🔒In 2022, Shubert Theatre’s McDonald focuses on hiring staff, renovations and program diversity

New Haven’s Shubert Theatre is just 80 miles from Broadway’s Great White Way, but it’s easy to understand if the gap seems wider to Anthony McDonald.

It’s been nine months since the 33-year-old McDonald took over as executive director of the venerable stage on College Street. It’s his first command after earning his master’s degree in theater and production management from Columbia University.

As a graduate student, he worked in management roles with some of the biggest names in the business, like the Nederlander Producing Co. and Show Shepherd, at famed venues like the Mishkoff and Gershwin theaters, and with high-profile shows like “Wicked” and Disney’s "The Lion King.”

Yet he never had to worry about the number of dark nights, or whether ticket costs were becoming too pricey for the clientele.

At least not until he got to New Haven.

McDonald is taking a long-view approach to the task at hand — righting the ship after two seasons of hefty deficits thanks to COVID. It’s an approach that’s both methodical and practical.

The programming of the 2021-22 season was in place when McDonald took over, so he has turned his focus to the audience experience before tackling the 2022-23 programming.

An aging sound system had become such an issue that touring companies had taken to supplementing the front-facing speakers with portable units at the edge of the stage, often impeding the view of those in the most expensive seats. No more.

It was a necessary fix, McDonald says, and he’s seeking a state grant to pay the $15,000 cost.

A cosmetic upgrade also is underway. Aging popcorn ceiling tiles in the lobby are coming down and the six styles of mismatched carpeting are giving way to a new, uniform look.

The biggest change — replacing all 1,600 seats — is expected to be completed by September.

McDonald has also been busy hiring staff. The COVID-induced shutdown resulted in terminating about 75 percent of the staff. He’s hired a dozen new employees and reports half are people of color.

Diversity and inclusion are important to McDonald, who identifies himself as a Jamaican-American. He did his undergraduate study at Howard University and was surprised to discover he was the first person of color to receive a master of fine arts from Columbia’s theater and production program.

He wants both the staff and the programming to reflect the community that is New Haven.

To that end, more dance and jazz programs are in his plans.

A visit by the Dance Theater of Harlem brought in a near-sellout crowd in November, he explains. A series of four performances by visiting dance companies is planned for 2022.

Performances by the New Haven Symphony and touring comedians will continue to be part of the offering, but he wants to take the theater in some new directions.

McDonald says he’s still trying to get a firm grasp on the entertainment tastes of the theater's subscriber base. There were too many empty seats early in this season, he explains, but that could have been more the effect of the pandemic than the programming.

Whatever the case, programming needs to be sharp for the new season because growing both the subscriber base and single-ticket market are vital.

Tax credit advantage

McDonald said he appreciates the Shubert’s place in theatrical history as the preeminent location for trying out shows before they hit Broadway. But those days are gone, he explains.

He sees the Shubert’s place in the new theatrical order as the first stop for traveling versions of hit shows. Its staging experts and sophisticated audiences are the right mix for refining and polishing a show before it moves on to bigger markets.

But the Shubert is in some tough competition for major shows, he warns. Both New York state and Rhode Island have enacted tax-credit schemes for stage productions, not unlike the tax assist Connecticut offers film producers.

With the tax advantage, McDonald says, theaters in Providence and Schenectady, New York, have been able to outbid the Shubert for shows like “Jersey Boys.”

He’s spoken to some local legislators about leveling the playing field and expects to press the case in Hartford in the new year. He says the tax issue has brought the state’s six major theaters together in a united front.

Another area that’s drawing McDonald’s attention is the idea that the Shubert stage should be accessible to local artists and to audiences of all demographics. It’s not clear yet how his vision will be realized but he’s pursuing grant money that could subsidize tickets for some events, and/or cover rental fees for local groups to stage their own events at the theater.

The Shubert already makes half-price rush seats available to students and works with pupils from the area’s performing arts high school, but McDonald wants to do more to expand the theater’s outreach. He also is exploring booking programs geared toward 15- to 25-year-olds.

McDonald took over March 15, from John Fisher, who led the Shubert for 20 years. The nonprofit theater is one of a handful of venues owned by Columbus (Ohio) Association for the Performing Arts, and managed through a local board.