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Hello again friends.

I'm Jason Edens, your host of Lakeland Currents.

Thanks for joining the conversation today and thanks for your ongoing support of Lakeland Public Broadcasting.

Greetings from the Reif Center in Grand Rapids, Minnesota.

The Reif has been inviting world-class performers from around the world and from our backyard for decades.

It's a cornerstone of the regional arts community and it's my privilege to introduce its executive director, Shantel Dow.

Shantel is going to tell us about this season's lineup as well as her vision for the future of the Reif Center as well as the regional performing arts community.

Shantel, welcome to the program and thank you so much for making time.

Thank you Jason.

It's so nice to have you here and to see this beautiful theater here in Grand Rapids.

Well, thank you for hosting us.

We really appreciate it.

Well, for those folks that are potentially new to the region or don't know about the Reif, what exactly is the Reif Center?

Can you give us the elevator pitch?

Absolutely!

So, the Reif Center is a beautiful performing arts center that is attached with our high school here in Grand Rapids.

It was the vision of Miles Reif who used to be the CEO of the Blandin Paper Company and his friend Lois Gildemeister and way back in the 1980's she went to Miles and said I have this vision for our community.

You need to open your checkbook.

Let's make this happen and he did and so that's when it all started and in 2016 we completed an $11 million dollar renovation that this community pulled together and realizes what a gem this is for our town and for the region, all of northern Minnesota.

We reach quite a ways away from here with touring shows, with educational opportunities for people that love the arts.

Well, let's talk a little bit about this season's lineup.

I just had the privilege of seeing a performer that I've been looking forward to seeing for years and years, DJ Thomas X.

So, what other acts do we have to look forward to this year?

I'm so glad that you got to see Thomas X.

It's been a vision of mine for a while to bring him in.

He really connects with kids and we want this facility to be available to everybody.

We want everybody to come in our front doors to enjoy what we have to offer and to experience live arts and so we have a wide variety of shows coming up for the rest of this season and some of the shows coming up for the holidays include Rock and Roll Christmas which is a Minnesota staple.

A fabulous show that we have come almost every year.

We've got a John Denver Christmas Show.

We have got a theater production from our youth theater program here at the Reif that is Elf Junior and we have every year our Reif Dance Program produces a fantastic production of the Nutcracker.

And, so that will also take place this year.

We have a fun family show that's called Light Wire Christmas and that it's a really cool production where the stage is completely dark and everybody on stage is illuminated kind of with glow sticks it looks like and it's a whole story of Christmas.

So that's our Christmas lineup.

Prior to Christmas we have got the Peking Acrobats coming up and they will be here with the Shanghai Circus.

So, that'll be a really fun family event.

We also have a daytime bus in school show with the Peking Acrobats as well.

Can I just interrupt you there?

How many performers are a part of that particular act?

That group is 26 performers, so it's quite a large production and when I first booked them it was such an eye-opener to me to talk with my technical director to see that we can actually do these things.

The high wire, the tight wire, you know, jumps and leaps and things that, you know, these acrobats are hoisted way up high in our theater and so because of our renovation we're able to do some of these larger shows.

Interesting.

So, what about the spring?

Yes, so spring we've got some great things coming up and most of our patrons will receive a mailing coming up in the next week or so to show what we have coming for spring but a little sneak peek at that, we have the Duluth fantastic artist, Gaelynn Lea and she has recently wrote the music for a Broadway show, All About Mozart and so we're excited to have her here for a couple shows.

We have got Legally Blonde, the Broadway musical.

We have Gilbert and Sullivan.

The Broadway musical?

The Broadway musical.

Interesting.

It's a a touring production.

We try to get these to come here once a year.

They're quite expensive and for a theater, ours is 700 seats so it's a little bit limited on the shows that we can bring in to be able to make enough revenue to be able to do these huge shows but this show happened to be coming through, had one open day in the middle of long tours in different spaces and so they agreed to come here.

So, that's going to be in February, Legally Blonde.

We have Gilbert and Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance which is a comedy opera production straight out of New York City.

This will be the third time we've rescheduled because of the pandemic and so we're very excited, that will take place in March.

We've got several matinee shows coming up.

We have a Frank Sinatra show on Valentine's Day.

Some other just really good family oriented shows as well.

Lots to look forward to.

Well, since you mentioned the pandemic, I have been curious about how the Reif weathered the storm of the pandemic.

Was it difficult?

Were you able to get people back into the seats?

Tell us a little bit about how that went for you.

It definitely was a challenge.

I have a fantastic staff here at the Reif, many that have been here for over a dozen years.

So, we all sat together, brainstormed, put our heads together, thought of the wildest craziest ideas we could do to continue providing live performing arts for our community and to follow our mission as a non-profit organization which is to stimulate arts in northern Minnesota.

So, we want to reach out you, know, through Grand Rapids, of course, but also beyond Grand Rapids to be able to provide live performing arts opportunities for people and so some new things that we came up with was, we worked with the city of Grand Rapids which are huge supporters of the arts and we found this pavilion facility that is connected to the Civic Center and what it is in the winter is an outdoor covered hockey rink and in the summer it wasn't used very much.

So, we went down and took a look at it and decided we're going to start having some concerts in this pavilion and the first show that we had was a polka band, Molly B Polka Band, which she's on RFD TV.

She tours all over the country and the Star Tribune came to the concert and did a whole story about our polka pods we had to create for people to keep our distance and everybody just really embraced it and you know came into it with a good sense of humor.

Let's all, you know, we're all in this together.

Let's see how we can make the best of it.

So, we did several shows in this pavilion.

We also, in the summer went to the lakes and did boat in concerts and we'd have a hundred boats coming in to hear local talent and we have a lot of great local talent here.

We even did parking lot concerts out here at the Reif, like the old-fashioned drive-in movies which we did as well but they were drive-In concerts and so we'd have artists hoisted up on scissor lifts performing and just all kinds of fun things just to figure out a way to continue so that we didn't close our doors, we kept people employed.

We also were the recipients of the PPP loans for for our staff to keep them on payroll and then we also received the Shuttered Venues Operator Grant money to help us to get through that.

So, do you mean to tell me that throughout the pandemic, for all intents and purposes you were able to continue to provide entertainment for the regional community?

That is incredibly creative.

Scissor lifts, dock concerts, hockey arenas, that's remarkable.

So, was there any interruption?

You know there was not.

We kept doing everything and once, you know, the bad weather came in we couldn't do the outside concerts anymore then what we did was we brought artists, we hired them and brought them to Grand Rapids, of course, everybody was masked and everybody distanced, did what we needed to, our tech crew was amazing with making sure all the sanitary, you know, kind of protocol was done for microphones and we would bring artists here on our stage in the Reif Center to do virtual field trip shows for schools and we found that even schools in the Twin Cities, in Wisconsin, we had some, even one in Ireland, one in South America that bought our virtual field trips for their classrooms and, you know, we continued that when the weather was bad and we opened that as well to community so that grandparents that hadn't seen their grandkids during the pandemic they could log in and see their their kids dancing or doing theater productions.

Remarkable.

Well, I won't soon forget polka pods.

I want to visit a little bit more about how you curate each and every season.

So, you've just shared with us some of the acts that we can look forward to this year.

How did you decide on those acts in particular?

Tell us about that process, that artistic process.

Absolutely.

It's a really fun process.

We have a programming committee that's made up of some of our Board of director members and also community members and we start those meetings in September every year and they run through about March and what I bring to the committee is videos of artists that I've either seen perform or have gone to Performing Arts Showcase conferences which is quite often, you know, during the pandemic it was tough but most often we go to two or three regional or national conferences every year and it's a trade show.

So, you get to meet the agents, sometimes meet the artists, see showcases of what they have to perform and then we start working on when are they routing in our area, what are their fees, what are their tech needs, that can we accommodate that in our venue, can we afford it, is this something our community will like and then we also are real careful to follow our mission that we want to provide diversity, equity and inclusion in all of our programming.

So, we want kids to be able to come in and see shows that maybe would not have that opportunity otherwise.

We also have quite diverse artists coming in to expose our community to different art forms because I always feel like don't say you don't like that if you have never experienced it.

So, we're trying to open up our venue so everybody can experience all different kinds of performing arts.

So, when you're curating a season, you say that you actually go to these trade shows.

I didn't realize that was part of the curation process.

Tell us a little bit more about what that's actually like.

It's my understanding that you'll be going to one shortly after our discussion today.

Yes, absolutely.

So, there's a regional conference that I will be attending in Nashville that covers primarily country artists and we have started a country festival here in Grand Rapids in the summer.

So, that's what I'm hoping to see there.

There's also, we have a great large community of country music lovers here.

So, we look at bringing in a few shows of country every year.

So, that's why I'm going to this trade show but then in January there's the the largest International booking conference in New York City and there are 1500 artist showcases in a three-day period.

So, we get the chance to go and peek in on all of these performances and see if this will sell, this won't sell, people will like it, they won't like it and then we start the negotiating process and it's a trade show so you get to go through the exhibit hall and meet agents and pick up materials.

So, do you have to compete for who gets to go or draw straws?

It would seem like the kind of thing that almost everyone would want to participate in.

Absolutely.

Well, I'm lucky that this is my role here at the Reif Center so I get to go to all of these conferences and be able to bring things back.

My development director did come to a Midwest arts conference a few years ago and really enjoyed seeing what that process is like and it kind of helps the rest of the staff to be able to understand the marketing role with this or you know securing sponsors for our shows.

If you can see it firsthand, it's easier to be able to sell that to somebody.

So, let's talk a little bit about cost.

I'm interested not only in how you fund your operations here but also how much artists cost.

Tell us a little bit about the fees behind some of the artists.

What's the most expensive act you've ever actually brought to the Reif?

The most expensive that the Reif Arts Council has booked was last year's Grand Jam event which is our outdoor summer music festival in July and we hired The Band Perry and their fee was $100,000 which, you know, it's crazy to think about and part of that is their travel expense.

So, we don't pay their travel expense until they get here, then we shuttle them back and forth between the hotel and the venue but they all fly to here.

They've got several crew members that are part of the process.

They have booking agents to pay, they have managers to pay, you know, so I was shocked when I first got into this business at how high the fees are.

They, of course, vary quite a bit because we'll have some artists that come in here that are new artists out of the Twin Cities maybe trying to break through might be $2,500, might be $1,500.

In our theater here with 700 seats, the comfort level of the highest dollar that I want to spend ever is $20,000 because, you know, we don't sell alcohol in our venue which is a significant revenue generating opportunity for a lot of performing arts centers but because we are a school-owned building and attached with the high school at this time we are not selling alcohol.

So, we have to rely solely on selling tickets and getting sponsorships for these shows.

For the shows and how does the Reif fund its operations more generally?

Obviously, managing a brick and mortar facility like this amazing facility is not inexpensive right?

Right.

So, how is it exactly that you're able to fund the operations?

Is it primarily through ticket sales or do you also receive grants?

We receive grants.

We have been real fortunate for many years that the Blandin Foundation is located here in Grand Rapids and their mission is to help fund rural and Itasca County, as well as some other ventures.

So, we have been benefiting from that as well for many years.

There's also the Minnesota State Arts Board that we receive some operating grant money from that but we're finding a trend that a lot of the the granting organizations are going away from general operating funding and going more to project-based funding.

So, we have some challenges ahead I think but I feel like what we're doing is all the right things so I think we're gonna be fine with that.

As far as the building, it's a unique relationship here.

The Reif Arts Council raised the money for the renovation and then we gifted the building to the school district.

So, they provide part-time custodial services.

They take care of all the shell of this building, the heat, the electricity, the water, the plumbing all of that type of thing and then the Reif Arts Council, whom I'm employed by is the managing organization.

So, we manage this whole facility and provide many hours of tech services to the school district for their band concerts, choir concerts, you know, staff development meetings, all of those kind of things.

So, it's a really unique partnership.

So, the whole building is actually the property of the local school district?

Correct.

Interesting.

Well, let's talk a little bit about your relationship with the school.

The first thing I'd like to ask you is to what extent do you think arts are an integral part of the high school curriculum?

Very good question.

I feel it's a very important part.

We have a fantastic band and choir program here at the Grand Rapids High School, throughout the school district and we have been fortunate that the school district has placed a lot of value on band and choir and so those students get to benefit from coming into the Reif Center to be able to do their performances and rehearsals and there's a lot of those students that is their niche.

They have found comfort.

They've found all kinds of benefits of being involved in the arts and there's so many studies that have been done about, even Thomas X said today he talks about you need to be involved in the arts, listen to music.

It develops a different part of the brain that helps us all to be empathetic and helps us all to to be creative and to trigger different ways of learning and I feel like these things have to be part of our educational system for us to really be doing justice to our students, to create wonderful full-functioning adults.

To really cater to the neurodiversity out there.

Absolutely.

Well you recently became executive director.

I was 2018 or 2019?

2018.

And you, it's my understanding that you replaced the executive director that had been in that role for nearly 20 years.

So, how's it going for you?

It's going really well.

I love it.

So, previous to having this job I was a booking agent and so I was on the other end of of this business but still in the same business and so I used to sell shows to David Marty my predecessor here at the Reif Center and now I am buying those shows from other agents and it's going really well.

I have a fantastic staff.

We have 12 employees here that run everything from from our theater arts program, to our dance program, development director, marketing director, box office manager and then our incredible technical crew here that keeps the shows going and I'm very fortunate.

We all get along great.

You know, speaking of your technical crew, anyone that's been to any performing arts venue may not realize the unsung heroes that we don't see right?

We certainly focus on the performers as we should but tell us a little bit about the people behind the curtains that make these shows possible.

Well, they are definitely an integral part of this facility and they have so many skills that I always used to say as a booking agent, I don't want to know anything about tech.

It's very complex and I have a crew that, we have three part-time technical people that have been here each of them more than 15 years each and our full-time Tech Director has been here 26 years and they just are amazing.

There isn't anything that you ask them regarding technical, lighting, sound any of that, that they can't answer.

How many theaters are there here at the Reif.

There are two.

We have in the Ives Studio Theater which is a 200 seat black box theater and then we have a 700 seat Wilcox Theater that is our main stage.

What's a black box theater?

Black box theater is just a wonderful intimate space that can be rearranged for all kinds of different settings.

You can have cabaret shows.

The seats in our black box theater can fold up flat against the wall so you have a complete square or rectangle in this case open setting to be able to configure that however you want.

So that space, we have used for many intimate concerts, for speakers, for rehearsals.

We've even had a craft fair in that space.

So, it's a multi-functional space that we just really love.

So, in addition to your flagship programming, course, inviting these incredible performers from around the world, you also offer a number of other programs.

Tell us a little bit about the Reif Dance Program is that correct?

Yes.

So, over 30 years the Reif Dance Program has been here in the community.

We service over 200 students, all the way kids age infant through adults in ballet, tap, Jazz, hip-hop modern dance.

It's a wonderful program.

We have three beautiful dance studios that a lot of colleges will come here and visit and say this is better than what we have.

So, we're very, very fortunate.

That's a year-round program during the school year, they take lessons after school and into the evenings and on weekends and then in the summer we have what we call a summer intensive and it's basically a camp for students that really want to excel and dance.

So, where do some of these graduates of this program end up?

We have several that have gone on to college to dance in college and then have gone on to professional careers.

So, we have some that have gone to Colorado.

We've had some in New York City.

We've had some in the Twin Cities with the James Sewall Ballet that for many years was a mentoring program of our program here at the Reif.

How do you find instructors that are qualified to provide that level of instruction, it's caliber?

It's an interesting process.

It's very difficult because of course we're in rural Minnesota.

It's definitely a skill that for the most part most people have to go to an urban area in order to get the proper training.

So, we have been very fortunate because of this beautiful venue that we have and the beautiful dance facilities that we have, that we have attracted some great instructors.

Of this last search, our new dance directors started last January and we did a nationwide search and we actually had seven applicants from seven different states, one was actually from the Dominican Republic and so it's getting to be known as quite an established program, you know, throughout the dance world.

How many acts out of 10 are modern dance or any kind of dance for that matter in your season lineups?

We have, we typically have a couple that are dance focused.

What's really interesting is that the touring dance programs have not sold real well here.

So, it's very interesting but we've done a couple modern dance productions for the next year.

We've got, of course, we do our own production of The Nutcracker which is wonderful and it's always very well attended but we're always looking for classical ballet, storylines like Swan Lake, shows like that to come in but ever since the pandemic it's taken a long time for those larger dance touring companies to come back.

How broad is your reach geographically?

How far are people traveling in order to take advantage of your season's lineups?

Well, they come from quite a distance and it depends on the show.

A lot of our bus in school shows, they'll come, some have driven two hours to come here to go to these bus in school shows.

Evening shows, we have about 150 mile radius that people travel from and then of course our Summer Festival, you know, is even further, down to the Twin Cities and you know of course Duluth, Grand Forks.

So, there's enough critical mass in the region to support the Reif Center?

Absolutely.

Well, I want to close with a question about you.

I'd like to learn a little bit more about what motivates you.

So, the first question is although this is a bit like asking a parent which child is is their favorite, I'm curious if you weren't the executive director which show would you pick first this year?

Oh boy, that is a real tough one because I I love all kinds of music and I love theater, love dance.

That's just a great question.

I'm curious probably about a lot of them.

I'm very excited for Gaelynn Lea to come in January.

We have, the Christmas show, the Light Wire Christmas.

I love when you can see the kids smiles during shows.

I mean there's nothing that's more gratifying than when you're standing in the back of the theater watching, you know, the family interactions and how much joy they have together.

Personally, if I'm to put all of that aside, I am so excited for Legally Blonde.

I'm a huge New York lover and Broadway lover so I'm really excited for that one to come.

What gets you up in the morning?

Why is this work important to you?

It's because of my staff.

I just adore them.

We're like a very close-knit family and you know, sometimes we'll be texting each other late at night, you know what?

Guess what?

I've been driving, I have an idea and we just really enjoy what we do and the bus in school shows, seeing those little kids getting off the buses I love the days we have those shows.

It's very rewarding and a lot of fun.

Well, it's a real privilege to be here with you Shantel.

Thank you so much for hosting us.

Thank you for the work that you do on behalf of our region.

Thank you Jason, I appreciate it.

Thank you and thank all of you for joining me.

Once again I'm Jason Edens, your host of Lakeland Currents.

Please continue the conversation on Twitter, tweet me @currents PBS.

Be kind and be well.

We'll see you next week.