The Lakewood Playhouse as a community mainstay is important yesterday, today, and tomorrow. As a Board, we understand that the priorities and decisions we make now will not only bolster how we navigate through this time, but also for the longer-term success of the Lakewood Playhouse.

As an organization we have learned that some changes happen to us and some we need to drive. The pandemic happened to us. In that time of uncertainty, the decision was made to invest aggressively in retaining all staff, regardless of our closure. We had no idea how long the pandemic would last or what the long-term effects would be. Our trusted staff have worked tirelessly to get the theater through our time of difficulty. We are thrilled to be back open after being closed for so long. We are thrilled to be welcoming back more audience members with each show and we are optimistic about our future.

That being said, it would be irresponsible for us to move forward as if nothing had changed. It would be poor stewardship and management to pretend that our overall budget has not decreased dramatically due to the pandemic. It would be irresponsible to ignore the growing infrastructure needs of our aging building. Effective this week, we are decreasing our operational expenses to focus on a season of rebuilding.

While our gratitude to the staff at the Lakewood Playhouse could not be greater, we have an obligation to see them compensated for their good work. Our current payroll is more than we can meet so we are making some very hard decisions to reduce our payroll obligation while we build for a more sustainable future. Our priority is to see the Playhouse become a strong, solvent, and relevant part of the Lakewood community, which includes seeing those who create live theater paid and acknowledged.

The Lakewood Playhouse Board of Directors is dedicated to reinvigorating our theater and becoming a driving participant in increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion in live performance.

Let’s raise the curtain on another 80 years of live theatre in Lakewood! Together.
 
The Lakewood Playhouse Board

Position Summary:
The Lakewood Playhouse is looking for an Managing Director to co-lead the Playhouse, in partnership with the Artistic Director. The leader we seek will have great chemistry with the AD and will have a record of management and leadership.

The Managing Director is responsible for management oversight of the organization including design and implementation of all fundraising and development (audience and donor) activities; supervising all non-artistic staff; and working collaboratively with the Artistic Director to ensure the financial integrity and accountability of the organization. The Managing Director works in partnership with the Artistic Director to provide the vision and leadership necessary for fulfilling the mission of the organization.

About Lakewood Playhouse
Lakewood Playhouse: live theatre and theatrical education - telling our stories and inspiring our community.

The Lakewood Playhouse was founded in 1938 as a community theatre and produces in an intimate 151-seat theatre located in the Lakewood Towne Center. In addition to six mainstage shows, the Playhouse also provides theatre classes, and camps through the Lakewood Institute of Theatre.

Responsibilities:
General Office: Lakewood Playhouse operates with a small staff. Employees support daily office functions including answering phones, ticket orders, taking out trash, etc.
 
Financial Management: The MD is ultimately responsible for effective budgeting, reporting and control, and for the overall financial good health of the organization.

Human Resources: The Managing Director hires administrative staff, manages payroll and maintains the Handbook.

Development/Fundraising: Create and implement fundraising plan coordinating with the Artistic Director. The MD ensures successful fundraising through annual appeals, marketing and collateral pieces and relationship development. The MD communicates the theatre’s vision to funders & inspires them to give. Oversee all annual, project and capital campaigns.

Box Office/Audience Development: The MD oversees all Box Office operations and Audience Development.

Strategic Planning: MD identifies, develops, facilitates, implements and monitors the strategic planning process, including short and long term goals and objectives

Advocacy: In conjunction with the Artistic Director, the Managing Director presents the public face of the Theater and when called upon, speaks to private and public organizations and to the press.

IT/Technology:  Has working knowledge of and oversees computer hardware/software/networking systems, telephone and voicemail systems.

Facilities: The Managing Director oversees the maintenance of the Playhouse facilities.

Board of Directors Development & Support: The MD Works with the Board of Directors and Artistic Director to coordinate donor development and fundraising activities to ensure The Playhouse’s financial stability and promote sustainability.
 
KNOWLEDGE/SKILLS/ABILITIES 

• Knowledge of the regional and national artistic communities 
• Excellent time management skills 
• Strong financial accounting and management skills including budgeting 
• Strong strategic and analytical skills, with the ability to interpret information quickly and accurately and to implement directives
• 3+ years’ experience in theater production, and directing theatrical performances
• 3+ years’ experience in supervising professional staff and volunteers
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, and a passion for sharing the performing arts with the greater community
• Organized and creative, able to work under deadlines and on a limited budget
• Highly motivated self-starter who enjoys helping organizations grow and develop
• Awareness of, and commitment to, practices that expand diversity, equity and inclusion
• Strong attention to detail and accuracy 
• Ability and willingness to inspire, coach and/or mentor artists 
• Ability and passion to work inclusively with all ages and diverse populations 
• Experience in fundraising efforts 
• Minimum Bachelors Degree in theatre, performing arts, and/or equivalent work 

experience 

• Experience leading theatrical production teams

 
PREFERRED:

• Experience designing and implementing a fundraising plan; letter writing, grant writing and/or
  event management
• Experience working at a non-profit theater
• Experience in planning and organizing a theatrical season
• Experience on stage in the performing arts and/or in any aspect of technical theater
• Experience working backstage or in other technical theater arts
• Strong presentation skills in public setting 
• Experience in conflict resolution and creating a collaborative environment 

 
Other key competencies of this role include: 

• Personal Accountability – The willingness to self-evaluate, learn from mistakes, take responsibility for personal actions and decisions, accept setbacks, look for ways to progress, and understand how obstacles impact results. 
• Diplomacy and Leadership – The capacity to listen to and understand different perspectives, handle difficult issues with sensitivity and respect, and communicate effectively across diverse constituencies and hierarchical and functional borders. 
• Resiliency – The recognition that criticism is an opportunity to improve with the ability to quickly recover from adversity, overcome setbacks, and remain optimistic when working through obstacles and challenges. 
• Flexibility – The agility to respond promptly to shifts in priorities and tasks with minimal resistance as well as accept new ideas and approaches.

 
 
SALARY: $30,000 – $35,000 Full Time, hourly.
TO APPLY: Please e-mail cover letter, resume, and three references to jobs@lakewoodplayhouse.org
No phone calls please.

Deadline: Open until October 30, but applications received by October 15 will receive priority consideration. If selected for an interview, candidates will be asked to prepare a sample season and one paragraph of director's notes over a proposed production
Lakewood Playhouse is committed to ensuring equal employment, educational opportunity, and equal access to services, programs, and activities without regard to an individual's race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, gender, pregnancy, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, predisposing genetic characteristics, marital status, familial status, veteran status, military status, domestic violence victim status, or criminal conviction status.
Lakewood Playhouse will maintain the confidentiality of information provided by all applicants.

By Kyle Sinclair

Last year, I wrote a song about Lakewood Playhouse’s upcoming season of shows. We had been in lockdown for several months, but things were looking up and we expected a reopening announcement within the next few days. 

But then things got worse, and there was no announcement. The original version of the song (in which I managed to rhyme “mid-July we’ll” with “Murder on the Nile”) had to be trimmed, since mid-July had come and gone with no such performance.

A year later, I decided to write a sequel about the NEW upcoming season. I cheekily called it, “Tempting Fate”.

As I wrote, specific visuals popped into my head to match the various musical vignettes – creepy masks in the audience for Haunting of Hill House, a dramatic diva on the balcony for Head Over Heels – and it quickly coalesced into a music video idea. I texted Chap Wolff this pie-in-the-sky vision as an example of how far my idea had spiraled out of control.

He replied, and I quote, “Let’s do it.”

I’d been experimenting with a camera technique where it spins around a subject and things appear where previously there was nothing. It requires a lot of coordination and practice, but the result is pretty magical. It was a natural fit for this project because it allowed for different scenes to match the musical vignettes while highlighting the brilliance of live theatre. 

Yes, once the camera cuts to the Playhouse, the entire scene is a single shot with no cuts. Everything you see was actually done in real time at the theatre – there are no tricks, no hidden cuts.

A group of thespians met in the theatre early one Sunday in August with only a cursory understanding of what they were going to be doing. We assigned them roles and costumes, and prepared to block the video.

I was nervous about this phase of the project. I was asking a lot from the cast, who had to learn the song, blocking, and costume changes in just a few hours. Co-Interim Managing Artistic Director James Venturini and I had discussed whether this should actually be a 2-day project, but based on the Playhouse calendar, either we got it done in one day or it didn’t happen. The actors were expecting to be there from 9-5, but film shoots can be unpredictable and I knew there was a possibility that we wouldn’t be done until closer to 7 or 8.

Film and theatre are two entirely different beasts. In theatre, once the show begins, the script barrels forward and the actors are at its mercy. In film, the actors (usually referred to as “the talent”) spend most of their time sitting around waiting for everyone else to get the shot set up. Then they come in, say their lines, and go back to waiting for the next shot. I was determined to avoid wasting my cast’s time – I had already written a script and had blocked it all out using cut up pieces of paper to make sure my vision was even possible – but now the issue would be clearly communicating the pictures in my head to a cast of 12. I asked them to trust that we were creating something cool.

Right off the bat, costuming took a little longer than I’d hoped. Co-Interim Managing Artistic Director Heather Hinds did a fabulous job sifting through the Playhouse’s vast store to provide each actor with much more comprehensive outfits than I’d envisioned. They looked great, but we were half an hour behind when we finally started blocking.

However, once we started, the cast just clicked into place. Everything felt right; with very little guidance, my cast knew where they were supposed to be and when they were supposed to be there. We only had to walk through it 2 or 3 times before we were ready to practice with costumes and music. 

We knew we had been missing the theatre, but I don’t think we realized how badly. If you haven’t had the opportunity to put on a play, know that it can be every bit as emotionally and physically taxing as a big sports match. Theatre is an intense, collaborative adventure, and witnessing my friends creating magic onstage again warmed my heart. We were all invested in this project and the stage was electric with excitement as each vignette was locked into place. I started bouncing with giddiness as I realized that this could actually work.

We took a lunch break and then began filming. After each run, we’d watch the shoot, I’d provide notes, and we’d do it again. Finally, there was a run that I was happy with. “That’s a wrap!” I said, and the cast cheered. It was 4pm. We were an hour early.

The day was literally a best-case scenario for the shoot. It’s a testament to the quality of my team that we were able to pull this off; they immediately understood my vision and were able to execute it. The video turned out almost exactly the way it played out in my head! I am so thankful for Lakewood Playhouse’s community of actors, who could turn an ambitious concept into a finished product in less than a day.

Now I suppose it’s time to start brainstorming next year’s video.
​

By James Venturini

​Hi Everyone!
 
Lakewood Playhouse is seeking directors for two of the shows of its 83rd Season, the play “A Christmas Carol … More or Less,” and the musical “Head Over Heels.” We are also seeking a choreographer for “Head Over Heels.”

Those interested should apply by email via productions@lakewoodplayhouse.org by August 28. Please indicate which shows/positions you are interested in, and include a resume with, or listing of, relevant experience. Interviews will be held between August 29 and September 9, 2021. ​