Moving Forward with EMC
Co-founders Al Heartley, Tiffany Vega, and Leandro Zaneti gather to discuss current topics facing non-profit arts leaders and organizations.
Moving Forward with EMC
What is Portland’s Flagship Theater Looking For in Their Next Managing Leader? A Conversation with Marissa Wolf and Jelani Memory
A flagship theater, a city that loves to make things, and a leadership team ready to push past old limits. This conversation with Portland Center Stage Artistic Director Marissa Wolf and Board Chair Jelani Memory opens a candid window into how Portland Center Stage is building its next chapter. We trace the path from Marissa’s new-play roots and community-focused seasons to Jelani’s entrepreneurial approach to board leadership, revealing a clear-eyed view of what it takes to grow audiences, stabilize revenue, and keep the art at the center.
Click the link here to apply for the Managing Director role. Applications for best consideration are due November 14.
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Welcome to Moving Forward with Evolution Management Consultants, the podcast where we dive deep into the dynamic world of nonprofit arts management. I'm your host, Al Hartley, and I'm thrilled to have you join us on this journey today. In each episode, we'll explore the ever-evolving landscape of the nonprofit art sector. We'll bring you thought-provoking discussions and innovative strategies to equip you with the knowledge and inspiration to take your organization to new heights. Now, let's get started. And so we wanted to do a follow-up episode, you know, where we have a rare treat of having a board chair and the artistic partner to this managing partner in this particular interview. Just to hear from their own voices, you know, how they came to PCS, where are we in this story, and what's the opportunity, you know, of this moment for Portland Center Stage. So I'm really thrilled to be joined by artistic director Marissa Wolf and board chair Jelani Memory. Hey to you both, welcome.
SPEAKER_01:It's good to be here.
SPEAKER_03:Excellent. It's good to have you all here. Thanks so much for doing this. Um you know, I um I guess, you know, one, I just want to say um how wonderful it has been to work with you both. Um, you know, to visit Portland, to get to see the theater, you know, to get to see the work on stage, to meet you all, you know, in Portland itself. Um, you know, I think, you know, you might have heard that, you know, we are just gushing not only about the city, but about you all. So hopefully your ears have been ringing, you know, non-stop since we've been able to come out there. Um, and so I really thank you both for just doing this interview. And, you know, before we started, you know, Marissa, I was telling Jelani, and I'll tell listeners, you know, Jelani is only the out of my career in Lourdes theaters, Jelani is only the second black male board chair that I've ever worked with. Um, the first was at the Guthrie with Mark Belton. Um, you know, and now it's really doing this here, you know. So um I really couldn't be more thrilled, you know, and also Marissa to know the artistry that you've brought to Portland that you have for our field, you know, at large is just it's really stunning to see. Um, you know, so I I want to kick off with just asking you all uh or you both to talk a bit about how you got to Portland center stage, you know. Um, Marissa, I know you've been there several seasons now, you know, uh, and Jelani, you've been there the last couple of seasons, you know. But Marissa, maybe I could start with you of what what brought you to Portland center stage of all places?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, thank you, Alan, for that beautiful introduction. Um, I love that. Uh it's very powerful and it was awesome to have you on site. Um so let's see, I grew up on the East Coast and um was uh went through undergrad on the East Coast and I moved to um to the Bay Area for 10 years. And I I that's sort of where I did um the directing fellowship at Berkeley Rev. And that's really where I cut my teeth. I sort of consider that my graduate school. That's where I was like, oh, you can do that with original theater. Like, oh, you can you can be sort of central to your community's conversations and like engagement. Um, and that felt really exciting to me. Uh I ran the indie new play theater company, Crowded Fire Theater, for six years in the Bay. I was the artistic director there. And then I was looking to move into the Lore level. Um, and I took the new play director job and eventually the associate artistic director job at Kansas City rep. So moved across the country to Kansas City Rap, spent three and a half years there, had a kid there. Um, and that was an incredible place also to um each each each theater that I've served, I have sort of like lived into the possibility of what it's doing for its community, how it's serving, how it's showing up. Um, Crowd of Fire was like the cool new play kid who like had the audiences that everyone wanted in the bay, um where people really got to see themselves reflected on stage. Kansas City was like a hometown theater in like a powerful way where everyone, like my dentist, my um optometrist, like everyone had come to Kansas City at least once. It was as important as the huge sports teams there because it had been doing Christmas Carol for 35 years and it was it was a mainstay in people's sort of family lives. So that felt powerful and exciting. And then I was, you know, I'm sort of in the cohort of like next gen leaders. Now I'm old, but it felt like, you know, it was a very exciting moment when um we had the generational shift about eight years ago, um, where uh folks who had been occupying these seats for decades started to retire. And that began for the first time in many years a sort of real shift in the field. And so I started um, you know, sort of going out for these opportunities when I saw that my predecessor Chris Coleman announced leaving Portland Center Stage. I remember just like jumping up from my chair and kind of hollering and saying, like, I'm going, I'm gonna go hard for that job. And I did. And it was an eight-month uh eight-month process. Um, uh and I flew out a couple of times and um I was really drawn to Portland Center Stage because I could see the way that it was serving as the largest theater in the region, the second largest in the state, that it was serving such a wide audience. I loved that it was a new play festival. Um and I loved that it was doing that kind of like really large tent pole work as well. So it was doing the classics, it was doing canonical, it was doing contemporary and new plays. It felt to me like poised on the edge of the world to kind of keep building into um uh a cultural hub for the community. So that's what brought me here. I wanted to come back to the West Coast and I moved my family back uh and I'm thrilled to be here.
SPEAKER_03:That's fantastic. You know, especially I think, you know, like you mentioned, talking about Portland Center Stage is really a flagship, a hometown theater, you know, really a jewel, you know, of the city. And that's certainly what, you know, at least I kind of felt on the ground there. Um, you know, that's great. Jelani, you know, it takes a lot to be a board chairman, um, you know, and to step up and say, like, yes, I'm I'm gonna board chair and try to lead, you know, this organization. So, you know, I know you're of Portland, but what brought you to center stage and in particular, you know, taking on the chair role?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I've uh uh born and raised in Portland, lived here my whole life. I love this city. I think it's one of the most uh amazing and creative and innovative cities in the world. Um, and and I've spent my entire career as an entrepreneur building businesses uh with always a little bit of an artistic bent to them. And so when I got the opportunity to join the board uh through a handful of connections, um I was I was enthused. I love the idea of getting to bring a business mind to the world of storytelling um and and to offer input in potentially how to grow in fundraising and how to grow on the earned revenue side, uh uh and and also to make sure that there was enough space and enough leadership so that the art got to be the art and and the artists got to keep keep doing that without any impediments. And taking on the board chair role was really uh, you know, uh sort of uh, I don't know, a measure twice, cut once sort of a thing where it just was like, you know what, I understand this is a lot of work, um, but but this organization, um uh I don't want to go anywhere anytime soon. And and if it's worth spending a little bit of time here, it must be worth spending a lot of bit of time here. And so investing in that way, um, uh bringing some of my sort of entrepreneurial ideas uh at the board level in terms of recruiting uh and and thinking through how the board could be supportive of the organization. Um it's it's been a treat. And and I don't regret it for a second.
SPEAKER_03:Listen, that's that's really great too, you know, especially like one, what I hear from you both is such a passion for Portland, you know, and I think like you both mentioned, like such an innovative city, a creative city, you know, a place that really, you know, uh to me it seems, you know, folks that visit there but also really stay there, you know, grow a kind of love for it and like where to spend that creative energy and time, you know, is so critical and key. And I think Jelani, like you mentioned that that entrepreneurial and innovative piece, and Marissa, you really connecting around that this is how a regional theater should be, you know, that this is, you know, I can see how it can act, and I can get in here as an artistic leader and have a board leader as well, you know, that's really down with this idea of let's let's live this to the fullest that we can, knowing that there's challenges, you know, but really there's an opportunity of how do we serve a community, you know, especially a community that really has a lot of love, you know, it seems for a place like Portland Center Stage. Um, and it makes me want to ask you both, you know, I I remember, you know, where something that we really resonated with and connected with in our episode was really thinking about storytelling, you know, and that some of our work, even as consultants, is saying, where are we in this story? You know, when we arrive, when we're talking about, you know, getting a managing director job description up, you know, where the staff and board is, where the community is, you know, some of that is sort of popping in and saying, if we're in the middle of the story, what where are we? What is this story in this moment? You know, and so Jelani, maybe I could start with you around where where are we in this story around Portland Center Stage, what this managing director might be coming into?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, well, I I feel like I'm gonna go off on a tangent here, but I'm a big fan of the hero's journey and Joseph Campbell. And um, you know, uh I'd say we've we've crossed past sort of the the midpoint, uh that sort of inner threshold. And to me, it's about taking that elixir that you find in that place and going and and off to sort of save the day. And that doesn't mean there aren't challenges ahead. Um, but uh but the future is so full of opportunity. And and you and I, when we chatted before this conversation, uh I shared with you that I think like this is a chance to do it the right way, to do it the way that maybe someone has dreamed of for a very long time. They wished their local regional theater or the theater across the country would do it this way, that they have great ideas, that they they think there's more room for innovation or thoughtful storytelling or platforming voices that haven't been platformed. This is the place to do it. This is where there's opportunity and backing from the entire leadership and the entire board to come and and frankly make shit happen and and and do remarkable things. You're not going to be stuck with sort of the the overbore, you know, uh overwrought legacy or uh traditions of the past. This is really about let's do sort of what the future deserves.
SPEAKER_03:I love that. I love that. And you know, especially I think that what the future deserves, and even for my working with you all, you know, having some reign to say, well, could we do this? You know, what does this look like? Um, and you all, or at least in our working with you all, it feels like you've given us that reign, you know, to say, well, let us do a search, you know, and do a recruitment that really feels like we're trying to fulfill something, you know, and trying to make it good and make it happen and make it happen in the way that we want to see it, you know, as a newer generation, or kind of Marissa, what you alluded to, another set of generation that's coming in seven years later. Um, and Jelania, I love that that reference um, you know, around Joseph Campbell's piece because it's where into the woods is kind of based, you know, from a theater perspective of, you know, you go into the woods, you think you're kind of out of the woods, but then you go back into the woods to sort of discover something anew, you know, or to complete a journey, you know. Um, Marissa, I'm I'm curious where you see the story right now, you know, especially maybe artistically, you know, over the last couple of years for you. You know, where is this managing director coming to partner with you to make the kind of art you think this community needs?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I love that so much. And and um uh I love what Jelani said. It's it's it's powerful and it feels true. Like um the I think Yes, I think that the managing director will come in in a moment where we have we've turned a corner. Um uh we've been standing um inside our our values as an organization and really serving um the whole community in such a thrilling way. Um, and we're seeing the sort of fruits of that um uh right now sort of um start to blossom. So I think um, and it is just like for all regional theaters, like a difficult moment. So I think that um where that is with the art right now is that um in in our two beautiful stages, this season we're programming just on our uh largest stage, our main stage, um, a pretty wide range of work. And so I I think you know, we we have continued to program around who gets to see themselves on stage, um, why this play is this really exciting, always marrying um work that is like thrilling, deeply entertaining with work that matters in some way. Um, even when it matters is related to joy and related to laughter as as medicine and a place to sort of build resiliency. So you're gonna find, I think, in our work on stage, a lot of um uh a lot of humor, a lot of love, uh, a lot of connection of music. Um that's definitely driving the programming right now, which is exciting. And it spans a huge range of um um of work from a new adaptation of Little Women to the play that goes wrong to um to Fat Ham and then to like a pretty uh it's a it's a nice wide range. We're doing a lot of adaptations. We did a gorgeous commissioned adaptation of uh the importance of being earnest last year that kind of like um brought forward Wilde's coded uh queerness. Um Camila Bush adapted that play. Um we've done Kate Hamill's adaptation of Dracula. Adaptations are because it's very literary um world out here. So that's kind of exciting. Um and I, you know what's cool, Al, is that there hasn't been there is no one sort of like, oh, if we program X, it will go. It will sell. There's it's actually really wonderfully wide. So for example, one of our top sellers, we had a couple of top sellers in our smaller space um that were both new shows. Um, one was the world premiere of Lauren Yee's Young Americans. It was a father-daughter road trip, mixtape kind of play. It it was uh huge. People loved it. And that's that's exciting to me. And then um Kate Hamill's Dracula, um uh Hedwig and the Angry Inch. I mean, it's a pretty wide range of what kind of can really take off and soar here. So that feels exciting. I want to also mention that um we have a huge uh robust community programs and education arm. That for me was aspirational coming in. I was, I hadn't seen a regional theater sort of stand inside of how the doors swing open to include um sort of uh activating lobby spaces with artists from, you know, who are not just theater artists throughout the community. And PCS is doing that. So the person would get to come in and kind of uh live into, I think it's really like living into the next chapter of a broadening of how we're serving. And I also think the the kind of um the challenge of the moment is the stickiness factor in uh bringing audiences back and bringing them back and bringing them back. So we've got a pretty high quotient of new audiences, which is awesome. But it's getting them to feel that sense of belonging that brings them back. Like they want to bring all their family and friends, because this is their theater company, um, where the a new managing director will find us um kind of and and hopefully help us dream into how to do that.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, yeah. And I I think that that piece around the audience piece is, you know, yes, in some ways unique to you all, but also in a many ways not unique to you all, you know. And what I connected in particular was thinking about the position of Portland Center Stage being downtown, you know, and also audiences, you know, coming back downtown, coming to the armory. You know, I still remember that first Thursday that you all had, where as people were walking down to that Pearl District, you know, being able to stop into Portland Center Stage, you know, also seeing your opening night for primary trust, you know, where you had representatives from across the state, uh, you know, and uh and also, you know, uh other constituencies in Portland really coming to hear and listen and say, you know, come and hear about the state of things, you know, and also how we can use that representation to really help Portland Center Stage, but also Portland as a whole, you know. Um, Jelani, I know Marissa spoke a little bit around the challenge piece, you know, but I wonder, Jelani, if you want to add anything that candidates might be wondering about, you know, there's certainly the audience piece, but do you need see a second big challenge or you know, piece that a managing director is gonna have to come in and just wrestle with in particular?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I I think they'll be coming in and wrestling with the thing that um really any business or nonprofit really struggles with, which is how do you make a thing that people really want? And then how do you tell them about it? And how do you make sure the operations of making a thing um allow you to tell them about it and it allows you to bring in enough revenue to keep doing it again and again and again? And and look, uh audiences are changing, the demographics are changing, um, and and quite frankly, our country is changing.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Uh, and and there's a need for someone to come in with a vision and with strong leadership skills and the ability to play on the fundraising side of the game, as well as be really thoughtful and innovative on the earned revenue side of the game. Um, and and look, credit to Marissa for having worn both hats for over a year now. Yeah. Of needing to manage the business, uh, you know, in that sort of empty space where the managing director goes, and then still managing the art and doing an incredible job. Um, and so not to say it's huge shoes to fill, but it really is huge shoes to fill that Marissa's been wearing both pairs this whole time. So really excited to bring someone in who can um who can bring that level of of both leadership and thoughtfulness.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. That's great. That's great. Marissa, did you have something to add to that? You know, I know it was so much of what you've been wearing right now, and maybe it's also about who's that kind of partner that you're looking for. I know you and I talked a bit about that as well when we were starting.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I um Johnny's very generous. I was I was laughing that. Um uh listen, I cannot wait to have a managing director partner. Um, I've been standing inside of both roles. Um, I think because I I really believe in this theater company and I really believe in the role of a regional theater and how it shows up and how it is an essential space for our own humanity and for our um resilience building against the times that we're in, um, and a space of connection. And so uh I've been proud to serve the company and I think um yeah, I I think the I think the opportunity is for someone to come in with a sort of like um real possibility. Um like I I guess I would say who who is excited about the opportunity for possibility modeling around the finances, who can really sort of say, okay, you know, this is what's happening, this is what's exciting, this is what can be expansive, this is what actually can be let go of, this is where, you know, this is kind of where the juice is, this is where the impact is. And what are the what are the sort of what financial models have we lived inside of? And where can we go? Um uh I think that we're we've we've moved with a lot of dexterity uh for as much as possible for a five-story building and a 50-person staff. Um and this sort of, you know, right now we're we're, for example, of around community programs and then also events and rentals and also benefit performances. This season is the first season we're working to make all of the dark nights on stage bright and program as much as we can. And I think that that's um uh in terms of like we've got multiple other um the theater companies in our spaces, and we've got um different other nonprofits using our spaces, the, the, the, the, the opportunity to kind of think about um how we how we serve the community and how we create the long-term financial stability. We're inside of that right now as a board of staff, but for someone to come in with the the missile to really uh go after that and build out all of the sort of scaffolding around it and bring their own ideas feels thrilling to me. Um it's just it's a really smart and capable leadership team who folks are there and have stayed because they believe in the work and they believe in what we're doing. And so I think, yeah, it's the opportunity to come in and really partner um with some fantastic folks. Um and we're very connected to our local and state government. So it's also an opportunity to, I think, to sort of be at the table with the major arts orgs in our state. Umregon has got a lot of good going on in terms of the West Coast I-5 kind of um uh uh really like digging into um uh uh serving the whole. Um, and I'm proud to be part of that in the arts.
SPEAKER_03:That's great. That's great. Um, Jelani, I'll leave you. You know, I know we're we're almost at time, but I'm curious if you two, you can also talk a bit about maybe it wasn't intangible or something that you're looking for out of someone, you know, coming into this role or applying for this role. I remember you and I talked a little bit about it, and I was struck by that to hear from you as chair around, well, yes, it's the skills piece, but some of it is the what's the human piece to this, you know. And I'm curious for you, maybe what that might be or a kernel of what that might be.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I I think it's multifold. I think it it really requires somebody in somebody coming in with a deep experience of knowing how to lead people by taking care of them, um, by respecting them, by honoring their contribution, by not micromanaging them, by not being the one in the yellow elevator yelling at somebody for you know some screw up that they had. Uh and and and while these are very soft skills, um, I they impact the culture tremendously. Yeah. And um you want to show me uh, you know, show me a people that's afraid of their leader and I'll show you a bad leader. Show me a people that respects and and and we'll follow that leader into a fire and I'll go, that's a good leader. They've done a good job taking care of their people up to this moment that when the ask is extraordinary, they're ready to do extraordinary things. Uh look, not everybody's cut out for that, right? To have the responsibility of uh a whole organization sitting on your shoulders. But um uh to me, it's it's this perfect recipe of the challenges, the art, the location, the the need for vision and leadership that creates uh a real opportunity for someone to come in and and do a lot of meaningful work and leave a mark, not just to be one of many managing directors that comes through a long and historied organization that um you know gets to sort of have that hat for a little while and then move on. No, this is a chance to to really sort of chart the course of the future for the organization. Um, again, not for everybody, but for the right person. I think I think it'll be incredible.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, yeah. I I love that. Uh, and I think part of it is like hearing from Marissa one, that possibilities piece, you know, and Jelani, I think really hearing from you around, you know, what are you, you know, who is that person in the elevator in terms of are they yelling at someone, are they encouraging somebody? You know, like where do you fit there? But also really being able to make your mark on an institution that is needed not only in Portland, but nationally for our field in this moment. You know, I what I kind of talked about is listen, this is your chance to get in with the art, get in with some people who love it, get in with some people who care about this precious jewel that is Portland Center Stage, you know, and really get ready to lean your shoulder in, you know, around yes, some solid challenges, but some real opportunities to think about what is the possibilities, you know, for this theater company, you know, and for this city. Um, I know we're we are at time, but last piece, like 30 seconds of Portland, you know, what what about this city makes it special? You know, maybe it's food-wise, maybe it's you know, something that you experience while you're there, but curious if you give any shout out of like what should make some people come over to Portland.
SPEAKER_01:You're a lifelong Portlander, yeah. Yeah, I'm a lifelong portland. I mean, the the creativity and the the entrepreneurial thinking and and the community, it's just off the charts. Um look, first and foremost, because I get this a lot, is like, yes, there are black people here. We uh we are many, and and the contributions are legion. Um uh and so if you're nervous about that, uh, there's huge black community here. There's the largest one-day pitch event for black entrepreneurs that's held in Portland for the last decade. Pitch black. Uh, so so we're out here. Uh the food, uh, I I have traveled all over the world. Uh, there's nothing better than than what we've got going on here in Portland. Um, and look, we're we're the little big city that could. Uh, we're not uh the housing, you know, prices are not off the charts. Like it's uh it's it's a great place uh to come and to thrive and and genuinely to make great art.
SPEAKER_03:It's great.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I agree. I love that, Jelani. And I I I I think it is very much like a foody city and an arty city, you know, tons and tons of like uh locally crafted beers and whiskies and um locally roasted uh um coffee, um, very literary city, as I mentioned. Um there's a there's a real kind of like there's a a thriving like um comedy scene and sort of like band scene. And so so there. There's a kind of um youthfulness to the city that I love. Um, and I feel like this this is a great place for anyone to move here who is at all different moments in their life, whether you want to raise a family here or whether you're on your own and looking for love. It's like it's a great city. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. Yeah. I'd really say an echo in uh all of that that you said about Portland, you know, and what it's going to mean for someone to potentially come there. Or if you're already there, you already know the greatness that is there in Portland, you know. Uh so either way, you know, uh it's uh it's a really wonderful opportunity. And I think an even better opportunity here that we got to hear from, you know, Marissa as artistic director, Delani as a board chair. Um, I thank you both so, so deeply and so, so much for your partnership. Um, and for folks who are listening out there, whether you're a candidate yourself or you want to pass this to someone who you believe is a candidate, you know, we'll leave uh a link to our application in the show notes. Uh, but also you can email us at emc at emcforward.com um, you know, to get in touch with us about your nominations or if you have questions about the role. You know, uh, but with that, I've kept these two, you know, a little bit longer than I've needed to. But Jelani, Marissa, thank you both so much.
SPEAKER_00:Thank you.