NCEC in the News!
Preston Lane, Triad Stage Co-Founder:
“An Artist Who Thinks Like a Businessperson”
Researched and written by Tai Caldwell
When Broadway producer Benjamin Mordechai set out to found the Indiana Repertory Theatre in the late 1960s, he approached then-mayor of Indianapolis, Richard Lugar, with his idea. Lugar supported Mordechai whole-heartedly; and the theater was born, due mostly to support from the city. Things were very different in the late 1990s when Preston Lane and his business partner Rich Whittington came to the then-mayor of Greensboro with their plan to open a not-for-profit theater. A wonderful idea, she thought--and has shown her support every year since by purchasing a season pass. This was one of the first obstacles Lane faced in forming Triad Stage. He and Whittington had used the Indiana Repertory Theatre as a case study when developing their concept, but they learned quickly that the arts in America are much different today than they were back then.
Lane didn’t set out to be the artistic director of a regional theater. In fact, he began just down the road in Winston-Salem at the North Carolina School of the Arts studying to be an actor--a scary business, he says. “And it is a business . . . you are your own business.” He ran into problems when he realized he wasn’t the kind of business, the kind of actor, that he wanted to be. Feeling disconnected from his art, he turned to directing and enrolled in the Yale School of Drama. There, Lane learned that directing--like acting--is just as much a business as it is a craft. This did not dissuade him, however; his experiences at Yale distilled his opinions. “I believed in the value of a theater that serves its region and serves its community,” he says. This sparked his desire to pursue a career as an artistic director for a regional theater. He met a kindred soul at Yale, Whittington, a graduate student in theater management. Describing each other, Lane calls Whittington a “businessperson who thinks like an artist,” while Lane is an “artist who thinks like a businessperson.” The pair teamed up, determined to create a regional theater that incorporated both.
Choosing Greensboro as the prime spot for such an endeavor was no accident, nor was it due merely because Lane is a native North Carolinian. Extensive demographic research showed the community to be primed for a theater of this kind. Despite that, the impetus to create it rested solely on the shoulders of Lane and Whittington.
Fortunately, they were up to the task. According to Lane, most start-up theaters fail after one or two shows because they have little to no plan other than putting on performances. Lane and Whittington certainly bucked that trend by completing an eighty-page business plan before they’d even found a rehearsal space. It was key, Lane says, to have something of substance to present to business and community leaders as well as potential donors. While one may assume the plan was drafted mainly for business purposes, Lane states that the art is integrated wholly into the document. “The reason the business exists is to create the art . . . we aren’t creating the art to create money, we’re creating the money to create art.”
Having that plan didn’t mean the sailing was entirely smooth. One of Lane and Whittington’s initial problems was simply getting people to understand what it was they were trying to do. Greensboro already had college theater and a community theater; what would Triad Stage bring? Why did the region need a not-for-profit theater? Of course, seven years on, it’s nearly impossible to think of Elm Street without the Pyrle Theater. That in and of itself was another problem Lane faced. He and Whittington were strong believers in downtown revitalization and wanted to locate their theater there, but real estate was difficult to find. Once they did find their building at 232 S. Elm, it had to be entirely remodeled--it was originally a Montgomery Ward department store.
A few months after Triad Stage announced its first season in June of 2001, the world changed. After September 11th, the theater was the last thing on anyone’s mind, including Lane’s. “It was a season we would have not done if we had known that September the 11th was around the corner,” he says. Contributions--which had been around $100,000 a month--dried up as the country went into a recession.
Contributions have been an ongoing source of struggle for Triad Stage as they are for any not-for-profit. Lane declares the biggest problem isn’t getting people to donate but getting them to continue to donate on a yearly basis. Repeat donors signify “a continual investment in the value of what this theater provides for the community.” Not only is it difficult for Triad Stage to solicit donations from the public, corporate donations in these financially stretched times aren’t what they used to be. Fortunately, Lane and Whittington have received great support from local foundations as well as the United Arts Council.
The past few years have seen great success for Triad Stage, despite its difficulties. The 2005-06 season was a barnburner, and the theatre has since been granted the naming rights to their building as well as several significant grants from the state. The company now employs around twenty full-time employees and hires between forty and fifty actors a season, operating on a budget of $1.1 million. Lane credits his success to several theater management courses he took while at Yale in which he learned that it doesn’t matter how good a performance is, there must always be a “plan behind the art,” that the only way to succeed is to combine “financial wisdom along with artistic vision.”
The most vital question for any entrepreneur is always “what’s next?” Now that Triad Stage is on firm ground, Lane says that they are looking to expand their operations. This past summer, they had their first touring show, a resounding success that Lane looks forward to repeating in 2008. The third floor of the Pyrle Theater is unoccupied, and he says they plan to turn it into a second performance and rehearsal space, theoretically allowing them to double their shows. A series of programming for young audiences is on the list as well as bringing more music into the theater. Lane and Whittington are even considering establishing a second theater in another town, a second home for Triad Stage. Triad Stage has become a leader in the arts community, and Lane is ready to step up and take on that role. He looks forward to finding new ways to serve the community, the state, and the nation.
Lane is full of advice for upcoming entrepreneurs. “Give yourself a runway,” he says. “You’re not going to take off on the first show, the first year.” It’s a long-term process, he declares, and not one to be taken lightly. Despite that, he strongly supports the thought of more theaters in the region. Lane believes that good art fosters good art, that there is always room for another theater, another gallery, another dance company. When Triad Stage first came to the area, some complained it would steal the audience of preexisting theaters and be competition for funding from arts organizations. In truth, it has revitalized the arts community and reignited public interest in the theater. Lane believes each theater in the area--such as High Point’s Shakespeare Festival or Greensboro’s Broach Theatre or Open Space--offers something different to its audience, and Triad Stage is simply another option in a plethora of choices afforded to residents of the region.
Lane believes that a sense of history is valuable resource that UNCG can offer to its students who express interest in artistic entrepreneurship. He credits a great deal of his success to a survey of American theater management course he took at Yale and believes such a class would be a definite boon to the curriculum. For a more modern perspective, he suggests performing case studies on newer theaters to see how the business operates in today’s world. And finally, he recommends a class that brings together artists and businesspeople; setting up teams like the one he shares with Whittington. “Too often,” Lane laments, “the relationship between artist and management--artist and business--is one of conflict and opposition, as opposed to viewing it as a relationship that is collaborative. We are all working towards the same thing.
This case study was conducted in October 2007 by Tyler "Tai" Caldwell, a Media Writing major in the Media Studies Department. Her work was part of an undergraduate research assistantship funded by the Office of Undergraduate Research, under the directorship of Dr. Mary Crowe.
These case studies were compiled and archived as part of the former BELL (Building Entrepreneuruial Learning for Life) Program's Entrepreneurial Innovation in the Arts (EIA) initiative to provide a library of examples of how artists in many different fields have achieved success. The cases were researched and written by UNCG students.