Director of Production for the Alliance Theatre, Atlanta, GA
The Atlanta-based Alliance Theatre this past summer welcomed Lawrence Bennett as its new Director of Production. Bennett brings 15 years of production management and technical direction experience in a variety of company leadership positions. He is one of only four Black people to ever be a director of production at a League of Resident Theatres (LORT) institution. Before coming to the Alliance, Bennett served as the Director of Production at the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and as the Associate Production Manager at Baltimore Center Stage. Prior to production management, he spent 10 years working as a technical director at various colleges across the country, including the University of Texas, University of South Florida, among others. He has also worked at various summer theaters all over the country including Williamstown Theatre Festival, Utah Shakespeare Festival, and Opera Theatre of St. Louis. Bennett serves as Vice Commissioner of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) for the Management Commission for the United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT). He is also the co-chair of the EDI and membership committees for the Production Managers Forum, the network for Production Managers of non-profit theater, dance, and opera companies and educational theaters in North America. Bennett received his MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his BFA from the Conservatory of Theatre Arts at Webster University. Stage Directions recently spoke with Bennett to learn a bit more about this dynamic theatermaker.
How did you get into theater production management?
I had a great mentor in David Stewart, who I met when I was in graduate school at the University of Wisconsin. Seeing how he ran the department, and just being who he was, really piqued my interest in getting into production management. I had been formally trained as a technical director. Watching him operate and how he dealt with problems and people, and came up with solutions, was inspiring.
Is there a project you feel took your career to the next level?
I had an opportunity to do production manager work when I was at the University of Texas. I was teaching there and the academic technical director. Being at a program as large as the University of Texas and working with all the fantastic professionals there, I really started to craft my understanding of what it would take to be a production manager and began to make that shift. I don’t know if it was one particular project as much as it was just my experience of being able to not only technical directing there but also to start doing some production management on the smaller projects that were brought into the department.
What’s a production that you recall as a memorable experience?
When I was at Baltimore Center Stage as the Associate Production Manager, there were two productions that I remember. One of them was SOUL The Stax Musical, which was based on the story of Stax Records, its evolution, and eventual downfall. All those famous artists. The second production was a one-man show Twisted Melodies, which was a written and acted by Kelvin Roston, Jr., based upon the life of Donny Hathaway, a 70s soul singer. Being a part of those journeys was phenomenal. Those two projects really have been influential on my career.
Has your race or ethnicity influenced your career journey?
Oh, absolutely. Sometimes in unforeseen ways. I wrote my graduate thesis on the lack of African Americans in production and theater management. So, I’ve always had an eye towards the lack of diversity in, specifically upper management, and technical theater. When I say technical, I’m talking to all aspects of production management, technical directors, costume shop directors, etc. I was interested in why there was such a lack of diversity. For me, this began as early as 2009 when I was in graduate school and starting to do my research. It’s something that I have continued with to this day. Wondering why there weren’t a lot of role models out there in the world. Because, again, the first person that I saw really doing the work—and the way I wanted to do it—was David Stewart when I was writing my graduate thesis. I’ve been doing theater since the sixth grade and not really being able to see folks who look like me doing the things that I was doing. It didn’t really dawn on me until I started in college and graduate school, and I wanted to know why that was.
Is there any advice you wish you’d been given as a person of color looking to go into theater? And what advice would you give young people of color considering a career in theater production?
The biggest piece of advice that I wish I was given would be to seek a variety of avenues. Sometimes in the theater we get locked into thinking that there’s only one pathway forward. I should have sought out other theatrical programs at either HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) or theatrical institutions who were really big into community work and supporting underrepresented and underpopulated communities. I think that that would have been another way to really get in touch with folks who did look like me doing the work but might not have had the same visibility as higher profile places. I would have tried to look in those communities that aren’t traditionally representative, but you don’t necessarily know they exist because your world is whatever community that the group you currently happen to be with is. So, know that they exist and seek them out, I think would be the advice that I would give young professionals coming up.
What’s a piece of advice that you did get early in your career that you still find applicable today?
My high school theater director said to us, ‘you’re not just actors, you’re not just technicians, you are theater people’. She really had a mantra of making sure that when we were doing the work, regardless of what capacity you were in, it was that you did it with the full weight and understanding of walking a mile in someone else’s shoes. That has really carried with me throughout my journey because I’m able to look at the theater and projects holistically and not just from my corner of the world. Really seeing how decisions we make impact employees or guest artists who are under my purview. Sometimes I feel that consideration isn’t always taken for folks who are not in your immediate purview. Her advice was something I find very beneficial to me.
What do you think is an important trait or quality to being a production manager in theater?
There are people that like to say that one of the most important are soft skills. I don’t know if I would call them soft skills because I think they’re paramountly important. Having the skills to be able to connect with people on a real level. I fully believe in holistically supporting the person, not just the employee. When I’m dealing with my staff, I want to know about their lives outside of the theater. If they have kids, if they’re married, what things are important to them, the baseball games, concerts, things of that nature. Because I’m a fundamental believer in that when you care for the person holistically, it only comes back to you tenfold in the work that they’re giving you and the relationships. I think it really leads into being more of a leader than a manager. So, I think that those skills to be able to connect on a real, fundamental level, are probably among the most important that the manager/leader could have.
What do you love about being a production manager?
Every day is different. We could work on three different productions of Hamlet and all three of those productions would be vastly different than the previous production and the work is just never the same. I think the variety and nature of the industry in general is what I really love, but I think I also specifically love production management.
What are you looking forward to in your new job at The Alliance Theatre?
I’m looking forward to being able to really be doing work in the community. The Alliance is really poised to do meaningful work in the communities with which we’re trying to serve. That’s the type of service that I want to be a part of; go beyond producing a play in underrepresented or oftentimes forgotten communities. Really trying to be of service to folks in the community. Make real lasting change in the community, so we can be a real arts partner to those folks. That is the work that really excites me here at the Alliance; being able to really get in the community and be the partner that we truly want to be. I’m hoping that we can create some lasting change. I am looking forward to being part of that work.
