A Day in the Life of an Executive Director

By: Joshua Badger

The show must go on, but who gets the show going in the first place? Who masterminds separate components that turns words on a script into a fully developed production?

Jansen (Jan) Davis, 55, is the executive director of the Centerpoint Legacy Theater in Centerville, Utah. Within a theater company there are several directors of individual productions. But above all of these directors there is one who is the “head honcho”. Someone who calls the shots.

How did he end up in this line of work? For Davis his love for the theater began in Junior High and High School, being involved in several musical and non-musical productions. In his first year at Ricks College he had originally planned to major in musical theater, but after serving a two-year LDS mission he changed his field of study to Business Marketing.

It wasn’t until after his marriage to his wife Joy Kendell that his love for the theater was reignited. Though it took form only as a pastime activity.

When his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1994 that lifelong love for the theater was put on the back burner. In 2012 his wife’s eighteen-year old battle came to an end and she passed on from this life to the next.

This tragic loss left a void his Davis’s life that was filled with that forgotten passion: the theater. Four years ago, he was given the offer to be the executive director of the Centerpoint Legacy Theater. With his past work experience and theater background he was the perfect candidate for the job. The fact that he was also willing to work pro bono and later take a reduced payment in the beginning also made him a shoo-in for the job. The theater at the time needed more focus and attending to and that was exactly what he was willing to bring. In his own words, “[The opportunity] came at the right time”.

Being an executive director is no easy task. Like the ringmaster of a circus he is the “head honcho” and all things are run by him. He must be aware of all that goes on in his arena always.

All decisions must go through him. Costuming, properties, set designs, staging, everything. And with the theater hosting seven productions per year, usually six musical and one non- musical, that is no easy job to do.

Jansen Davis

Executive Director

“Like the ring master of a circus he is the “head honcho” and all things are run by him.”

Luckily not all the work is placed on his shoulders. The theater is run by a non-profit volunteer board with five full time employees and several part-time. And while there are many different roles involved in making a production come to life, there are three that rise among the rest.

First there is the properties department. Jackie Smith is a member of the properties (or props as they are more commonly known) department of the Legacy Theater. From a piece of furniture to a women’s golden bracelet, Jackie is the go-to woman in charge of collecting or creating all of them.

Smith has been with the theater since 2009, when it was still Rogers Theater. She works in organizing and collecting props and creating small set pieces for productions. She does so under the direction of her boss, the executive producer Scott VanDyke.

VanDyke is actually an architect by trade and as such he utilizes his skill set to develop more complicated sets for all of the theater’s several productions per year.

All the props that are used by the theater are collected, stocked, and organized by Jackie to be used for future productions. There is no set system, however, in how they are organized because to create one would be like cleaning up toys for children, put them all in neatly organized and labeled bins and then telling the kids to “follow your system”. Instead they are each placed in a general location and then everyone else is expected to be smart enough to find it in the future.

Next, we have the costume department, because without costumes the audience and the cast cannot connect to the play.

Alina Gatrell is a costume designer for the Legacy Theater. Right now, the theater is directing the production of “It’s a Wonderful Life” and it is Gatrell’s first time designing for the theater.

Costume designing is a long and demanding process. At the first production meeting that they have for the director of the show, they must come with sketches and drawing boards of what they have in mind. After they receive approval for their designs and the show is cast they begin to pull costumes. Then the costume designers need to watch the rehearsals to see if anything does not look right or if anything needs to be fixed. For example, if the actor’s skin tone is not complemented by the outfit then they must go back to the drawing board.

Each production has a team made up of eight to ten people that will work with the cast in communicating about what their ideas may be for the production- are the costumes restricting

Inside one of the dressing rooms with the cast’s costumes

Hydrangea Bush

“It’s a Wonderful Life”

Part of the Properties (Prop) Room

their motion, are they overly distractive, etc. All the concerns go back to the director of the production to be resolved. If he/she cannot resolve the problem, then it goes all the way back to the executive director. Once again Davis is the one that makes the call.

But how can you have a production without someone to watch it? Diana Jensen is the manager of the box office at the theater. Her position includes management of the box office staff, running tickets, ordering special items for the theater, management of concessions, along with many other task heavy jobs.

This has been Jensen’s first job in over twenty years. As a mother of eight her focus has been on raising her children. Five years ago, while she was working at the local elementary school, she was

offered a position to stage manage at Roger’s theater in town. With her background in theater she, much like Davis, had this position fall into her lap.

Her job, however, is no walk in the park. With selling and printing tickets, working the concessions stands, and hiring and training college aged employees she is on her feet constantly. Having a staff under her has eased the burden quite a bit. Taking care of demanding patrons and cleaning up spills has made a hectic environment

into a manageable one for her.

Although this “ringmaster” may have a big job to do, he could do none of it without his “lovely assistants”. And for Davis his work in this circus is nowhere near over.

“I may do this ‘til I retire,” replies Davis in response to his plans for the future.

“I can put (the theater) in the right direction.”

And he is doing all he can now to get it there because, of course, the show must go on.

Outside the main stage of the theater