Courtesy of the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis
Danny Wlliams
Danny Williams
At the end of November, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis announced Danny Williams as their replacement for managing director Mark Bernstein, who retired at the end of 2021 after 34 years in the position.
Williams, who previously worked as the senior director of finance and administration at The Public Theater in New York, took a break from preparing for the long drive from New Jersey to St. Louis to introduce himself and share some of his goals before he officially takes over on January 10.
Tell us a little about where you’re coming from.
I'm coming to you from The Public Theater, which is a 50-something-million-dollar nonprofit theater that most folks know as an off-Broadway theater. They know us for free Shakespeare in the Park and for our music venue, Joe's Pub, and a lot of our other programs like Public Works and the Mobile Unit. But it’s all under one company. And I've been here for 15 years.
I learned a lot here at The Public, and, like most arts organizations, when you look at the longer timeline, we've seen great success artistically and financially, and we've seen some years that were not. I think every arts organization right now is still sort of rebuilding from COVID. It's been a really intense two years. We are very gratefully back up and running in some form. We were able to perform Shakespeare in the Park this summer, which was one of the first big events in New York since the beginning of the pandemic. It was a big challenge to sort of get the machine running again and to welcome folks back safely to the theater. We've done a few shows downtown indoors this fall, which have been super rewarding and very hard processes.
When I heard about the opportunity at The Rep, I was very excited to investigate that a little bit more. I had heard of Hana [Sharif], but I had never met her before. But I knew a lot of other folks in the theater world who knew about Hana, and when I was asking about her, everyone was like, “She is the real deal. She's a force.” And that sort of made me feel like I need to know this person. I started to think about that, and fast-forward a few months and here I am.
What led you to the administrative side of theater?
I quickly realized when I was in college that my passion for stardom outweighed my talent, so I tried to sort of go through and ask, what are those things that I'm good at? What are those things that I like to do? And I found that business and organization and administration, the business side of things, was something that I had a knack for. And I also found out that there’s a need for those folks to do that work to support organizations like The Rep and The Public. Someone needs to make sure that people are being taken care of, whether it be the donors, the ticket buyers, the actors – whoever is part of the larger community. And I was really intrigued by how I could participate in that.
What drew you to The Rep?
I have very much found that theater is more than just sitting in the dark and escapism. I think that it can be used as a tool for social justice. I think it's a tool that can be used to expand minds and challenge what we think and know. I see that not just at The Rep in what Hana wants to do, I see that across the field. That's not to say that we don't want to do things that are entertaining, because sometimes a pure, entertaining moment is what you need. But theater is one of those really rare art forms where the sort of collision of art and audience is happening all at once.
I think it's what Hana’s vision for the future of The Rep is, but also what attracted me to The Rep is the history of what it has been and what it has meant to St. Louis. Coming from New York, we are part of a very vibrant arts community. There are nonprofit theaters, there are commercial theaters, there are tours, there's art and dance and opera. I know that all of that exists in St. Louis too, but I also know the sort of level of technical and artistic reputation that The Rep has in St. Louis and in the larger theater landscape. I had always heard about The Rep, and I appreciate the legacy of our former leaders, because I think that The Rep has meant a lot to the people of St Louis. But I think that, from what I understand, maybe it has not meant the same to everyone in St. Louis, right? So what I think Hana and I are both excited about is how we make The Rep a place for everyone. How can we expand that footprint? How can we open the circle a bit more to really welcome more people into our space, wherever that is? How can we be more of a presence in all parts of St. Louis? And that excites me, because there's a lot of potential there.
What are some of your initial goals in this position? Where do you begin?
I think the first thing is to really get to know folks. Our business is built on trust and relationships. And so I really want to get to know the folks that I'll be working with and understand what's important to them and what they're passionate about. I'm not interested in coming in and being like, “I know all the answers. I know how to do everything.” I very much believe in the power of partnership. And so whether that's Hana or the marketing staff or the fundraising staff, I think that that is something I'm really interested in, because I know things, but I don't know everything. So I'm interested to hear from them.
We're also all still working through doing theater in a pandemic, and no one has figured it out yet. So I think one of those big challenges and things that I'm gonna be doing in January and in the winter is very much asking how we can continue to evolve. How do we keep everyone safe, but how do we keep people coming to the theater? It's one thing to get people working in safe conditions, but then it's a whole other challenge to actually get people to come back to the theater. So, for me, it's how to continue to have safe workplaces and then also, how we invite everyone back to The Rep. I think that will be a process. It will be a continual process and one that will probably take us a year or two to really work through.
And then the other thing is to start planning with Hana. We are very much in the throes of season planning. That is a very intense process. It's a very careful process. And so I am very excited to sort of jump in there and try to meet the sort of artistic ambition with the financial and other resources that we need to pull off a season. And I'm hopeful that as we continue in the future–the sort of COVID-ness of things I don't necessarily think will go away, but hopefully it will become just part of the way in which we operate.
What excites you about coming to St. Louis?
I'm excited to get to know the city, because I also know that The Rep is part of a larger artistic community. So I also want to see what else is out there. Who else is making art? Who are our peer institutions? Who else is out there in St. Louis creating culture and art? I want to get to know not only the actual art, but I want to get to know the people who are doing it. Because I think we all would love a way to just have more collaboration and partnership amongst all those organizations. I am very much interested in how we can be making some connections. Not to say that they haven't been made, because I'm sure that they have, but how can I join those conversations, and where can I show up? And can we amplify what the greater St Louis arts community is doing?
I have also spent most of my life in the New York area. I went to college in Connecticut. I live in New Jersey. I grew up on Long Island. I very much am a New York person and have not spent much time anywhere else. In this era that we’re in, to move to a new city is exciting. I am very excited for that change, especially. I've spent the majority of the past two years in my apartment. I'm excited for a change of scenery, a change of folks.
What are you most looking forward to in joining The Rep?
I don't think I woke up one day and was like, “I want to change my entire life.” But as I've been going through this process of getting to know Hana, of getting to know the board and the staff at The Rep, I sort of was like, “Yeah. They are the real deal.” And I very much want to sort of link arms with them all and move The Rep into the future. So I think that's another part of what's exciting for me…What I understand about the folks at The Rep is that they care so deeply about and take such pride in the work that they do. And so I'm looking forward to joining that community at The Rep.
What do you want the St. Louis arts community to know?
One is just that I'm really excited to get there and, and get to know everyone. I'm a very hard worker, and I see that in myself and I see that in a lot of other people. People want to do a good job. People really want to excel. And I see that in the folks at The Rep and I'm very excited to meet them there. I'm also really excited to see how I can contribute and how I can help make the art happen, and for the partnership that Hana and I have. I do think that we will have a very exciting and dynamic relationship. I think that we see a lot of things similarly, and I'm very excited to help amplify that artistic vision and really make The Rep more of a presence throughout the city. I very much want to be out there with Hana, and very much want to be a presence for the artists, for the community, for the patrons–I very much want to be active in that respect. The more voices and the more support and the more resources you're able to put behind a cause, it only gets louder and it only gets stronger that way. And so I'm really excited to add to that.
