The Show Will Go On
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Lisa Bryant, Producing Artistic Director of Flat Rock Playhouse
Lisa K. Bryant, the Producing Artistic Director of Flat Rock Playhouse, lights up when she talks about her lifelong passion - theater. She recalls attending performances as a child and the anticipation she felt before the show would start.
“For as long as I can remember, just the lights going dark and the overture starting would make all the hairs on my arm stand up. It was like, ‘I don't know where I’m going, and I don't care. But I'm ready!’”
That magical feeling still keeps Lisa going, even during challenging times. She laughs as she describes how her “love affair” with Flat Rock Playhouse began.
“After my freshman year at Elon, I had auditioned at the Southeastern Theater Conference and I got a call back to be an apprentice at Flat Rock Playhouse. The big senior at Elon when I was a wee freshman had just completed an apprenticeship at the Playhouse the summer before. And he said, ‘That's what you have to do. You have to go there!’ And so I came to Flat Rock Playhouse in 1994. And that was the beginning of this love affair that's been going on ever since.”
But Lisa’s love of theater had even earlier roots. She grew up in a musical family with parents who encouraged her enjoyment of performing arts. “We were always listening to musicals, going to musicals, watching musicals on TV. And I was involved in community theater starting when I was around eight years old and taking dance classes, piano lessons, voice lessons…. all the things. So it was never a question of what did I want to be when I grew up. I knew that I wanted to be in the arts.”
Lisa as a Playhouse Apprentice in 1994.
Lisa earned her BFA in Musical Theater from Elon University and her MFA in Performance from the University of Central Florida. She married a fellow Elon student, John Bryant, who is now Superintendent of Henderson County Public Schools, and after their graduate school experiences in Florida, moved back to North Carolina and settled in Hendersonville.
Lisa was involved with the Playhouse in a variety of ways after her initial apprenticeship, acting, directing, and teaching YouTheater before she was tapped as Associate Artistic Director in 2012 and then Artistic Director in 2014. She had always thought of herself as an actor, so moving into an administrative role was challenging, especially at a time when the Playhouse was going through economic difficulties.
“It was hard,” she admits. “I knew nothing about the job, and so truly, ignorance was bliss. I don't know that I would have said yes if I understood really what I was walking into. So my naivety probably helped me a lot there.”
What kept her going? “My passion and my heart for Flat Rock Playhouse. And, knowing that it changed my life, that it grew me, that it allowed me to fail, and learn from my failures, and get up and try again. It kept promoting me and providing me with other opportunities. And I just thought that legacy can't die. And I know that I am far from the only person that can tell that story. It is true for many others, as well.”
Lisa describes the years of building up stability and sustainability at the Playhouse as a steady climb that culminated in the early months of 2020…. right before the pandemic hit.
“It's been like pushing a massive boulder up a very steep hill. We thought that we were going to get to the top of that hill and be able to see a panorama that we had worked really hard to achieve. And that was 2020. We had arrived. We saw it. The summer of 2020 was going to be that panorama. We were just so close and it felt so good.” She paused and sighed.
“And then the pandemic came, and we turned and watched the boulder roll all the way back down the Hill. So that's probably the image that most broadly sums up what we are feeling. It's hard. It's devastating, actually.”
The 2020 spring season was cut short, and the Playhouse was mostly shuttered during the following year. Two-thirds of the staff was laid off which was especially painful when they were people who felt like friends and family. She noted that these are professionals who have practiced a singular craft, dedicating their lives to a unique and difficult career within the theater industry. “And when your entire industry worldwide is shut down, there really is nowhere to go,” she says.
Even when businesses and venues were allowed to start opening up with limited capacity, this did not mean the Playhouse could return to in-person performances. Lisa explains that 50% capacity plus six feet social distance would only accommodate 130 people in the house. “And that's not going to do it. That's not financially viable. Live theater is an expensive prospect, and live union theater especially is an expensive prospect. We have to have more people in seats just to break even, let alone make any kind of a profit.”
So when can we expect performances again at the Playhouse? Lisa explains that unfortunately, there won’t be any indoor shows this summer. This is because it usually takes a full year to make a season of high-quality theater happen. The timeline normally takes months to go to New York City to recruit and cast actors, receive licensing for the production of certain scripts, build-out budgets and have everything in place for the coming season. Lisa usually works one year ahead of the current season, and last year was a lost year.
Still, she is excited about the prospect of an outdoor concert in August and a modest fall season that will let actors and patrons dip their toes back in the water. And there will be some familiar names and faces at those performances. Everyone is eager for the shows to return, she acknowledges, but the process must be handled carefully.
“We definitely have people that are very enthusiastic and they would come back right now, to which I say, if we could, we would. Because however badly you want to come back, it's not as bad as how much WE want to be back. I will arm wrestle anybody over that!”
Lisa is quick to add that there will be other in-person activities happening at the Playhouse over the summer. In fact, the first in-person opportunity will be a summer camp series through Studio 52.
“The Playhouse has always had a big heart for youth education,” says Lisa. “When Robroy Farquhar started Flat Rock Playhouse, it was embedded in our name. Our official corporate name is The Vagabond School of Drama. Our corporate name is not Flat Rock Playhouse. He started a professional equity company side-by-side with the apprentice company because he wanted to be committed to the next generation of artists. And he wanted that professional company to be mentors to those artists. So the apprentice program is as old as the company itself. That'll be 70 years on the Rock next year.”
Lisa thinks a hybrid model of virtual and in-person performances will continue even as the pandemic eases and they get back to more of a regular routine with seasonal shows. “As we get back to production, we may do one show per run that is live-streamed, or that is recorded for folks that don't live here anymore, or who aren't comfortable yet coming back, or don't want to drive at night anymore.”
There are some exciting ideas being tossed around about evolving and changing Playhouse offerings in the future, including growing the apprentice program beyond the summer and perhaps taking Letterland, their educational show for children in Henderson County Public Schools across the state, or even a new musical about North Carolina history that could also be a traveling show since every fourth grader is required to study state history.
“We really take our state moniker, the State Theater of North Carolina, seriously. We have lots of plans and ideas for all of that which is motivating and encouraging and something to sink your teeth into when you're otherwise closed and things feel disorienting and depressing,” she says.
There is a mixture of hope and frustration in Lisa’s voice. The fact that the Playhouse will be missing two big seasons of performances due to the pandemic is very worrying. “John, my husband comes from farming. And he says you can survive one bad crop, but it’s really, really hard to survive two bad crops in a row. And that's what we and other arts entities across the country are dealing with.”
But Lisa still feels hopeful about the future and extremely grateful for the community support the Playhouse has received. Their Rock Solid Campaign is making good progress and offers a way for those who love the Playhouse to provide tangible financial support that will ensure its legacy will continue.
When asked about her final words to Playhouse fans, she smiles.
Lisa directing at Flat Rock Playhouse
“Tell them they should hang in there. Thank them profusely for their ongoing support and patience so that the decisions we make can be as long-lasting as possible. And right now, the best way people can support us is financially. Every donation to our Rock Solid campaign adds up and makes a real difference. We will be back to normal business because the Playhouse is important, and the arts are important. It is the expression of all of us.”
Lisa remembers her excitement as a child when the lights went down as a performance started, the thrill of a story about to be told and the magic of the journey. But, it wasn’t just the beginning of a show that made her heart beat faster.
“I saw the curtain call at the end and heard the applause, and I remember thinking that I'm going to be there with them. I'm going to be up there on stage one day. And I was.”
We are all grateful that Lisa Bryant not only ended up on stage, but also behind it and out in front as she continues to lead the Flat Rock Playhouse into a hopeful future.
