“LLT has been trampled by a herd of sacred cows and my job is to turn them into hamburgers. I want to do new things in new ways”, My goal is greatness,” says Brian Mattes
Brian Mattes, new President of LLT at his home in Ajijic. Photo: Patrick O’Heffernan
Recently elected LLT President Brian Mattes was a Washington lobbyist for the Vanguard Group where he guided legislation to benefit retirees. He has an undergraduate degree in communication and theater and an MBA. Laguna English Editor and longtime radio host Patrick O’Heffernan sat down with Mattes at his home for a conversation on the future of the Lakeside Little Theater. Below is the full interview.
The production of La MIchichuall by La Cochera Cultura i was exciting do you anticipate others like that?
The performance of Michi-Chihualli produced by El Cochera Cultural at LLT was very exciting to me and there will more like that. It was a wonderful collaboration, they were great people to work with and it was a fantastic show. Well received. Why not do more like that? And it is the direction that I want to move the theater ..doing more productions that are different from what LLT used to do. It was ground breaking on some levels, but very exciting and new and different. In the next years we will see more productions like that. We are very inclined to work with them again; we are already in conversations about that and perhaps others as well.
I know there is a bridge between La Cochera Cultural and LLT through donors to both organizations. Will you be able to form those kinds of collaborations without that kind of personal bridge?
I hope so. We would like to see some new productions like that, working within the bylaws, of course, but we can find ways to do that. So , yes. It is more a matter of the production, something that will be exciting and enlightening to the Lakeside audience. One of the visions I have is that LLT becomes a place where it reaches out to not just for entertainment, but for enlightenment, and that is where I want to go, as fast as possible.
Michi-Chiualli was produced by a Mexican organization with Mexicans on stage…is that an opening to the Mexican community or is that a very difficult challenge.
Both. It is a difficult challenge because of language issues and so forth. But I am hoping that it was a was an example of how we can overcome them and work with the Mexican community. I would love to see more Mexicans on stage…we have had the great fortune of having outstanding young Mexicans in certain roles. It was wonderful; we have had outstanding talent come from young Mexicans who filled critical roles. And it very rewarding to see the Mexican families come out and see their children on stage…and they are so happy to see their child on stage in a great production.. That is what it is all about, being happy at seeing a production. And the tradition of families in the Mexican community is paramount. So if a Mexican is on stage, the family will come out. Maybe it will lead to having other Mexicans on stage filling key roles and the families seeing another show.
Do you envision seeing Spanish or bilingual productions on stage?
I never thought about but it could be a good idea. I should explore it more. I am looking for ways to bring more Mexicans into the theater…I have not totally sorted that out yet, but I want to work toward it. May something like the Met’s projected translations project on the stage or on the back of the screen . Maybe if we could find a technical way to do that we could. That would be cool.
Would travelling troupes, Mexican or English be possible at LLT?
I am just exploring the idea of traveling troupes at LLT because there are times when the theater is dark and I am not happy when it is dark. I would like to see more shows in production. If it can filled by a travelling show and it would be giving more to the community.
Could you fill the theater with the local community – Mexicans – when the snow birds go home? Is this possible?
It is . I am exploring reaching out to the local community . It would give us something to with the theater during the summer.
You have so many ideas about theater. Are you a theater person?
I am theater Buff. I have been going to theater for about 50 years. I have seen theater around the world. I have seen professional theater in Broadway, Los Angeles, London. I have seen community theater in little towns in Pennsylvania and elsewhere. I just love theater.
I have an undergraduate degree in communications in theater and an MBA. I bring the artistic side and the business side. I think it is a unique combination to say, I can look at the artistic side but also the business side. We have to be creative, but we have to watch the budget. We have to run the theater as somewhat of a business, but not entirely. There is a great book on management written back in the 90’s called “Good to Great”. The author was challenged if the business metrics can be applied to community theater After researching it, he said that instead of the language of business, which would be naïve, we should apply the language of greatness.
I loved that and explained that to the Board.
My goal is greatness. We will let the patrons define greatness. If we do great shows we will have great audiences, and we will raise more money and produce more great shows, and it will get going like a flywheel.
Greatness can mean changing the culture – a new way of doing things. LLT has been trampled by a herd of sacred cows and my job is to turn them into hamburger. We are culling the herd, one by one, out they go. Do not tell me that that’s the way we have always done it. – that is like waving a red flag in front of a bull.
I want to do new things new ways – traveling troupes, collaborations, doing more with the theater in the summer- lots of things to consider..
But, we need more depth in things like directors, stage managers, etc. ,So I am starting the LLT Academy. We have already assembled a number of people who have graduate degrees in theater from here or London or elsewhere, who have done major productions. They can teach Acting 101 or 201 or 401 and courses in stage management, character development, etc. And we will develop a course catalogue for 6 -8 months. I hope to start this in September or October. I hope to have courses running by the end of the year.
I have people on the Board who are excited about this. I have reached out to theater luminaries in the area to teach; some will volunteer, some who will want remuneration. Many are eager to teach. We just have to find a facility to hold it and fit it into our schedule. I want to have them running by the end of the year for people who have an interest in theater but need to learn some skills. This will increase our depth and lead to more greatness.
But this means we need more volunteers. We will get involved in volunteer fairs. I am hoping to have a big volunteer fair, open house at LLT, maybe in September, where people can come and tourn the theater, meet people behind the curtain, meet directors, stage managers, other actors, see the course catalogue an volunteer right there at the theater.
Would the academy be an opportunity to train people for the long term?
That would be my fondest dream. Start someone young in the Academy , taking courses for a year or two or three, then get them involved as an understudy or apprentice who would develop over the years. Then the next thing you know comes Season 60 and we have this huge number of seasoned people who can put on even better shows. I am looking past my term to season 60 and 64 to lay the groundwork for greatness after my term.
And we need to develop backstops…someone to step in when we lose a sound board operator or director, or whatever. We will do this in my first term. We can’t run the risk of not running a show because someone did not wake up, or was incapacitated. We are not running the theater with 30 somethings. We have to consider this; at the retreat with the Board I said we have to have a succession plan in place for all key positions We identify people and train them if we have to.
Demographic changes are happening – younger people are moving here. Is LLT tracking this and its possible impact on programming?
Yes. We are actually tracking a lot of changes in the audience, We have noticed there is a high intellectual capacity in the Lakeside community. There are many people with college degrees, advanced degrees and they are looking for something more novel more enlightening than a fluffy comedy, but something more engaging. This is true for the young families and the cyber nomads. They want something more intellectually challenging.
I have a new board member, Mark Nichols with a fantastic career at the Schubert organization in the US, and I am just tickled that we have him on board. He will bring this kind of analysis to the board of who is our audience and what are they looking for. At the end of the day the we exist to enlighten and entertain our patrons, and that is what we need to give them….I think we need to do an even better job…we are looking at who is our audience, what are they looking for , and give it to them.
Was “Silent Sky” an example that kind of intellectual challenge?
Absolutely! I loved it and the audience loved it…it was so novel, so different. I was stage manager during several performances, so I could talk to audience members coming out at the end of the show. They were thrilled. When you walked into the theater there was this music playing, there was an engaging set that was different, not a bunch of flats that looked like someone’s dining room. …it was mind-expanding. I was so excited by that kind of play , I can’t wait to do more like that.
Is there any risk that you will be too innovative for the existing audience, that they will say this is not the old LLT I am use to?
I hope they say that! I was asked to run for President to not to be a caretaken and I won’t be a caretaker. I will quit first. I want people to say “Wow that is different LLT and I like it”. I don’t want a status quo, doing what we are used to doing. I want to shake things up I want to make LLT a place to go not just for entertainment, but for enlightenment. That is the mark of a great theater. New Things, new ways despite the sacred cows and all that. I understand there exists a magic tome called the LLT Rulebook. If I ever find it, I will have a bonfire on the Angel Terrace to burn it.
We will still have a varied collection of plays each year – a comedy, a music.al, etc. But great plays.
Going back to “Silent Sky” that was such an audience hit, and so was Random World and so was Madre. When people saw Madre, every night, they were in tears, and it was wonderful. That is what I want. We moved the audience with those plays. There was connection. We created something that excited them. I want people to say that is not the old LLT and I love it.
I know there is some risk involved. When radio stations change forms, they lose some of the old audience. But they gain a newer , bigger audience. Cadillac went through a major change because its buyers were old and dying off, They needed to attract new buyers. So they did and sales are up. We have to go through the same thing….change.
Change management is difficult , and some people will be upset. But at the end of the day you have a great product to offer if it is done right. It has to be great, it has to be something they like. They may have liked LLT in the past, but wait until they see what is coming.
And not just the Main stage, maybe travelling troupes, maybe concerts, maybe something else. Look at the staged readings…people loved them. The 10 minute plays are great idea . MT Live has become a big success. I have become acquainted with something called Alice’s Parlor , which has run in 30 theaters in the US, in which of plays with a similar themes are presented over different nights,s o you can see a variations of the play on successive nights. Other things we have not seen at LLT before include summer stock. We can create more reasons to come to LLT and that is very exciting.
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