Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 2000 - 78

ment and cash 00\1'. Proriding membership sen'ices and presenting national conference for thousands of members was becoming a big. expensire business. The Institute, like the rest of the business Irorld,
needed to deal Irith computerization and the dmming of the electronic
age. Eren Mickey Mouse seemed determined to gire our nell' \"Oung
president trouble. But of course, I should let Randy tell the story.
Interviewer: Let's more fonrardto :u'Olll1dI98-1. I assume that rou had
been approached sometime prior to run for the office of president'
RE: That is correct.
Inteniewer: Tell me a lillie aboll! hOIl' that e\"Olred.
RE: Well. it Iras a rerr different srstem in those days. It is my belief that
in those dars the nominating commillee Iras rery much an "old
boys" nellrork. Lots of decisions that II ere theoretically made br
the nominating commiltee II ere realJr made by the old bors. And
the old bors essentiallr lined up the juniors in a roll' to say Irho'S
going to ascend to the throne next. Depending on people's professionallires. their personal interests, and their currency within the
Instilllte, there was often morement of the chess players as to when
omebodr Irould more to the throne. I Iras on the board Irith Lee
Watson [president. 1980 to 1982] and Ron Olsen [president. 1982
to 198-1] and I follOlred them in 198-1. So the old boys Irere \\"Orking behind us three tning to figure Irhen does this person come in,
Irhen does that person come in. I guess, because I Iras the youngest. I Iras last. I think that this method of essentialJy maneuvering
the leaders of lSITT up through the ranks into various offices to
quaL~' for president probably ended Irith either Richard Derin or
Don Shulman. You reaJjze. howerer. br that time I Iras one of the
old boys. so I can admit to this. :\t that pOint I think, rerr Irisely,
those Irho ran the nominating process for the Instinlle said that tltis
reallr Iras not the best war to proride the Institute with the most
effectire leaders or to relrard people who had Irorked hard :lI1d to
promote them to offices that they both lI'anted and had qualifications for. But I have to be honest and say this Iras the way that I
think I ascended to the presidencr.
Interviewer: So rou became president-elect in 1983' Is that right'
RE: Yes. The war it works, it is essentiallr a four-year term. I came in
for one rear in 198.) as president-elect. Then I came before the
membership in the spring of 198'1 at Disney World in Orlando and
gare an address as to what I Irould do for the next lIro years, And
then folloll'ed that with a year as immediate past-president.
Interviewer: Talk to me a little bit about rour presidency of the Lnslitllte,
RE: Well. I am relY proud of my presidencr. It is something that I can
speak of Irith great fondness, It is one of the richest times that I
have experienced since being on this planet. ivly presidency of
lSITT Iras blessed first of all in that I met my current wife, Jill
Stephenson. That Iras a I'en' important erent in my life. She was
with me for the second rear of my presidency. We were married in
1986. She has been a ren stabilizing force and reallr made it a very
,pecialtime. It shaped me, 011' style and my demeanor. :lI1d how I
dealt Irith people. I really think that it impacted greatly the Iray that
I related to the presidency. I came into the presidencv determined
to change the \\"Orld. The first thing I did after taking office Iras to
conduct an in-depth survev of our members to seek their opinion of
some items on which I wanted to take action. i\ly first objective was
to more the Institute's national office out of \ell' York Citr to another part of thc county lI'here we could have a more cost effectivc
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office operation. I think at that point by eren asking the question of
the membersltip. "Irould rou approre moring the office to another
locationl'"-and I Iras timid enough to say \ell' Jersey at that point:
I mean, at the rery least I wanted to more us across the rirer-but
by even suggesting leming 150 I Broadway I think that I developed
enemies for life. Many people felt the Institute belonged in 'lew
York Cill', because in their riell' there was no important theatrical
actirity occurring outside of \eII" York Citro If Ire were going to be
recognized as the lnited States Instinlle of Theatre Technology, we
had to be in the heart of \ell' York Cill'. For those people who had
fought to pll! us in Times Square at
150 I Broadlray. it was blasphemy
to eren suggest mOling awar. I had
a fell I\'ho were willing to join me.
some of my lieutenants like David
Hale Hand and Jan Musson. There
were others whom I \rill not name
who were adamantly opposed to
this and said it \\"Ould only happen
over their dead bodies. \ow more
than ten years later it has finallr
happened. But that lias 011' number one objective, and at that time
I obliouslv failed.
Interviewer: But rou did eventllally move out of 150 I Broadwar'
RE: I did get us out of 150 I
Broadway ore I' to 42nd Street
\rhere we went into the old
McGraw Hill Building, to
larger digs and into a more
cost-effective space. I also
initiated a search through ArtSearch for the first manager of the
national office with arts administration training. I say that with
the understanding that it could hurt some feelings. I had profound respect for Herb Greggs, Herb was a dear friend of mine,
He \ras up until his death somebodr Irhom I loved. \rith whom I
had a deep friendship, and much fondness. He was-something
that m:ull" people in CSITT don't knOlr-he was an accomplished plaY\\Tight :lI1d IITiter, an artist of, I think, considerable
reputation and creativity. He worked tirelessly for the Institute.
He must have put in at least 200% more than we ever paid ltim
for. And, by the way, he was there in the days when sometimes
he didn't get paid at the end of the week, because there was no
money in the bank. There was more th:Ul one week that, I'm
sure people have told you, Herb didn't get his check. Well, the
check couldn't be IITillen, because it Irouldn't clear the bank.
He \ras Irilling to forgive. He said if I can't get my check this
Ireek, marbe next. I'm not sa~ing we shorted him, but he understood the cash 0011'. Erery dollar that came into the office, he
Iras the one who opened the envelopes with the checks. He
knell' how much money \ras in the bank.
Interviewer: Do rou know what Herb's tenure was at the national office' How many rears'
RE: I don't know exactly, but it was many years. I believe that Herb
came on-board shortly after Tom DeGaetani's short tenure as

Th e Institute, like

the rest ofthe

business world,

needed to deal with

computerization

and the dawning of
the electronic age.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 2000