeare through like crazy lenses, also not only at our theaters, but site-specific performances. We did a walkabout production of Measure for Measure with this Australian company called One Step at a Time Like This. We, you know, we did, we imported a lot of companies from across the world. The National Theater Scotland did their Black Watch, which is a beautiful show directed by John Tiffany at the Armory, the Broadway Armory. And then Sondheim, you know, Gary Griffin, the amazing director who was on the artistic uh team, directed so many of Stephen Sondheim's musicals there. And Sondheim came and was so moved by the beauty and the and the wonder of those shows. And and in the end, you know, I tell my kids, it's like the the camping thing, always leave the camp, you know, the campsite better than you found it. I feel like that's the thing I'm proudest of is that together, you know, I I came in and was able to partner and accelerate the vision of the folks who had founded the company and and to leave it in a really strong position, both financially and artistically for the city of Chicago. And now the the amazing artistic and executive directors who who lead it, Ed Hall and Kim Motes, who are both just just uh extraordinary and a gift to Chicago. And they're doing great.
SPEAKER_01They're doing great work.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Okay, but then you got the call. Yeah. You got the call. Was it a recruiter call? Like was it, you know, was it a did you expect I guess I should say, did was it an expected call?
SPEAKER_00It was not. This is one of those pandemic stories that everyone says, Wow, that would have never happened any other time than March 10th of 2020.
SPEAKER_01Oh, gracious. I didn't realize that's when it was. Yeah. Oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. Five days before.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_00Shut down. Yeah. So we were at Chicago Shakespeare, we were running a sold-out production at our house and getting ready to open our our transfer of Six, the musical, to Broadway. Love Six. I love Six. Right. It's a great show. It's an amazing show.
SPEAKER_01I actually saw it with some Chicago network staff being part of it. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00It's fantastic. Yeah, it's great. And so we had just done the American premiere at Chicago Shakespeare's and it was getting ready to go up on Broadway. And at Steppenwolf, they were also run running a sold-out show in Chicago and getting ready to open Tracy Lett's production of The Minutes on Broadway, directed by Anna Shapiro. And our executive director at the time, David Schmitz, who had been with the company in the role of executive director at that time, I think five years, but had been there all told for 15 years. Steppenwolf. We're talking about it. Yeah. Yeah. He had gotten an offer and accepted a position at Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Which is amazing, by the way. Extraordinary. Yes. Extraordinary. He's a he's an amazing arts administrator, and they were lucky to have him. But but David, David was leaving, and Anna, who you know I've known for a long time, called me. And it ended up being, you know, an anchor man when Ron Burgundy like blows the conch. Like it kind of felt a little like that. It was like, hey, remember when you said that you were leaving? Because I had said to Martha and David and Anna and others when I left for Chicago, Shakespeare, that part of the reason I was leaving was because I needed to learn lessons if I was ever to come back. And then I didn't know if that would ever happen. But, you know, sometimes you can learn the lessons that you need at one organization over the course of your career. And sometimes it's important for your growth and development to leave.
SPEAKER_01To leave. Yeah. It's it's some people, it's really hard for some people. I think it's particularly difficult for women too. Yeah. And I think I always say this to people, you know, sometimes in order for you to go from high A to B, sometimes you have to go to B to B or B to C. Yeah. To to shift just to get a, you know, the experience you need to be able to get to that C-suite role.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And it, you know, I think it's hard to I don't know if this happens in other industries, but in the arts, oftentimes our identities are very much aligned with the institutions that we steward.
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_00And so it becomes, I've seen people take it very personally when they have to leave because they feel that, you know, they're being betrayed by the organization that they've worked so hard for. When in reality it's just about like kind of learning to celebrate and suc and and acknowledge the lessons that you've learned and know that you'll always carry that with you. And they will always carry your impact with them. Yep. But I um yeah, so I got this call from Anna. I thought she was calling our kids are about the same age, and I thought something was going on with her children. She and Jan Barford, she's married to um one of our ensemble members, an amazing actor named Jan Barford. And so I thought, you know, something was wrong with the kids. And I picked up the phone and said, Are you okay? And she said, you know, are you, are you in a meeting? And I said, Yes, we're trying to figure out, you know, I think Maria, I was ordering portable sinks for our lobby and like gallons of hand sanitizer. I mean, we were in that phase of the pandemic where we thought we could like, you know, just clean it up. And and so anyway, we ended up having a series of conversations. And because of the circumstances that we were in in the world, the executive committee of the board, together with Anna, as the artistic director, had decided to do a targeted search as opposed to an open search.
SPEAKER_01Well, yeah. It's very smart.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And it was, it was, it was difficult because of the commitments that Steppenwolf has to inclusion, diversity, equity, and access. Because in a normal circumstance, we would have wanted to open that search up. But because of the acute state of the world and the fact that Steppenwolf had just started a building project. So we had construction crews building the Arts and Education Center at the time. I had worked with the architect, the amazing architect Gordon Gill and ASGG, and the theater designers Charcoal Blue out of the UK on the yard. Right. So I had a shorthand with those folks. I had a shorthand with the theater company and a knowledge of the Chicago landscape.
SPEAKER_01And you're a woman and you've they've never had a female executive director in history. So I think they hit the diversity mark.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Yeah. Well, we we'll see. When when my when my time to to ride into the sunset is here, I'm sure there'll be an open, an open process to engage other folks. But but but I was thrilled, you know, to be able to answer the call. And I again, you know, I'd been at Chicago Shakespeare for a decade. So it was hard to leave, particularly during that time. But I jumped in with both feet, and it has been one hell of a ride these past six years.
SPEAKER_01Okay, so we have to talk because we started, you know, I signed my contract in February for an April 2020 start date. So what when you walked in, you gotta describe like what was what was it like what was it like? And and I if you could also tell people, because I I don't know how many people really fully appreciate how Steppenwolf is structured, meaning like how they have a union-based and it's an ensemble, and people have you know like not ownership rights, but they're part of the company. So they they have a different a different employee type relationship. Yeah, we're we're a unicorn.
SPEAKER_00I mean, there are very few organizations like us. So the the company was founded, as I mentioned earlier, by Jeff Perry and Gary Sinise and Terry Kenny when they were in their late teens, early 20s. And then over time they had friends and colleagues and you know, th theater scene partners and directors, et cetera, that they invited into the company. And the and the deal was for those founding folks, and then the the people who were invited into the company afterwards, it was an organic process. There is something about the way in which our artist and the company move together through work, and and there is like no bullshit. It is all very raw, visceral, kinetic, layered work. And when you are in whether you were a founding member or you were invited into the company, you're in for life. Wow. There's no paperwork.
SPEAKER_01And the lawyer and me starts like are starting to like get uncomfortable.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's it's a it's an unspoken commitment. And and the basis that our artistic directors, whether Martha Levy or Anna Shapiro or now Audrey, Francis, and Glenn Davis have said is the agreement is that the ensemble member will put Steppenwolf as a priority in their artistic career, and Steppenwolf will prioritize the ensemble member. I think it's a fair, fair deal. Yeah, it's like family, but it's, you know, but it's it's artistic. You it is an artistic home. We now have 51 living artists and I believe six who have transitioned on to the great theater in the sky. But, you know, these folks, they we always in the American theater, it's a bifurcated leadership structure. So there typically is an artistic director who's responsible for the programming on stage, and an executive director who is responsible for strategy and the fiscal health and business operations. And so at our company, the artistic director has always been selected by the ensemble to serve. And up until the most recent transition in 21, it was sort of we likened it to the smoke coming from the Vatican when the Pope is elected. It was sort of this thing that happened and no one quite knew how.
SPEAKER_01Does the ED have any, does the executive director have any say in any of it? No. Come on. No, so fascinating. Well, because I mean, like it's and you talked about this bifurcated, it's a leadership team, right? Right. I mean, it it's always nice when everybody all gets along. And so I can only imagine when you have a potential, not to say that this is always the case, but it could easily happen in a theater company where you have an executive director that is not seeing really the same eye to eye, so to speak, as the artistic director. And then you have mayor probably major issues as it relates to operational effectiveness.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I I think at Steppenwolf, the thing that perhaps has prevented that from happening over all these years, you know, we're now in our 51st season, is that the mission and vision of the company are so strong. The the mission of the company is to center the ensemble in the work, to serve as a launching pad for new plays, and to produce provocative work that catalyzes conversations germane to our time. And and so I think one of the reasons why, you know, the artistic directors once selected, and Audrey and Glenn were actually voted on. It was a very democratic process. Do they come in at the same time? They did. They both came in. That transition happened in 2021. I kind of remember when that happened. Yeah. And was that the first time that you had two artistic directors? Yeah, early in our history, I think between Jeff and Terry and um Gary, they did some shared, but this was the first official co-artistic director structure. And it was, you know, we were about a year into the pandemic and just a year passed. And it was a time where we felt that it was very difficult for one person on the artistic side to hold that job. Oh, yeah. Because of the responsibility not only to the institution and the work on stage, but also the responsibility that they have in stewardship to the artists that call a theater home. And so Audrey and Glenn had received the most and the equal votes of the company. And, you know, once the artistic director or directors in our case are selected, the board then codifies the contract and and there's a contractual agreement between the board of directors and the artistic directors. Got it. But they came on board and, you know, on on the executive director side, as it happens, myself and most of my predecessors have, you know, we we aren't members of the company in the same way. But we, as it has happened, have had the same sort of repeated relationship with the company before we've taken on our roles. Whether like myself, I had worked there before, um, or David Schmitz had, you know, served as the director of finance and the general manager before he moved into his role. David Hawkinson had been a consultant for the company before he moved. So there is a there's another alchemy, Maria, that it's like this this known sort of tested relationship that that has existed that's allowed for the company to thrive. Now I will say that we don't shy away from conflict at Steppenwolf. And Audrey and Glenn and I all agree, and Anna and myself before, and so on, that if we didn't, if we agreed on everything, there's no reason to have us all. Right? Right. It's it's how we move through the conflict that makes our company strong. And and so I think, you know, we we we have had now the the three of us have been in partnership for five years now. And it's been an extraordinary journey because we, you know, we opened, we got the building completed on budget and on time, and opened it with a ribbon cutting, right? When was that? That was in November of 21, between the Omicron and Delta variants of the pandemic.
SPEAKER_01It's it's so crazy to think that you started this role, like, and this is an institution, the the arts just shut down completely.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. We were shuttered. I mean, you know, to your point of like what was it like when I started? Everyone was at home. I came in my first day, so I accepted in April. I didn't start until July, and I'd sort of was being read in because we were we were sign, we were we were closing both institutions at the same time. So I was working at Chicago Shakespeare with that thoughtful transition plan. Right. And then I was onboarding to the Steppenwolf transition plan. And the day, the Friday before I started officially in July was when the you know the federal funding had manifested in such a way that folks understood what the layoffs needed to be. So everyone, the there were a series of layoffs that happened the day, the business day before I started. Wow. This is a very bleak time. Yes. You know, artists were told that we weren't essential effectively because we were shut down. And it was a challenge because also everyone was working from home, excepting myself and our my amazing partner Tom Pearl, who's our general manager. We were on site almost every day because we had a construction group. Yeah. Yeah. So we had this like the world was split into these really weird pockets, and everyone was scared. The racial reckoning was very personal to us because we had a group called We See You White American Theater that published two documents for the American. Theater with signatories about observations of ways in which the American theater had not respected, broken the trust, or ruptured relationships with artists of color. And many of those signatories were members of our company. And so we took it very personally as an invitation to lean in and to start to repair. So that was one piece that we were moving through. The other piece that we were moving through was trying to figure out when and how we would come back to live performance. And, you know, we did a series of trying to produce new work in people's living rooms with equipment that we like somehow got it to their hands and then edited together. And it was beautiful and messy and not what our core capabilities were. So there were, you know, and then and then we were, we kept programming. We like kept having hope that we were coming back. So, and we had this beautiful building that had been built and designed by the previous leadership team. And so we were fortunate enough to be in partnership with the board. Eric Lefkowski was our chair at the time, and our vice chair, Keating Crown, who's now our chair, was on, you know, the meetings with us every Wednesday morning. The head of our, you know, NORCON, Jeff Joswiak, was on with us, and the architect and Keating, and like we were keeping everything, trying to keep everything running at one time. And you know, I had three mid schoolers.
SPEAKER_01And you had children, like forgot about that. And you're and then uh Mike at this point was Michael is been laid off. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So yeah. So my husband, Michael, is second husband. Second husband, Michael, yeah, is in the theater industry as well. We went to college together in Santa Fe, and he's on the production side. So he does carpentry and automation. And he was working for an automation company called Tate Towers, and he'd just taken on a new job with Cirque de Soleil, who went bankrupt within the first week. Right. So he was laid off, and our kids were in, I think, fifth, sixth, and seventh grade, and they were all switched to Zoom, and it was really hard for kids. You know, they were, and then on TV, right? We were watching like the insurrection happening and the world. I remember my middle child, I have three extraordinary children, Charlotte, Will, and Alex, and I love them so much. And they're theater kids. And they are all theater kids and artists, and they're amazing. But they, you know, I remember at one point one of them saying to us, Wait, you don't know when we're going back to school? And I said, Yes. And they said, Does that mean that the grown-ups don't know what to do? And I said, Yes. And they said, What how wait, how does that work? Like, are we okay? Are we safe? Because it shattered them. You know, they we institutionalize children, so they think that we have all the answers. And this was the first time that they realized we didn't have a playbook for this. And, you know, I've always said to my kids, my number one job is to keep you safe. You are my number one priority, you know, all the things that you say for psychological safety and support for your children. And in that moment to admit that, you know, I still was, you know, steadfast with my commitments, but I I did not know what happened next. It was, it was really a wild moment and a wild moment to be trying to manage the understandable emotional vulnerabilities of a company, a company of artists, a board of directors who I wanted to make sure that, you know, we had trust built and that we were making the right decisions financially for this amazing cultural organization. And and also for my family who was in crisis, and to try to figure out how to be as present as I could for everyone that I loved so much and had committed my life to helping lead through this really difficult time.
SPEAKER_01And you led it with grace and excellence and empathy and compassion because Steppenwolf is stronger than it's ever been. It's just, it's amazing what you've built. I know that there's you're always gonna say there's a team because that's the way you are. You're always very collaborative. But you know, my my job is to remind you that there's always somebody at the top that has to steer the ship as the ship is sailing along the way. So that was you. But you know, d when you came in because you had been there before, yeah, did you feel like you had to do something different? Like did or did you feel like you had to prove yourself differently because you had been there before? Was there like or did you feel like you were coming home to like a family, the family that you had known?
SPEAKER_00You know, it's a really interesting question. It was unlike any transition I'd ever had professionally because of the time period. And I don't know if you felt the same way coming into the Chicago network at that time. I was such a planner because of the volatility of my childhood, right? I that's where my type A tendencies come because I need to control and I want to trust survival, survival, yeah. And so I usually come in with a very clear plan and an assessment the first six, 30, 60, 90 days, and then I implement and you know, and this was like triage. It was triage. And I I was there are so many people that are still on the board of directors who were there during my first journey who I felt I mean, I knew that, you know, Eric had my back, Keith had my back, Stephanie Smith, our extraordinary vice chair who has been a mentor to me for years, was there and and leaned in so many people. Nora, like we have an extraordinary board of directors and they are so committed to our mission. The ensemble, you know, I was so grateful to have the history with them because it did feel like a homecoming. And the staff, you know, our production team, so many people there, especially several of our department heads there, have been there for over 30 years. And so there definitely was a connectivity there. There were a lot of folks who didn't know me. And building trust and a relationship with the staff when you literally can't be in the same room with them proved to be difficult. And so, you know, that took time and trust. And you know, it really took I mean, I am so grateful that we have the spirit of innovation at Steppenwolf and the openness and the curiosity. My approach has always been one of transparency. And so, you know, I feel like particularly over those first three years, 2020 to 2023, I tried to be just as direct with folks and making sure that I was filling in the staff, the board, and the ensemble in equal measure and asking the important questions. Panicking is not a strategy, right? Yes. And so in the end, in 2023, Audrey and Glenn and Keating and myself had to sit down and look each other in the eyes and say, okay, can we keep this place going with the economics? Or, you know, how do we chart our way forward? And we had a lot of brilliant minds on, you know, the board, the ensemble, and the staff, and and partnership from the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. And we were able to do a strategic business model evaluation and recalibrate the whole model of the company. We drilled down and made sure that we had our top three, you know, go back to Jim Collins, good to great, right? Like what are the three things, your core values you'll go to the mat for? Ours were ensemble-driven bold productions with an emphasis on new plays. Second was our commitment to Chicago public schools and the teens. We were not going to abandon our teen programming, particularly not coming out of the pandemic with the learning loss and the social and emotional upheaval. And then the third is we have this beautiful program called Lookout that just celebrated its 10th year that partners us with itinerant artists and companies in Chicago, so which is to say artists who don't have a permanent home across dance, drag, spoken word, music, dance, and we present them in our 1700 theater, and 80% of the house goes into their pockets. Wow. And so we said, okay, those three things are the top of our priority as an organization. We're going to examine everything else that's profit neutral or loss, pause or put things on hold. Unfortunately, we had to do a reduction in staff, which is not never anything that you want to move through. But we refocused our mission. Audrey and Glenn, we led focus groups with audience members telling us about their response to the art and particularly in that time.
SPEAKER_01I kind of remember this. I remember being part of that focus broke at the time. Ah, yes, yes, yes, yes.
SPEAKER_00And so, you know, Audrey and Glenn, along with the ensemble and our artistic staff, you know, tuned the work to meet the moment to continue the rigor and the audacity that Steppenwolf is known for, the provocation, but also to lean a bit more into hope. We started new revenue programs like our visiting artist series that now has comedians and music theater artists. We started monetizing everything we had. We're doing rentals and events, you know, we're upping merchandise. We had to flip our food and beverage center to make sure that we went from a six-figure loss position to a revenue positive position. It's actually quite good having had it before. Thank you. Thank you, front bar, everyone on Halstead Street. It's but it, you know, it was one of those moments where you again being like playing the victim or being paralyzed by your circumstances. Not an option. Is not an option. And, you know, I was very fortunate to learn that from an early age. And and I also believe so deeply in the power of theater and its role in a strong democracy, and particularly Steppenwolf's role as a Chicago theater that has uh national and global reach. And so I knew that if like us leaning in to make sure that Steppenwolf could continue to be a home to generative artists was going to equate to hopefully a beacon of hope for the other arts organizations across the world that were just in an existential crisis at that time. And we're so fortunate that we have living artists that leaned in, we have our board of directors that leaned in, we have an incredibly generous community of donors and people who who believe. I mean, Helen Zell, she's like a badass leader in Chicago. And like, you know, it you know, believes that the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the MCA and Steppenwolf, right? Like that is there isn't Chicago without these organizations.
SPEAKER_01But they also need good leaders. So they believe in it because it's strongly led and artistically strong, you know, also on their artistic side. Because you have to have the you have to have the confidence and trust that the people who are stewarding at the top are actually gonna are doing the right thing for the organization and the ensemble and for the city. So yes, we need all those people, but they need you because they wouldn't have this, they wouldn't believe in, you know, kind of the work that you've done if it you hadn't stewarded them out of crazy times and really kept everybody together, which is still it's really I mean, it's truly extraordinary. It's just amazing to see kind of where Steppenwolf is now. And and I can only imagine that there's so many things that you are excited about that that that are coming next.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So how do you decide like whether to what to to to like lean into big time or you know, say, you know, let's let's build this, because you really are a builder. Like, do we build this or do we hold it back? Like, where's the where's the decision making on that?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, well, we start first with the work. And I mean, that's you mentioned purpose earlier. That's a great example. You know, we let's talk about purpose.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So congratulations. You're like a Tony Award winner when your name was called on stay. I was like, oh, I know her. I know her. Um, it's just like that. The elf when he's like, I know that brand, you know, she knew Santa. Talk about purpose for a second. Like that, that was huge. And I think for me, when that happened, what I felt for you and for the whole, it was it was the it was the reward, if that's the right word, but it was just kind of like the validation, like everything that you had all worked so hard to make sure that you kept it where Steppenwolf wears its presence and its place in our society and our city. It was just kind of like the the gift, like this is this is why. This is why you do what you do, and here's here's proof and validation of what you did and the importance of what you did.
SPEAKER_00Oh, I think it was emblematic, you know, and and and and it wasn't lost on Audrey and Glenn and Keating and and you know, our broader team that the journey of purpose, as you noted, really wouldn't have been possible if we didn't double down on those core values. Because it was it was a commission from the brilliant playwright Brandon Jacobs Jenkins that had been initially seeded in 2015. Wow, I didn't know that. Brandon and Steppenwolf were given the Prince Prize through the Prince Charitable Trust, based in Chicago, and he was commissioned to write a play for the Steppenwolf Ensemble. And he picked three ensemble members over time: Alana Arenas, John Michael Hill, and Glenn Davis to be the foundational members of the ensemble. It ended up being a six-character play. And, you know, over time we did um, the theater did a workshop of it of the first act at the Colorado New Play Festival in 2019. And that was when Brandon found the title and sort of the shape of the Chicago quasi-DC political black dynasty family story. And when I came back to Steppenwolf, I got a call from an extraordinary philanthropist who had been with Prince named Benna Wilde. And Benna said to me, Brooke, are you ever going to produce that play before I retire from Prince? Or God forbid, before I die, get that play on stage. And so when Audrey and Glenn became artistic directors, we started talking about purpose. Like, we got to get this back on the tracks. And Brandon has has been very successful and was very busy. And but through, you know, Audrey and Glenn's brilliance, they were able to bring him back. And, you know, we partnered with the extraordinary director, Miss Felicia Rashad, who is an icon. And purpose, I mean, the short story is that we started off with 40 pages in rehearsal. And we had an extraordinary cast that joined those three ensemble members in Chicago. And we still had 40 pages on the night before we were set to have the first preview. We were missing a second act. I had moved my office into the theater. Audrey and I were collaborating every day. Glenn, of course, was acting in the play. And so the three of us were trying to figure out what we were going to do. I was calling Keating, you know, every other day to make sure he was aware because I was thinking, I mean, I believe in the power of, you know, supporting a generative artist like Brandon to create the work. You can't, as Miss Fulcha kept saying, you can't rush genius, right? And and yet here we were. And I was like, okay, if I get, you know, I I A lot is writing writing on the show, Maria. And you know, we're just coming back from the pandemic. It's not like we have a lot, you know. So anyway, the first, the open, the, the final dress, they get through the first act. We excuse the invited audience because we didn't have a second. And Brandon, I remember Caroline, who's our script supervisor, came with this little box of, you know, hot off the press scripts. Our director of new play development, Jonathan Green, was, you know, nervously pacing. And there it was. The full. This is like this is kind of like out of a movie. I mean, it was wild. It was wild. And the, and, you know, we we sat there, Audrey and I, with the our newest ensemble member, Laura Glenn, who was a stage manager, and Miss Felicia, and and we got out music stands and the cast read through the play, and everyone just was crying. Just, it's such an incredible play. It's such an incredible play. And, you know, so we went on, we, you know, we stumbled through previews. Miss Felicia was very generous. We we announced to the audience every night previews that they were gonna see people holding pages because they'd literally just gotten the scripts.
SPEAKER_01I you know what? I don't know if I even I didn't know, I was unaware of this.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it was wild. I mean, only Harry Lennox, who played the Patriarch, he was off book every day because he's a he's a he's a wild uh phenom of a human. But but it wasn't until opening night that we had a locked script and everyone was off book, and then it became the success story. Did you know? Did you know? We did. I mean, I remember at one point, you know, we were sitting in the back of the house, Audrey and I with Brandon, and Glenn had just come off stage and she looked at us and said, You guys, someday this play, I just have a feeling it's gonna become one of the great American plays. And they're gonna be doing it all across the country and schools, and we were just like, oh my God, from your mouth to God's ears, come on, it's gonna happen.
SPEAKER_01So, so what I mean, what was it like when you when you heard it was nominated? I guess that's number one. Oh yeah. And then when you when you heard it announced. Yeah. And and then what what did it what did what was that a turning point for the company at that point for the ensemble?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that great questions. I mean, first of all, we had a an amazing commercial producing cohort that supported the transfer. When it when a production starts at a nonprofit like Steppenwolf, we don't take what's called enhancement money. So we don't have a commercial producer investing on the front end with an option to take it to Broadway. So Purpose, like all of our other shows that have gone on to Broadway, um, had several folks interested in moving the show. And we were so thrilled to be able to partner with an amazing producer named David Stone as the lead. David is best known for his work on Wicked, a little musical you may have heard of. But he is David Stone at his heart is a theater kid. And he remember, he tells this great story of seeing Grapes of Wrath and loving Steppenwolf in his formative years. And the the reason that I note that is because David believed in supporting Brandon as a playwright and also believed in the sanctity of the artistic vision that was created at Steppenwolf and making sure that the ensemble members stayed with the show, that the that the artistic impulse of what audiences found electric in Chicago transitioned to Broadway. Oftentimes a commercial transition like drastically shifts the show. And in this case, his stewardship of our company and of the show really made it into the phenom it was in New York. We were, you know, second stage that operates the Hays Theater was taking a break as they were transitioning their artistic directors. So we were able to get a long run there at the Hayes, which is a very comparable theater to our downstairs theater. And so it had that intimacy and power that the downstairs theater at Steppenwolf had. And, you know, the the the run was extraordinary, the audience response was extraordinary, and then to have Brandon nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, to have the play nominated for best play for the Tonys, to have almost the entire acting ensemble nominated for their work on stage, our extraordinary design team. Like it just felt electric. And being at the Tony Awards, being at any awards ceremony is weird. I mean, you see everyone, it's like a who's who of your industry, and it's televised. So it's also very structured time-wise. So, you know, during commercial breaks, it's like they're rushing everybody to get your drinks and go to the bathroom, and then you get locked out. You know, at one point I remember like Andrew Lloyd Weber was locked out of his seat. And I was thinking, how does this happen? Like this is so strange. But but we were we were thrilled. When the play was called, we were up against, you know, an incredibly amazing nomination pool, so much talent in that season. And and we were just honored. And rushing to the stage, you know, Glenn and Brandon did an amazing job of accepting on behalf of Steppenwolf and and the company. And really, you know, in their acceptance remarks, what we were proudest of was it really it was a love letter to Chicago theater and to the power of ensemble. I love it.
SPEAKER_01No, it was, I think it's one of Chicago's proudest moments. I think everybody was just over the moon and so excited. So let's talk about kind of what's next. For a step and walk. Yeah. What are you excited about as you guys, you know, kind of see in the future?
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Well, we're in our 51st season. So we've said that we've started the next half century of our lives, which I'm really, really proud of. We, you know, we're going to continue to double down on our commitment to being an artistic home for the ensemble. And so I think, you know, in our future, you're going to see continued commitment to new work, um, continued commitment to reimagining of new classics. This year, by way of example, we're starting off with um Kenny Leon, who was last with us for our production of King James, is directing Susan Laurie Park's exquisite Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Top Dog Underdog, featuring Glenn Davis and Namir Smallwood. And that opens the Sunday. Ah! Yeah. And then next to it, we have just starting in rehearsal a new play by a Chicago playwright, Stephanie Allison Walker, called Adirondack Chair Circle. And I think the Chicago Network's coming to see that. Yeah. I think we have a November date. We do. Yeah, yeah. So that play is directed by Pam McKinnon, who has partnered with Stephen Wolf as a director, one that, you know, was in our Tony Award, directed our Tony Award-winning production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf and most recently Downstate by Bruce Norris. But Pam um has just come off of her artistic directorship at ACT. And so to have her, this Tony Award-winning acclaimed director, partnered with a playwright, a local playwright who's making her Steppenwolf debut, is really phenomenal. And the cast is full of, you know, we Caroline Neff, our ensemble member, uh Broadway Darling Katrina Link, and Wendy Mateo, who's one of the artistic directors of Teatro Vista, and Sadia, who's last with us with You Will Get Sick, and David Darrow, who is our Amadeus in Mozart. So we have this like great cast. And the conceit of the show is that there are a group of women who gather in the character Bana's backyard with kombucha in their Adirondack chair circle, and they are saving the world through banning books at their school's library because they want to protect their kids. And thus ensues sort of a, you know, it's one of those brilliant plays that Stephanie has written, where you think you're you go in and you are siding with one perspective, and then you start to see the humanity and the frailty and the brilliance and the just like off-centeredness that we all represent, you know, and it's it's wild. And it's what's step, I mean, this is exactly why it's on Steppenwolf stage.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Right. It's that the provocative, it's the thing that you want, it's all living into your purpose, which is pretty crazy. Yeah. So what would you tell a young person who who may love the arts, uh, you know, what how do they get to run a major uh theater institution? Like, like how do they get your journey is so unusual, right? I mean, it isn't, it isn't. Like you've stayed through line, you've had multiple consistent through lines, but yeah, someone who says, I wanna, I wanna run Steppenwolf.
SPEAKER_00It's you know, I I guess I have a shared sensibility to some of the former heads of our auto industry, which is to say that I believe that part of my strength in leadership is that I have journeyed through aspects of my career that that make me understand what the different modalities that I lead go through on a daily basis, right? I have acted, I've directed, I've been in a box office, I've done fundraising, I've done marketing, I have sewed costumes, I've hung lights. All of these things, like there is a bit of that old school, you know, make sure you go through the assembly line before you lead the company so that you can identify and help to support and problem solve and also amplify the talents of your team. So I I do think that there is a part of that that's has led to my success. And part of that is trust, right? Building trust with the team. And then, you know, the the other piece is that I we have a very collaborative art form. So let me just ask on that.
SPEAKER_01I know we talked about this slightly, but how do you work with the artistic director? Like what I mean, I suspect there are going to be points where you are going to disagree on how or the three of you may disagree, each of you may disagree on something. How do you how do you work through that?
SPEAKER_00Use our words, Maria. Yeah. I mean, we that's why I think it's so important to articulate the vision and the goals and to have a clear strategy. I believe I have a lot of dashboards that I show of all the like everyone understands what room we're in, both in terms of our goals from a mission perspective and also our limitations from a financial position. And, you know, we are we will move through challenges we have with being informed and being aligned on what our North Star is, and also talk it through. And I think that the thing that I love about Audrey and Glenn and about the the ethos of our company is that everyone comes in with a strong perspective, but also a commitment to have the capacity to change. We are active listeners, and I think that's a really hard skill, especially right now because social media is such a one-way communication device.
SPEAKER_01And you can pick and choose what you want to hear and what you want to receive.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. But there is, you know, I think we three have had to build a strong degree of trust and a strong understanding of what each of us bring to the party. And and then we move through it. And at the end of the day, we have to make a decision that's in the best interest of the company. And we have a brilliant board who also is very aligned with what our mission, vision, and values are. And so, you know, there have been times where we have intentionally, many times, pulled them into conversations to make sure that you know we're making the decision that's in the best interest of the long-term health of the company.
SPEAKER_01The kids, I suspect, just are like so proud that mama is the executive director of Stephen Wolf. I can only imagine how proud they are that you're in this role and that you support the arts and especially since all three of them have artistic ability and skills and love of the arts.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I hope so. I mean, I hope that I, you know, have led by example to live wholeheartedly and passionately. And and I'm so proud of each of them. You know, my my oldest is now a freshman at NYU and going on her journey. And, you know, I have a junior and a senior here at Walter Payton and Shy Arts, and they're all just they are really extraordinary human beings. And I'm so proud of how intellectually curious they are and open-hearted and communicative. And and I I'm I'm more proud of them than I'm sure they will ever be of me. But I it's they definitely are champions, and I feel they're in my corner every day.
SPEAKER_01So beautiful. Okay. I always end with lightning round questions. Oh, goodness. Okay. So you just answer the way you answer. Okay. Don't overthink. This one may take you a second because you probably have a lot to pick from. What's one book, play, or piece of art that's changed you? Oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_00Can we come back to that one?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, we'll come back to that one. Okay. That's really not a lightning red part. That's good enough. That was kind of bad, but I thought that one I've I was super curious. And maybe I should have just said what book. Yeah. Maybe, because if I added plays, a work of art, I mean. Given your brain, the capacity of your brain in terms of understanding. Yeah. So we'll come back. We'll go back to that.
SPEAKER_00I consume a lot of art. Visual art. I can see a lot of plays. I read a lot of books. So that's a hard one to narrow down.
SPEAKER_01Imagine. Okay. Favorite holiday?
SPEAKER_00Christmas.
SPEAKER_01Last song you downloaded.
SPEAKER_00No clue. Last song I downloaded? I don't think I downloaded a song. I am a My Guilty Pleasure is Taylor Swift.
SPEAKER_01I was gonna ask you, favorite Taylor Swift song? No? None? Stay. Okay. Invisibility or super strength?
SPEAKER_00Super strength.
SPEAKER_01Is it wrong for vegetarians to eat animal crackers?
SPEAKER_00No.
SPEAKER_01That wouldn't be.
SPEAKER_00No, no. Dawn or dusk? Dawn.
SPEAKER_01Favorite junk food? Cheetos. Last Halloween costume. Which? Oh, okay. That's good. Um uh what's for dinner tonight?
SPEAKER_00I don't know. Good answer. Good, good answer. Although my husband and I, you know, we're theater family very organized. So we do have a call sheet that goes up on the whiteboard. And it has everyone's activities and the time of their calls at various things. And then we do have a meal plan up there. But Michael, thank you. Michael did the menu for this week, so he knows what's for dinner too.
SPEAKER_01Are you kidding me? You actually have this on a board?
SPEAKER_00Yes, Maria.
SPEAKER_01That is unbelievable. Does everybody have assignments of what they have, who cooks and what do you have? Is it down to that level?
SPEAKER_00It's a the left side has every day and what key activities everyone has and the the work schedules of the parents. And if people are going places, who's taking them there if they're getting there on their own. And then the right side are all of the meals that then correlate into a populated grocery list that can tear off and go to the grocery store.
SPEAKER_01Okay, that is probably the best advice you've given this entire podcast.
SPEAKER_00It is a lifesaver. It is a lifesaver. And also no one can ever say, I didn't know where you were or what you were doing.
SPEAKER_01Oh, that is so fantastic. Okay, climb a mountain or jump a plane.
SPEAKER_00Climb a mountain. I know. Skydiving, it scares the hell out of me. I like nightmares about it. Tea or coffee? Tea.
SPEAKER_01Polka dotted polka dots or stripes.
SPEAKER_00Polka dots, although I never wear them. I I don't know why. That just polka dots are really in right now. Yeah. Polka dots are the thing to wear right now. Yeah. I was thinking about that Dr. Seuss book where the animal gets the polka dots. Oh. Just made me super happy.
SPEAKER_01That is actually very funny. Did I do tea or coffee with you?
SPEAKER_00Tea.
SPEAKER_01Okay. My favorite. Oh, ho. What's the name of your autobiographical Broadway musical? I mean, this is a little political, but she persisted. I love it. It's not, it's perfect for the Chicago Network. I love it. It's exactly it. Okay. Last question. What brings you joy?
SPEAKER_00Living life. Living life in community with. You know, we it's like such a rare thing that we are born into existence in this time on this planet, in this physical form, with the ability to communicate and love and learn. And I mean, that's one of the reasons why I was so honored to be invited into the Chicago Network and to get to know you, and particularly to get to know you at the time where we were both coming into these leadership roles with the backdrop of the pandemic. I've said this to you before, but I feel like you create such an extraordinary environment where members of the Chicago Network, you know, celebrate our past, honor our current journey, and help pave the way for each other forward. And you have showed up for me and so many members of the Chicago Network in our moments of need and seen us as leaders and as humans. And Maria, you're you are an extraordinary leader and extraordinary woman. And being in a conversation with another human who sees me the way that you see everyone who sits across from you is just a joy. So thank you for having me on Twitter.
SPEAKER_01That's all for today's episode of TCN Talks. The Chicago Network thanks you for listening. We appreciate you subscribing and reviewing the show. Please follow us on LinkedIn. And Brooke, it was such a joy. Thank you. And I want everybody to subscribe to uh to Steppenwolf.
SPEAKER_00So go see a play, everybody. Get out there and be in a room with strangers and take the wild ride that the artist of Chicago uniquely can take you on and enjoy that slice of humanity. We've been gathering around the fires telling our stories for century, and we're doing it every day across 200 theaters in our beautiful city by the lake.
