Larry Hembree -pictured at Trustus Theatre
In our continuing coverage of Columbia’s arts community and our responses to COVID-19 and the restrictions it compels, the Jasper Project is touching base with members of the community to see how they are faring. Today we’re chatting with Arts All-Star Larry Hembree who is currently the Executive Director of Columbia Children’s Theatre.
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JASPER: Larry, you’ve played a role in the success of several Columbia arts organizations over the past few decades, including a stint as the president of the board of directors of the Jasper Project. For readers who may not know your history, tell us about your background, please. Where did you go to school and what did you study, for example, and then what happened after that?
HEMBREE: Oh lord, child. I hardly remember any of it. Went to Clemson and did a lot of theatre there because my parents told me not to (cast Mike Tyler in his first play there, he played Gunther in Friends, name dropping starts here) Ten minutes after walking through the graduation/diploma line in Littlejohn Coliseum a little tipsy from a bunch of bloody Mary’s a favorite English professor had served that morning, I ran across campus with BA in English intact in my hand still adorned in graduation robe and talked to a woman who hired me on the spot to start a summer gig the next day at the Highlands Playhouse (Highlands NC) running the box office. That started it all. I met actors from NYC and all over, got accepted to the University of Georgia Theatre program (had to borrow money from a banker for the first quarter), moved to Athens GA, went to the 40-Watt Club a lot, partied a whole lot, roomed with Alton Brown (Good Eats, Food Network, name dropping continues) in a really crappy old house, and in three years got my MFA in Directing with no debt at the end. Moved to NYC for a short stint working with Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Lanford Wilson, did summer stock (outdoor musical theatre in front of a golf course) in Jekyll Island Georgia. Worked a good bit there with Kyle Chandler (Friday Night Lights, etc. name-dropping ends here) and then got a long-term 11-year gig running the Camden Community Theatre (Camden SC). Then moved to Columbia in 1997 to work for SC Arts Commission, then worked for Columbia City Ballet, Trustus and then Nickelodeon Theatre before retiring. Then stopped being retired and found beauty at Columbia Children’s Theatre.
JASPER: When did you begin working with CCT and in what capacity?
HEMBREE: I met CCT Artistic Director Jerry Stevenson in 1986 when he was serving on a search committee to hire the first theatre artist in residence at the Fine Arts Center of Kershaw County in Camden. That would be me. I got hired and then made the mistake somewhere in my 11-year career there, of telling him (I directed him in shows there too) that I owed him a big favor for giving me that wonderful job and experience. Fast forward to 2016, I had departed Trustus and “retired” when he called me and said, “Remember that favor from the ‘90s you talked about?” and that was that, I wrote the first strategic plan for the theatre, then became their first Director of Development and then their first Executive Director. I love this organization because they do very important work in our community and you get to hang around youth who always tell you the truth whether you want to hear it or not.
JASPER: Can you talk briefly about the history of CCT and make sure we’re all aware of the main folks involved?
HEMBREE: I’ll give you a bulleted list. That should make all my linear thinking friends very excited. You can also find a very good story I wrote about the CCT history in Jasper Magazine Spring 2016 Issue, Volume 006, Issue 002, pages 80-83.
2005
· CCT founded by Jerry Stevenson and Jim Litzinger.
· Programming takes place out of Sarah Nance Cultural Arts Center Arts Incubator.
· Professional company created to present work at Sarah Nance and throughout the city.
· Classes and Camps offered at Sarah Nance and parks throughout the city.
2009
· Theatre moves to the second floor of Richland Mall.
· YouTheatre created for youth to participate in productions.
· Additional Artistic Associates hired as part of staff.
2010
· CCT celebrates its 35th year (in Dog Years) with a production of Go, Dog, Go!
2017
· CCT expands square footage by relocating to the ground level of Richland Mall adjacent to Barnes & Noble.
· CCT Board hires first Director of Development.
· Central Carolina Community Foundation funds expansion of touring program.
2019
· CCT Board hires first Executive Director, first Director of Finance and first Director of Marketing.
2020
· CCT Board hires first Director of Education.
JASPER: What would your legacy at CCT be if you and your husband packed up tomorrow and moved to Botswana?
HEMBREE: I helped prevent CCT co-founders Jerry and Jim from dying due to stress of running an art non-profit.
JASPER: Assuming you and your husband will be staying put for a while, what goals do you have for your time at CCT?
HEMBREE: On the business side, seeing the completion of our current strategic plan which includes creating and implementing a cultural equity plan, creating more opportunities for more youth to do more things, inspiring more people to know about and attend programs at the theatre, building more internal structures and, most importantly, having more fun!
In addition, focusing on creating and seeing a secession plan for Jerry, Jim and me and, after we retire, we three can just drink martinis for lunch once a week and talk about the good old days and bitch about how these children that we put in charge of running the theatre don’t know what real work is (like back in the day when we had to make flats out of cheesecloth, wood and wheat paste and actors had to learn lines (gasp) and sing without a microphone strapped to our ears and cool stuff like that.
JASPER: Can you please talk for a minute about what life at CCT has been like during the COVID-19 pandemic?
HEMBREE: Being someone who leads with a 7 on the enneagram chart, I have a tendency to flip things to the positive instead of wallow in the pain of reality. It has been great fun! (insert emoji of someone screaming, crying and choking themselves all at the same time.)
Honestly, working through the complexities of the pandemic has shown me what a stellar staff and board we have put in place. We have moved forward with creativity, flexibility and maintaining a sense of humor. What else can you ask for right now? I feel blessed to be where I am.
Here are some specifics that show we have not been sitting around on our butts crying over COVID-19.
COVID may have closed our Main Stage, but we remained committed to bringing the joy and magic of live theatre to each of your households in any way we still could. When the pandemic began in March, we went online, reading bedtime stories on streams and beaming a little bit of normalcy across the city. In the end, we were able to organize 30 summer classes, 8 productions recorded and premiered virtually, new workshops taught by actors and artists from across the country – all without cracking open the doors to the general public at 3400 Forest Drive.
JASPER: What have your major obstacles been and how have you tried to problem solve them?
HEMBREE: The major obstacles that our folks are calling “opportunities” are that with every decision you make right now, COVID-19 and equity have to be part of the conversation to get to what you would consider a correct decision. And I am not saying that’s a bad thing at all. Artists have always owned the creative gene and are expert problem solvers.
All photos courtesy of Larry Hembree and Columbia Children’s Theatre
JASPER: Assuming we’ll be wearing masks for a bit longer, how do you plan to help CCT meet its mission going forward? What should we be looking for from CCT?
HEMBREE: We have great CCT masks for sale for adults and kids. To purchase one or ten, simply email me at larry@columbiachildrenstheatre.com and I’ll set you up.
Oh yeah, the question: I had one of our very smart board members remind us all the other day (as we were wallowing in how to survive and were coming up ridiculous ideas/solutions) we need to remember to stick to our mission and we would be ok. So, we quickly refocused on transforming the lives of our youth and families through the power of live theatre. So, we will continue doing that. Focusing on education, classes, how to offer safe social interaction and educational opportunities for youth in our city. We have four or five more shows lined up to present virtually (rehearsing and filming shows on stage and then presenting them virtually) in early 2021. We will also be aggressively searching for additional organizations to partner with.
JASPER: Jasper is excited to be neighbors with you CCT guys at the new 1013 Co-Op. Do you have any secret thoughts on ways we might collaborate that we can tease our readers with?
HEMBREE: Here’s my secret list:
· Start a series to create and educate a diverse pool of arts critics in our city
· Start a midlands theatre consortium
· Celebrate anything and everything!
JASPER: Given your level of experience with different arts organizations in Columbia, what do you think the future holds and what do you think we need to be prioritizing in order to continue to grow as a community, as organizations, and as individual artists?
HEMBREE: I was extremely lucky to be part of the team that created the Amplify plan for Arts and Culture overseen by the and One Columbia for Arts & Culture. It was an intense learning experience to work side by side with consultant Margie Reese for over two years and meet lots of new folks in our city who deserve to have a voice in creating a strong cultural base here. I learned that once you gather all your information from your community, you have to put it into policy. It can’t dangle around in the air; it has to become policy to be effective and to garner real results. I hope our city and county will step up to the plate and embrace the policies set forth in the plan.
If you haven’t look at the Amplify plan, now’s your chance while we sit and wait to get our vaccine shots: Find it at: https://www.dropbox.com/s/l0hafckjg5wui7v/Amplify.pdf?dl=0
JASPER: Can you share some words of wisdom with readers to help them grasp what COVID-life is like for arts organizations?
HEMBREE: I hosted a zoom session for arts leaders in April or May to get a reading on the pulse of what was happening with my peers. Here is what I found: We are not working on self-care very well; we don’t know when to stop working as many of us are working from home and technology savviness is key to our successes right now. That is a challenge for arts leaders who never took a class on “programming for Zoom.”
However, even though we are all struggling to figure out how we can bring in more earned income for the time being, overall, we remain positive for the future. We are also all very thankful for our supporters who are stepping up in major ways and to local, state and national funders who are standing by our sides and assisting.
JASPER: Anything else you’d like to say? Here’s your platform!
HEMBREE: Just one thing (for now):
I hope that arts and culture will live again in the White House. I recently sat down and rewatched the video of the day when the Obama’s brought in the cast of Hamilton to perform when it was still in infancy. I wept as I heard our national leaders talk smartly about how the arts inform and become a record of what is going on in our society, how the arts serve as catalysts for conversations that might not normally occur and how we should all see beauty in ourselves when we participate in cultural experiences.
I have really missed artistic cred from the top over the past four years and I am very hopeful that will change.
