David Ivers, Arizona Theatre Company’s artistic director, will leave in March and head for a plum job in California.
Ivers has been with ATC 14 months. The first season he planned just got underway with the staging of “Native Gardens.”
A search for his replacement will begin almost immediately, said Susan Segal, the president of ATC’s Board of Trustees.
Ivers isn’t leaving because he’s unhappy at ATC.
“There’s no story of being miserable or feeling I wasn’t being supported,” said Ivers.
Instead, he is leaving for what he calls a “dream job:” He will be the artistic director for South Coast Repertory Theatre in Costa Mesa. It is a 55-year-old Tony Award-winning company with a hefty endowment, a budget that is nearly $4 million more than ATC’s $7.5 million budget, two stages and a national reputation for its fostering of new playwrights.
“It’s an opportunity to go home to where I grew up with a theater that I have loved and has inspired me in my early life,” said Ivers.
The decision was difficult, especially because of the strong bond he has with the staff and the community, he said.
“I have loved, more than just about anyplace I’ve been, building the art here because it’s needed and it’s appreciated and there’s a sense of curiosity,” Ivers said.
But, he added, his association with ATC isn’t going to go away.
“This partnership’s not over, not by a long shot,” he says. “We’ve already had discussions about co-productions and how do we put our heads together to help elevate both companies to do the work we are trying to do.”
Ivers joined ATC just as it came out of a near-deadly financial crisis — the company entered the 2016-17 season with a $2.4 million accumulated debt, which, after furious fundraising and a successful season was dwindled down by $1 million. After accepting the job but before his contract began, Ivers helped with the fundraising. Today, the accumulated deficit is at a manageable $1.2 million. Russo says it is on track to be wiped out within three years.
With the theater out of crisis mode, Ivers was able to begin to make the changes he thought necessary for the company to grow and become more relevant to the community.
“I’m proud of the diversity in our season,” he says when asked of his accomplishments. “I’m proud of ticket sales. I’m proud of the community efforts that we put forth and that the Temple (of Music and Art) is alive every night, and of our community partnerships.”
“David came in with this vision that virtuosic work on the stage would engage the community, and I think that was something ATC had withdrawn from,” says Russo. “David was transformative — not only from what you see on stage, but it’s in the staff morale and the staff’s accountability of what they are doing. It is remarkable, and I’m just thrilled we’ve had that.”
Ivers and Russo also prioritized engaging the community, through talks, music before plays, the addition of a Janos Wilder restaurant at the Temple, and forming partnerships with businesses. Even something as simple as having a member of ATC’s management team at every performance to greet patrons, and a recording of Ivers talking about the season while ticket buyers are on hold at the box office have made a difference in reaching out to the community, Ivers and Russo say.
“David talks about the community as a key stakeholder,” says Julia Waterfall-Kanter, ATC’s development director. “It makes so much sense in how he and Billy see the role that the theater plays in the community.”
“I’ve never seen such outreach,” says the board’s Segal. “They’ve worked on getting audiences back in the theater.”
Ivers says the successes at ATC played a key role in landing his new job.
“There’s no way I would have been hired at South Coast Rep if we hadn’t, in a very short time, put together what we did here,” he says.
While the board will pick Ivers’ successor, both he and Russo plan to help the process.
“I have enough connections and David has enough connections to know who’s out there,” says Russo.
It’s an odd time in the regional theater scene — a number of major companies, such as Oregon Shakespeare Festival and the Ally Theatre in Houston, are searching for artistic directors.
But Russo — who says ATC will look for “someone who wants to engage the community and make sure the work on stage reflects that community” — doesn’t think filling the job will be difficult.
“With the work we’ve done, we are so much more attractive to candidates,” he says.
Segal agrees.
“We are in a far better position,” than a year ago, she says.
She expects a new artistic director will be named by March, and perhaps as early as January.
