{"id":10169,"date":"2012-02-08T06:46:54","date_gmt":"2012-02-08T11:46:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.raleighpublicrecord.org\/?p=10169"},"modified":"2012-10-05T11:18:05","modified_gmt":"2012-10-05T15:18:05","slug":"oak-city-voices-raleigh-little-theatre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/news\/2012\/02\/08\/oak-city-voices-raleigh-little-theatre\/","title":{"rendered":"Oak City Voices: Raleigh Little Theatre"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the country\u2019s oldest continuously operating community theaters has a new leader. Charles Phaneuf took over as Raleigh Little Theatre\u2019s<\/a> executive director last month.<\/p>\n

The theater, which began in 1936, offers community and entertainment programs year-round. Phaneuf comes to the theater from the Washington, D.C. area, where he worked as managing director of Joe\u2019s Movement Emporium, a multidisciplinary community performing arts center. Phaneuf also worked as managing director of the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n

We spoke with Phaneuf about his Triangle roots and about his vision for the future of Raleigh Little Theatre.<\/p>\n

<\/object><\/center> <\/p>\n

Transcript of Video Interview<\/strong><\/p>\n

Raleigh Public Record:<\/strong> Hello. I\u2019m Jennifer Wig with the Raleigh Public Record. Welcome to this edition of Oak City Voices. Today I\u2019m standing in the amphitheater of Raleigh Little Theatre here in Raleigh. I\u2019m joined by the new executive director, Charles Phaneuf, and he\u2019s going to tell us today a little bit about his new job.<\/p>\n

Record:<\/strong> So Charles, tell me, why did you apply for this job?
\nCharles Phaneuf:<\/strong> Well, Jennifer, I actually grew up in Raleigh and I went to high school here in North Carolina and college, and I grew up coming to this theater. I\u2019ve been in D.C. for most of the last 10 years and when I saw this opportunity I was really excited because this theater means a lot to me. And the opportunity to come back to the area when there\u2019s such exciting things happening here, I couldn\u2019t say no to that.<\/p>\n

Record:<\/strong> So I understand, this is the \u2014 let me see if I get this right \u2014 this is the longest, excuse me, oldest continuously operating community theater in the country, is that right?
\nCP:<\/strong> That\u2019s right. We\u2019ve been around since 1936. The theater actually celebrated its 75th<\/sup> anniversary in 2011 and yes, so we\u2019re actually at a really exciting time right now because we\u2019re looking at starting a strategic plan. We\u2019re actually going to be unveiling a strategic planning process in the next few months and really looking at how we can continue to grow and serve this community and what we can really accomplish over the next five years.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Record:<\/strong> Well that sort of leads me to my next question, which is what are your goals for this theater?
\nCP:<\/strong> Right. Well … actually we\u2019re standing right now in the amphitheater. The amphitheater is a big part of our history. It was built at the same time as the theater and in the last couple of years we haven\u2019t been doing as much in terms of performing in this space so that\u2019s part of it. Really, we\u2019re looking to just continue to grow our audience and reach lots of people so that\u2019s a lot of our focus, is really going to be reaching out to people in the community to make sure they know what we\u2019re doing. The fact that we\u2019re here and we have wonderful productions that are offered throughout the year \u2014 actually 11 plays this year; it\u2019s a mixture of straight plays, musicals, programs for kids \u2014 and really just making sure that people know we\u2019re here and making sure they see us as a resource.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also about the education programs; we serve about 1,000 young people a year with summer camps, after school classes, track-out camps. We serve adults as well with acting classes. So much of what we do is also about the volunteer experience.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s part of what\u2019s really exciting about Raleigh Little Theatre is that we\u2019re an accessible place for both people to come and see shows, because we provide a high-quality theater experience at a reasonable ticket price. Tickets are generally $20 if not cheaper. And at the same time, if you\u2019re somebody that\u2019s always wanted to have the opportunity to act in a play or to see how, to learn how things work backstage, whether it\u2019s building costumes, running lights, running props, all those kinds of things, you have those opportunities to do those things at Raleigh Little Theatre and we really just want to make sure that everybody, that more people know about us and know about the opportunity they have to be part of that.<\/p>\n

Record:<\/strong> Now as I said, it\u2019s one of the oldest community theaters in the country, so no pressure there, right? Are you nervous at all about taking such an important role?
\nCP:<\/strong> No. You know, there\u2019s certainly a lot of work to do and it\u2019s a big job, but it\u2019s also really exciting. The wonderful thing about this theater, because I think it means so much to so many people and it\u2019s such an important part of Raleigh\u2019s history, is that it\u2019s just such a really amazing organization. Everyone from the board to the staff to the volunteers to the donors. There\u2019s so many people who care deeply about this theater. I\u2019ve been actually really surprised. This is the end of my second week on the job and just literally every day I get five phone calls at least from people that are like, \u201cWhat can I do to help you? Let\u2019s go out to lunch. I\u2019d really like tell you about this idea and this thing I can do to help the theater out.\u201d And so it\u2019s been amazing. It\u2019s been this incredible outpouring of support so far, and I\u2019ve just been here two weeks. So, it certainly is a big job, but this is such an wonderful theater and I think people really understand how important it is to the community.<\/p>\n

Record:<\/strong> What are some of the big challenges you face in reaching your goals?
\nCP:<\/strong> I think one of the things that \u2014 Raleigh has to a certain extent changed, and the whole Triangle has. And I think that we need to understand how the community continues to change and evolve, you know, what it is people want from us in the community and also how do we communicate with them. It\u2019s about understanding that we have audiences that have been with us for a long time and what it is that they want to see. And then we\u2019ve got a lot of people who are new to this community. And the demographics of the community are changing. So how do we really respect history and the people that have been fans and audience members for a really long time while also understanding what\u2019s new and different in this community. Really, as Raleigh\u2019s oldest community theater, the kind of theater that started this amazing theater movement in Raleigh, what is our role in all that and how do we both serve the organization ourselves but also support the rest of the theater community and talk about the impact of the theater in the Triangle. You know there\u2019s 32 theater companies in the Triangle and I don\u2019t think a lot people realize how much excellent theater this is in this community. And I see a task really for all of us in the theater community is making sure people are aware of that and continuing to build that audience and our relationship with them.<\/p>\n

Record:<\/strong> And, final question, what\u2019s your favorite part of the job so far?\u00a0 Two whole weeks now.
\nCP:<\/strong>\u00a0 It\u2019s a number of things. I talked about how much I really enjoy getting to meet a lot of people so far and how exciting it\u2019s been that so many people are reaching out and saying hello. So I\u2019ll pick something different, which is that, actually, really, I had a meeting with somebody yesterday in the Rose Garden and it was beautiful … and I realized that we just have this amazing space all around us. When it\u2019s such beautiful weather, I\u2019m so excited to be back here, in the depths of winter and yet we have amazing, beautiful weather. And we\u2019ve got this rose garden right outside. And every now and then I can move a business meeting outside and we can get a lot of work done but we get to be in beautiful environment, just surrounded by all this natural beauty in the heart of downtown Raleigh.<\/p>\n

Record:<\/strong> Thanks so much for joining us for this edition of Oak City Voices.<\/p>\n

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