(light uplifting music) - Well, I am very excited to be here today with the one, the only, the legendary Vincent Lancisi, otherwise lovingly known as Vinny.

And he is the Founder and Artistic Director of Everyman Theatre.

Welcome.

- Thank you, Carolyn.

- You originally were not from this area, am I correct about that?

- Correct.

I'm born and raised in Massachusetts.

I came down here to get my master's degree at Catholic University in Washington.

- [Carolyn] Where's your Boston accent?

- I know.

Well, I get together with family, or if you get me really mad.

(Carolyn laughing) - [Caryolyn] Okay.

- I might start talking like, "Smaht Pahk."

- [Carolyn] Oh, there you go.

There it is.

(Vinny laughing) No.

Yeah, I came down to get my master's degree in Stage Directing.

- [Carolyn] Oh.

- And it was there in Washington that I decided I wanted to found a theater.

And so I started looking for communities that didn't have a small professional theater that was quite like what I was envisioning and did a lot of research and it turned out it was right up the street in Baltimore.

- [Carolyn] Wow.

- Really.

I was so thrilled to discover this great city.

- So, I don't mean to get in the weeds with it, but what was your degree then at Boston College when you- - Theater.

- It was Theater.

So I had a bachelor's degree in theater arts.

And then I'm what they call an MFA, Master's in Fine Arts in Stage Directing.

- So why did you go Stage Directing and not become an actor?

- Because I had a really great mentor who told me the truth and he said, "Which do you like to do better?"

And I said, "I like them both."

He said, "Then you should be a director 'cause you're better at it."

- Oh, interesting.

- "And it's a really competitive field, so you should put your best foot forward."

And I was so, you know, when you're at an impressionable time in your life and somebody you really trust tells you the truth, it's such a gift.

So yeah, I was, you know, and it was hard, you know, it was competitive to get into the graduate schools.

It was competitive, you know, to do everything.

So I'm glad I made that choice.

- Now you're from a big family.

Did you have the support of your family, of your parents to say, "Yeah, go for being a theater director," or did they say you should be a banker or you should, you know, what was that like for you?

- Well, all I can say is my father passed away before I chose theater, which is probably a good thing 'cause he wouldn't have wanted it for me.

- Okay.

- But I have to tell you that he was a music impresario, right?

He- - Oh.

- Yeah.

He was a conductor.

He had an orchestra.

He had 13 jazz bands that toured New England.

He was the head of the music union in Boston.

- [Caroyln] Oh, my heavens.

- So he was the head of the music department in the town we grew up in.

And he was always putting on shows.

So- - Oh, there you go.

- His whole thing from when I was a young boy was never go into the arts because you'll have no private life.

You'll be working all the time while other people are playing.

- Was he right?

- Don't do it.

Yes.

But that said, I think he also knew that when you love the arts, there is no other choice.

And my mother was a really wise woman and she was wholeheartedly behind my choice and said, "You have to chase your dreams and your passions, 'cause you don't want to go through life regretting it."

All she said was, "Make sure you get a good education."

- And you did.

- And I did.

- So you graduated then with your MFA from Catholic University and you were, and so you knew this is what you wanted to do.

You wanted to start a small- - I incorporated in Baltimore the state articles of incorporation, six months before I graduated.

- Oh, did you look at other cities or did you consider- - I did.

I did.

And you know what happened?

I was talking to the artistic director of Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company.

He was a friend, Howard Shalwitz.

I said, "Look, I have this vision, I have this dream for a theater.

I wanted to have a resident company.

I wanna do plays from the classics to new works.

I wanted to start out small, professional and grow.

I always wanna be paying the artist, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah."

And he said to me, "You know, if I could move my theater company anywhere in the country, I would move it to Baltimore."

- [Carolyn] Ah.

- And I said, "Baltimore?

Why Baltimore?"

Now remember, he was in Washington.

- He said, Baltimore is a city of neighborhoods.

People are born there, live there, died there.

- [Carolyn] That's true.

- And in every neighborhood there's a church, a bar, and a theater.

He said, "What do you think about it?"

At that time, 35 years ago, in Baltimore, there were two Broadway touring houses in the Lyric and the Mechanic.

There was a major regional theater in Center Stage.

And there was probably about a dozen or more community theaters, - [Carolyn] A lot of community theaters.

Right?

- Most of whom are still here.

That were amateur theaters that were ensconced in, not only in their neighborhood, but in the city.

You know, some of them playing to 80, 90% capacity.

The oldest continuously-operating community theater of the country is Vagabond Players.

- [Carolyn] Yes.

Right.

- The oldest, continuously-operating African American community theater is Arena Players.

Both right here in our city.

But at that time, there were no equity, by equity, I mean the union- - Yes, right.

- Small professional theaters.

None.

So I saw a niche and then I started- - And Center Stage was here, right?

- Yeah, but they weren't small professional.

- No, they were Major, right?

- Yeah.

Right.

- So I thought that this is highly unusual for most cities.

Most cities have several small professional theaters.

One community theater, or maybe two.

You know, and one major regional theater.

So I thought, there's a niche here.

Clearly there's an appetite for theater going.

And the minute I started coming up to Baltimore, I fell in love with it.

I had an apartment lined up two months before I graduated.

I was in the U-Haul in with my cap and gown in the backseat moving up to Bolton Hill.

- Wow.

- Which is where my first apartment was.

- So how does one start a resident theater company?

I mean, it seems like an overwhelming, you know, thing to do.

How did you go about it?

- I'm gonna say an incredible tenacity, passion and belief for the mission of what I was doing.

And the inability to accept no for an answer.

You know, people said, you're either brilliant or you have a lot of chutzpah.

You know, and it was probably- - Maybe it's both.

- Probably a combination of both.

Yeah.

It was really hard.

I don't wanna make light of it.

I mean, the first year we didn't have a home for, sorry, first five years we didn't have a home.

We performed at different spaces throughout the city, borrowed spaces, rented spaces.

- Were you a resident company from the get-go then?

- Yeah, yeah.

- And that was important to you?

- Very, very.

You know, I grew up in the golden age of resident companies, and there were many of them around.

I was sort of weaned on Trinity Repertory Theater Company in Providence and then when I came down to Catholic University, it was arena stage in their heyday at a fabulous resident company.

And I fell in love with the actor.

I understood that you could take two actors in an empty room with no scenery and no lights, and they could create compelling theater.

And so I've always believed the actors at the center of the work.

And when you have a resident company, at least I experienced this early on as an audience member, I would go to as much to see that actor play that role as to see the play itself.

It's about watching the same actor transform as if you'd never see them before.

And sometimes it's when those great actors play the small supporting roles that plays really pop and come to life.

And they get a language of their own.

They get an aesthetic of their own.

There's a certain rigor with the way our resident company actors work together.

They sort of support each other in ways where they're safe to take risks on stage and find the depths of their character.

They're always sort of digging for the truth and looking for the best delivery of that punchline to get the biggest laugh.

And they really value other artists who do that too.

So there's a added special sauce that comes from having a resident company and that's what I love about that.

- Now, are the pressures on you as being in charge of this resident company higher though?

Because then they are dependent upon you filling the seats, making a living.

I mean, it has a different dynamic, does it not, than some other theaters, or not really?

- Yes.

The dynamic that's really different is all of those things, but it boils down to putting the resident company at the front and center of all of the curation of the plays.

Right, so you need an artistic director that is willing to say, you know what, my primary responsibility is feed this resident company, to make sure that in the six plays I get to choose that there's the maximum amount of roles for the right actors.

And that we take into account that each actor is a unique individual with creative juices.

And sometimes you want to choose a role for them that is in their sweet spot and you know they're gonna hit it outta the ballpark.

And sometimes you want them to be able to play something that they wouldn't get cast in somewhere else.

Right?

- Okay.

Yes.

- So you don't put them too much of in a box.

And the benefit for the actor is clear, but for the audience, it's an aha moment.

Oh my God, I had no idea she could do that.

- Exactly.

I've felt that many times.

Right.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- So it's a wonderful thing, but there are a lot of plays that you don't get to choose because you don't have the right actors to do it.

But that was always okay to me.

- [Carolyn] You knew that.

- Yeah, it was really about curating for this group of actors.

And it's not like we don't ever work with new actors.

I mean, there's no way that I could have enough actors in the resident company to suit all of the roles in the season.

So once we've divvied up the parts amongst the resident company, whatever is left, we look to other actors in the community to see.

And if, you know, I'd say 95% of the people that we work with at Everyman, on stage, backstage, off stage, in the scene shop, designers, they're all local.

That's important to us.

- Yeah.

Now you stay consistent.

You were there, you were the founder.

What about the actors themselves?

How long have some of those actors been a member of the resident company?

- Well, our producing director, who's also a member of the resident company is Kyle Prue.

And he's been with us for all 35 years.

He's the only one that goes all the way back to the very beginning.

But many others, you know, decade, two decades.

- Oh yeah.

- You know, Bruce Nelson Nelson's been with us for 20 years.

Deb Hazlett, probably.

- Yeah.

- 25 to 30.

Megan Aderson, she cut her teeth.

She came straight outta college.

She played the daughter in "Proof.'

And in last night at Balu, that had to have been, you know, at least 20 years ago, if not 25.

I mean, I stopped counting after a while 'cause it makes me realize how old I've gotten.

(both laughing) - No.

Now, do you ever pick a season and then an actor will come to you and say, "I don't like what you've picked for me this season?"

Or is everybody pretty much in the team spirit and kind of, how does that work?

- Everybody's pretty much in the team spirit, but it's also a conversation.

Right, so you know, if an actor says, "Look, you know, I've done that role."

Not that particular role, but that type of role.

- Right.

- A lot of times.

"And I'd rather, you know, rather not do it again.

Do you really need me for that or is there someone else?"

You know, there's always, like I say, we go to the resident company first and they're part of the conversations, you know?

Sometimes there's a conversation before any plays is elected that are like, you have a dream role, or is there anything you're really dying to do?

Now you can't make that happen for 14 actors all the time.

- No, you can't.

Yeah.

- But, you know, but I hear it and it makes it into my, like, oh, that's interesting.

- Yeah.

- So whether it shows up next season or the season after, you know, they also tell me, you know, they have a lot of agency as they should to share with me like, who do they wanna work with?

Who are the other artists out there that are killing it?

- How wonderful, really.

Yeah.

- It's like playing tennis, you know.

You always wanna play with a better tennis player 'cause it ups your game.

- It does.

- Actors are very much that way.

You know, they've said to me, you know, do what you gotta do to get the best.

- Yeah, well, they also know you have the reputation of being an actor's director, that you really do care about the actors and they are front row and center for you.

Yeah.

So that's true.

- Absolutely.

- I remember coming and seeing my first Everyman Theatre show on Charles Street.

- Okay.

- Okay?

So was that a, you know, so you were there, so you finally had a home, correct?

You said for five years you didn't have a home.

- That's right.

- Then you're at Charles Street.

So what was that like?

What was the impetus to be able to make that big move then?

- That was really huge.

I have to say that any opportunity I get to thank Alan Schechter and Mike Schechter, who owned that building, and basically let us in there for a song.

They really breathed life into everything.

Not just because we had a home, but that was critical for us, right?

We figured out after four or five years of moving around for safe space, people couldn't figure out where we were.

And in between the shows, we didn't really exist.

It would take me a year to raise enough money to do the next play.

And we could never often offer a subscription, like a series of plays.

So it wasn't until we got to Charles Street that all of that became possible, and we stayed there as long as we could.

We stayed there 16 years.

And it was never meant to be at theater.

This, you know, some of the best theater spaces are that way.

- [Carolyn] Yeah.

You made the most of it.

I loved it.

Yeah.

- Yeah, it was a bowling alley.

Well, so many people did.

This used to make me laugh.

Because if you remember the Charles Cinema, I mean, not the Charles Cinema.

The Charles Everyman.

- Yeah.

- The ceilings were low.

- Oh yeah.

- Eleven foot ceilings, which is the enemy of lighting for stage.

Right?

There were columns, right.

Where you didn't want 'em, it was a bowling alley.

There was 25 lanes on each floor.

You know, it was never meant to be a theater.

And yet people didn't want us to move.

And the most common reason they would say is we love how intimate it is.

We love to watch the actors sweat.

(Carolyn laughing) And I used to laugh about that with the actors, although they didn't find that funny.

No, actually I was like, they are sweating because the lights are five feet from their head and they're hot, you know, not because you are seeing the detail of their acting.

We used to have to have stage managers call cues that would turn the HVAC system off because it was so loud.

(both laughing) It was crazy.

But the place turned out to provide this sort of intimate space that our audiences really grew to love.

And in fact, it was a huge aesthetic that we chased after with the, you know, the new space.

And the architects that helped design it, Thank God they discovered that and found it and, you know, because when we moved to Fayette, we were worried because it was a big, it was a 60-foot high ceiling.

You know, and they were like, they immediately said we we're gonna insert intimate spaces inside of this shell.

And that will really make it feel more like Everyman.

And they did.

- And they did it.

- [Vinny] Audiences loved it.

They didn't want us to go, we had to do curtain speeches for two years to explain to the audience why we had to go.

We were a victim of success.

We had grown our audience.

We were doing six to eight week runs.

- Wow.

- And we couldn't extend the runs anymore.

And the only way we could keep paying our bills was to raise ticket prices.

And our whole mission is that theater should be affordable.

So we literally had to go.

And that by making the move, we could do better plays in a better environment, and we could keep the ticket prices reasonable.

- [Carolyn] So that was the change for you then, what you really noticed and how it changed then the company and what you were doing.

- [Vinny] The audience just grew and the quality of the work.

It was a really special home for this special company.

- So great success.

Tell me, was there a time and what was your toughest challenge and in your career with Everyman, what would you say were the tough, you know, maybe the toughest challenge you faced over time?

- Well, I would have to say there are two.

One would be in the very early years, just keeping the lights on on Charles Street.

I mean, there were times when I would hide from PG.

(both laughing) I'd be like on the phone with my mother going, oh my God, they're gonna shut me down.

And she's like, don't let him in.

(Carolyn laughing) - [Carolyn] He's not here.

- I know, please.

He's not here, right.

You know, the early years are hard 'cause you don't have any foundation.

You know, we rely on contributions from individuals and corporations and foundations and government for 50% of what it it takes to do theater.

So for every dollar we sell at a ticket, we have to raise a dollar.

So in the early years when you don't have a long history, the corporates were like, are you kidding me?

How do we know you're gonna be here tomorrow?

And they didn't, you know, then, you know,the more we were producing, the more we got known, things got better there, right?

- [Carolyn] Success runs on success.

Right, yeah.

- Then the pandemic hit.

Nobody prepared us for the pandemic.

If you wanna threaten the existence of a theater, there is a much better way than just say, being in the same room as somebody else could kill you.

- Kill you.

- Yeah.

- [Carolyn] Yeah.

- And a large chunk of our regular theater-going population were so hesitant to get back in that room.

Theaters were like the last places that people went.

It's funny.

They go to a sporting event 'cause it's outdoors.

But into an intimate theater?

Hmm.

- So how did you get through that, 'cause you obviously have.

- Yeah, so a lot of ways.

We didn't let anybody go during the pandemic, the whole pandemic.

We kept all of our full-time and part-time permanent staff.

And we created a fund for the actors who, they're the ones who suffered the most because they're gig workers.

That's what they call it.

- You know, they only work when they have a contract.

So our board, and we did a fundraising campaign where we were helping them for lost wages, but we had people from the scene shop that worked in the scene shop calling donors and thanking them, calling patrons and helping them to find ways to watch our streaming.

We taught ourselves how to video and film shows and we would bring the actors in and learn how to keep them safe and rehearse a play all the way up to opening and then film it and then send it out.

There was a lot of, you know, sort of survival tactics happening, but at the same time, it was a combination of our donors really stepping up.

I mean, they saw what was happening.

- Yeah.

- It was, it was just tenacity.

And we never would've made it without all the government support.

I've never seen that much government support in my life.

Unlike what's happening now.

- Which is the opposite.

- The exact opposite.

Right.

Theaters are struggling again because the federal dollars are going away and that's impacting the state dollars.

It's like, you know, sort of one challenge after another.

- After another.

Yeah.

But you know, theaters are resilient.

- Yes, they are.

- You know, it's been around for 2,000 years.

Yeah.

It's not going away.

No matter who's president.

And no matter what, you know, what disease comes our way, We will come back.

- Yeah.

Okay.

Let's talk a little bit about your directing.

So you direct a number of shows every season.

Do you have a favorite show to direct?

And I gotta ask you why.

What that would, why?

- I know, you know, people have asked me that.

It's really hard if you feel like, it's like asking somebody that has five kids which one's their favorite?

You know there is one.

- Yes.

- But you don't dare say it.

The only thing that's different is that many of the playwrights whose plays I work on aren't around to hear you say that.

You know, I have to say I love an American classic.

You know, it's sort of where my training sat.

So I would have to say that I really loved "Death of a Salesman."

- [Carolyn] Oh wow.

Yeah.

- I really loved "All My Sons," but I also really loved like "Proof."

The first time we did it, we did it twice.

The first time we did it was, you know, probably 20 years ago.

- Yeah.

- It's too hard.

I mean, I have loved- - Okay, but you've named some of your favorites.

Yeah.

- Yeah.

- So when you talk, do you talk to many aspiring directors?

I mean, have you been- - Sure.

- Okay, what kind of advice do you give them now?

And, you know, considering how things are different today?

- You know, so it's different.

If they come to me asking for professional advice as a director, I talk about the challenges that young directors face and have always faced.

You know, an actor can at least audition for a role, right?

You can read from a script, you can, you know, come to an audition.

But directors really can't do that.

And very few theaters will entrust a play, a whole production on a director whose work they've never seen.

So getting the work done, it's part of the reason I founded a theater rather than tried to go and become an apprentice at some- - Because you can direct.

- I could direct.

- Yes.

- And I had a vision.

I knew what I wanted.

And you know, some people say to me, why is Everyman so special?

Assuming that it is that it is.

And I say, because I've never worked at another professional theater in my life.

Now that's not entirely true, but I started this theater in the image that I thought what was needed, what the actors needed, and then everyone else- - [Carolyn] Interesting.

- Needed to do their best work.

So, it allowed me to build the infrastructure piece by piece based on, and you know, what was weird about it was for me to be successful in the early days doing that, 'cause there was nobody out there to write grants.

There was nobody out there to, I was like, I used to call the chair of the theater department at Catholic U and give him the Riot Act going, why didn't you ever teach me about boards?

And what do you mean the board could hire or fire me?

This is my theater.

What do you mean?

And a board, wait a minute, let me get this right.

A board is supposed to, by design, be made up of people in the community have no expertise in theater because they're about bringing resources to the organization?

I'm like, that makes no sense in the world.

How are they gonna help me?

You know, I had to learn all that.

I was like, how do you write a grant?

I'm never had a coincident, you know, I knew how to write from classes in colleges like everybody else did in high school, but nobody, that foundations have their own missions and that we should try to find a way to connect their mission with our mission.

And why would they wanna, all of that, corporate giving.

Nobody teaches.

There is no degree in artistic directing.

- Interesting.

- And it's a misnomer.

- It is?

- It really is.

Because I would say less than 50% of my job is directly related to the art.

- Yeah.

- The rest- - How do you feel about that?

Sometimes do you say, I wish I could just concentrate on my art and not worry about the- - Oh, sure, wish I could be, you know?

It's the real world that we live in and a lot of artistic directors and a lot of founders would give up after four or five years because they've realized that.

- Because they've burned out.

- They realized that that's not why I got my master's in Stage Directing, everything was so I could direct.

That's my real juice.

But what happened was, I realized, again, it was the mission.

It was about actors, it was about creating and sustaining this institution, that in order to do it, somebody had to get out there and represent, somebody had to make connections for the organization to help raise the money, had to learn how to market it without many dollars.

Who had money to market?

I couldn't buy an ad to save my life, right?

It was all word of mouth.

It's like restaurants.

In the old days, critics would come and write reviews and if they give you a good review, tickets would sell.

If they give you a bad review.

We were 88% subscribed for years on Charles Street, which meant all that audience had to do was say, wow, I saw a great play had ever been, and we'd be sold out.

We had no marketing budget.

It was crazy.

So, so yeah.

I mean I think that if a young director came to me and said, what does it take to direct?

You know, I would say good luck and here are the few things I could think of you could do.

If they said, you know, well how do you start a theater- - Company?

Yeah.

- Yeah.

Company.

- That's a little different.

- That's right.

- Yeah.

So because you've been so busy as artistic director, is there a play out there that you wanted to direct and you haven't been able to and you hope to someday?

- Sure there are, there are lots of them, but the reason that I don't do them, don't get to do them, is 'cause they're huge.

Anything written by Jazz Butterworth, I mean they're only on Broadway and they're huge, right?

- Yes.

Yeah.

- Just huge.

So, you know, I'm attracted to a big, big complicated, layered story that chronicles human nature in a challenging time.

- What do you think has been the secret of your success?

- At the risk of being too overly simplistic?

It really is true when I say everything I do at Everyman is about creating and fostering a family.

And that extends to the actors, it extends to the stage hands, it extends to the administrators that we are all related.

And are working together to tell the best story we can, as Shakespeare would say, hold the mirror up to nature.

Provide a place where all walks of life are welcome.

So when I say family, I mean that for patrons as well.

Right?

We have single ticket buyers that are just trying us out.

We wanna be incredibly warm and welcoming to them because we want them to come and experience what we do and love it and then become family, right?

It's all about becoming family the way, you know, sort of in case you had a horrible experience with family and the way families, you know, ideally are, as support systems and as people that you can be yourself around.

And that you can trust to tell you a compelling story and to be authentic In the room.

- Well that as a patron I can say that feeling is very much felt.

So you've been successful in that.

- Thank you.

- Last question I gotta ask, you're gonna have all this free time now 'cause I know you work incredibly long hours.

What do you hope to do with your free time?

- There are so many things that we don't get to do, anybody who works hard, whether they're passionate about their work or they're just putting food on the table.

Right, what would it be like to go to London and stay for three months?

Or you know, I want to travel.

I'm a foodie.

I love to cook.

I want to go places and discover.

I have a book, a recipe book from the French Laundry that's been on my shelf my whole life.

And I've never been able to complete one recipe.

'Cause they take days.

I'm gonna do that and I'm gonna see the world and I'm gonna get to know my wife in a way that, you know, we haven't been able to just because of work, you know?

I'm gonna see where life takes me.

There's so much out there.

- I know there is.

And again, we wish you, first of all, thank you for all that you have done for all of us and wish you the best and lots of adventures and good food and long walks on the beach and all those things that you haven't been able to do.

So thank you so much for taking the time today just to sit down and share some interesting perspectives.

Thanks, Vinny.

(light uplifting music) (light uplifting music continues)