“A VERY DIFFERENT ANIMAL”

There is a great difference between theater and Broadway and at the ART: the ART can afford to focus more on the artists’ vision and worry less about selling tickets. “We are a not-for-profit theater, and so we’re very mission-driven,” managing director William Russo says.

“[This] is what we are here to do: to give the artist that we work with that kind of freedom, to say, ‘It’s okay if it fails,’” Russo says.

By contrast, there are more risks and pressure in for-profit theaters like those in New York. “If a show is done on Broadway, immediately you’re starting with the mission to return the investment and make a profit,” Russo says. “No one’s going to say, ‘Take my $14 million—if you fail, that’s okay!’”

Both Borger and Russo habitually refer to past productions as if each show were a human being. “We can protect a show much more than a Broadway producer in New York can,” Russo says. When he says “protect a show,” his arms make a hugging gesture, as if he were a drawing a child protectively to his chest.

Varagur believes that whether a show goes to New York or not implies nothing about its quality. “There are so many factors involved in getting it picked up for New York,” she says. “There are a lot of things, like availability and what kind of show it is.”

It is also a matter of having industry connections in New York. “Diane Paulus is very well connected, obviously,” Melvin says. “She’s done a bunch of shows on Broadway.… She’s a person that people know in the business. [She and Diane Borger] both have reached out to other producers in New York.”

For each show that does go, the experience is different. One thing is consistent, though. “It will always involve some kind of partnership,” Russo says. “In that partnership, we will participate artistically and financially. When it goes to New York, that commercial partner usually takes over control, and we’re in support of that.”

According to Russo, the New York staffs have more knowledge on marketing shows to a Broadway audience. “It’s a very different animal,” Russo says of New York theater. “It’s kind of like both parties joining at a point where they really have the expertise.”

While management shifts, the same costumes and scenery are transported to the new location. Slight alterations may be made to the direction, and at times cast members may change, but otherwise, it is the same production.

For the cast and crew, Borger says, getting an extension on the life of their show also means having more time to perfect the show. “The artist goes, ‘Oh my goodness! So lucky! I get to do it again! And that scene I never got right? Now I know how to fix it.’”

COMMUNITY THEATER

One outcome of the ART’s spirit of inclusivity and outreach to more potential audience demographics is its improving relationship with Harvard drama students. Through the Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club, as well as other venues on campus, many Harvard students already participate in non-professional theater. But a chance to work with the ART confers distinct advantages, whether through resume-building internships or through theater workshops offered by staff of the affiliated ART Institute. As there is no theater concentration at Harvard, the role of the ART becomes especially significant.

Bersin, who is the HRDC president, says these opportunities—often with stipends—have been mostly recent implementations. Internships such as the ones Varagur and Melvin did, for example, were not created until recently.

It was one of Bersin’s main goals for the year to create even closer ties to the ART, including more advising for students. “We’re all here all the time, so there’s no reason we shouldn’t be taking advantage of the amazing people that are here,” Bersin says.