Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 1982 - 9

Professional personnel and contact with professional institutions
should be structured into the academic program. Further, the
academic institutions need to stress that management degrees
are not professional training (and therefore an end); rather, it is
pre-professional training.
Vogel said a dichotomy continues to exist in theatre management training. Professionals feel that university instructors are
too isolated to provide realistic training and expertise. Academic
personnel feel they have the best resources and structure for
training. Vogel says both parties must cast aside preconceived
notions and work together to address training problems for the
mutual benefit of well-trained graduates.
As to the need for more theatre managment degree programs, Vogel said there is a need for more managment people,
but not necessarily more management training programs. When
and if new management training programs are formed, the new
programs must build upon the lessons learned by existing ones
and try to go further in addressing the needs of good management training.

Conclusion
This research was undertaken to answer the question of
whether arts administration degree programs are effectively
training managers for the not-for-profit theatre. The best answer
which can be derived from this research is a qualified "sometimes."
Respondents noted that individual questions must be recognized. As in any form of training, an excellent student may
graduate from a poor program and vice versa. The unpredict-

able mix of personality, classes, employment opportunities, etc.,
may produce a superb manager or an incompetent one.
The respondents generally agreed that business skills are
being taught expertly. These skills, however, need to be applied
specifically to theatre. For instance, contract law should address
the restrictions and problems of touring and employment contracts; labor relations should deal with the questions of integrating personnel, art, and business; accounting should acquaint
the student with non-profit accounting procedures and guidelines; and so on.
If any area drew sparks of rage, it was for the lack of
professional involvement during the educational process. Managers seem ready and eager to offer advice and consultation for
degree programs. There seems to be suspicion, if not cynicism,
that a student could understand any real management problem
without that advice and consultation.
The single basis for these problems is a factor of the degree
identification. Theatre management training is not a general
course of education. The student enters such a program because he or she has some intention of becoming a professional
manager. The working managers see the "professional training"
programs lacking specificity in course structure and lacking
continuing dialogue with working professionals about real problems. In short, programs claiming to offer specific professional
training are actually offering broad pre-professional training.
The professionals responding to this survey recognize the
need for theatre management training, but they want more
pragmatism and application structured into the educational
process. If real progress is to be made, both educators and
managers must openly solicit communication and share ideas
and problems for the future of tomorrow's theatre managers. 0

PROFESSIONAL THEATRE MANAGERS SURVEYED
Mark Beardsley, Business Manager, Dallas Theatre Center (Dallas, TX)
t David Chambers, Associate Producing Director, Arena Stage (Washington, D.C.)
Harrison Cromer, Managing Director, Chelsea Theatre Center (New
York, NY)
t Peter W. Culman, Managing Director, Center Stage of Baltimore
(Baltimore, MD)
t Charles Dillingham, Managing Director, BAM Theatre Company
(Brooklyn, NY)
* Peter Donnelly, Managing Director, Seattle Repertory Theatre (Seattle, WA)
* Bernard Havard, Managing Director, Alliance Theatre Company (Atlanta, GA)
David Hawkanson, Managing Director, Arizona Theatre Company (Tucson, Al)
t Carrol Hock, General Manager, Free Street Theatre (Chicago, IL)
Nelson Isekeit, Business Manager, Cleveland Playhouse (Cleveland,
OH)
* Gerald S. Krone, Managing Director, Negro Ensemble Company (New
York, NY)
* E. Timothy Langan, Managing Director, Trinity Square Repertory Co.
(Providence, RI)
t James B. MacKenzie, Executive Producer, American Conservatory
Theatre (San Francisco, CAl
:I: Edward A. Martenson, Managing Director, Yale Repertory Theatre
(New Haven, CT)

Patricia Mcilrath, Director, Missouri Repertory Theatre (Kansas City,
MO)
t Howard J. Millman, Managing Director, Asolo State Theatre (Sarasota, FL)
* Jan Miner, Managing Director, Actors Theatre of St. Paul (St. Paul,
MN)
t Benjamin Mordecai, Producing Director, Indiana Repertory Theatre
(Indianapolis, IN)
* Sara O'Connor, Managing Director, Milwaukee Repertory Theater
(Milwaukee, WI)
t William W. Patton, General Manager, Oregon Shakespeare Festival
(Ashland, OR)
* Michael Pitek, III, Admin. Director, Loretto-Hilton Repertory Theatre
(St. Louis, MO)
M. Edgar Rosenblum, Executive Director, Long Wharf Theatre (New
Haven, CT)
t Donald Schoenbaum, Managing Director, The Guthrie Theatre (Minneapolis, MN)
t Alexander Speer, Admin. Director, Actors Theatre of Louisville (Louisville, KY)
Robert W. Tolan, Managing Director, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park
(Cincinnati, OH)
Porter Van Zandt, Jr., Managing Director, Circle Repertory Theatre
(New York, NY)
t Janet Wade, Managing Director, Goodman Theatre (Chicago, IL)
t William Wingate, General Manager, Mark Taper Forum (Los Angeles,
CAl

responded by written questionnaire
* responded by telephone interview
:I: Mr. Martenson declined interview because he is involved with the Yale
School of Drama Management Degree Program.
Note: In some instances, the person responding is different than the
person initially contacted. The writer assumes that the respondent was
designated by the original survey recipient.

USITI/Spring, 1982

Theatre Design & Technology

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