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11:00am | <\/strong>Sadness has settled over the arts community like an asbestos blanket. Many are struggling with the reality that one of its bright stars has departed. After serving as Executive Director of the Long Beach Playhouse<\/a> for a year and a half, and navigating it through some perilous waters, Lauren Morris has gone to a better place: Atlanta. There, she will take up the reigns of its beleaguered Georgia Shakespeare company and, like she’s done here, breathe new life and energy into it. <\/p>\n I asked Lauren about the challenges she faced when she first started with the Playhouse. <\/p>\n “The Playhouse has been in the community for 82 years,” said Morris, “and Long Beach has changed a lot<\/strong> since 1929, to say the least. The first challenge was making sure the community theatre was actually still serving the community it was in today. Next, there were some pretty serious financial issues to address.” <\/p>\n I asked her to explain how she assessed the community’s needs. <\/p>\n “I think it was a matter of just being in Long Beach,” Morris said, “and knowing what the word on the street was about the Playhouse. There was definitely a perception of the Playhouse that her relevance had long since past, but there was always this admiration that went along with that. So I knew there was still potential there. <\/p>\n “I looked at the other things that were happening in Long Beach: Bixby Knolls; Art Walks; Sound Walk, etc. There is this ground swell of young creative grass-roots energy and I thought the Playhouse was perfectly poised to tap into that. <\/p>\n “I also had so many friends in little theatre companies,” Morris continued, “doing amazing work that had nowhere to perform. That led to us doing this ‘Collaborative Series’ that we’re beginning in November with The Alive Theatre, Long Beach Repertory, Laughing Stock Development, and a variety of other artists.” <\/p>\n I asked Lauren about the financial challenges she faced. <\/p>\n “Essentially, we were losing a lot of money every year,” Morris admitted. “You can find this in the public record, so it’s not a secret. There was no silver bullet. We changed so many things. We were able to cut about $7800 from the monthly budget by just reassessing the silliest things, like our trash service, phone service, cleaning service, how we print and recycle programs and on and on. That was a start. <\/p>\n “We solved the issue by about half cuts and half new revenues. For example, we really started focusing on our bar, allowing drinks into the theatre and having sommelier Justin Evelyn (also the manager of Beachwood Long Beach) help us choose a new wine list. We are bringing in all kinds of new events, like lectures by Gregorio Luke, and dance shows. All of these things introduce the Playhouse to new audiences, and reintroduce her to old audiences who forgot how cool she can be. This helps us with our ticket sales for the 12 plays we produce each year. <\/p>\n “Also,” continued Morris, “we are really focusing on fundraising in a way the Playhouse never has before. We’re a nonprofit serving the community. We absolutely can’t survive without the community’s support. We shouldn’t<\/strong> survive without it. <\/p>\n “We are in the middle of a community campaign where volunteers campaign for us and raise their own goal of $500 a piece (or more in some cases). We’ve gotten $49,000 in pledges and donations since September, and we’re still at it.” <\/p>\n In addition to fundraising, the Playhouse continues to broaden the scope of its board. <\/p>\n “We are really focused on the board right now,” Morris said. “We just gained three new members, one of whom is Lisa Cochrane of Seaside printing. She’s done so much in the community with the Symphony and Leadership Long Beach. I’m really excited to have her with us. <\/p>\n “We are having a strategic planning session in November that will really be key to the next steps. Denis McCourt is going to lead that for us, and I’m thrilled to have him involved. <\/p>\n “I’m not saying that the changes were easy,” clarified Morris, “or that there haven’t been speed bumps along the way. Especially with someplace like the Playhouse, where so many people feel personally connected and have felt that way for 30 or 40 years, change doesn’t necessarily come easily to everyone.” <\/p>\n Lauren has been key in creating awareness of the Playhouse as a facility. It has recently been used as a venue for music performances and, as she mentioned before, the launch of the Collaborative Series will bring a whole new set of producing entities into the space. <\/p>\n “Andrew Vonderschmitt is the Artistic Director for the Playhouse. He and I realized that there was a demand for space and performance support,” Morris explained, “so we re-arranged our performance schedule to accommodate that. We also realized that there’s not a need for us to produce 16 shows a year since there’s so much other theatre happening in Long Beach. We really looked at our mission, and how we could best serve the arts and artists in Long Beach. It made more sense to offer the space. For the Series, it isn’t a traditional rental. We’re splitting income, so we succeed when the producing company succeeds.” <\/p>\n With all this progress made, and new initiatives still unfolding, I asked Lauren why she decided to leave. <\/p>\n “I got recruited to go to Georgia Shakespeare,” said Morris, “which is a professional theatre in Atlanta. It is also a ‘turnaround’ situation, and I’m looking forward to the new challenges of another turnaround in a different environment. <\/p>\n “This job will take me closer to my parents and help me to pursue the art that is closest to my heart. I have a pretty serious love affair with the Bard.” <\/p>\n I asked Lauren who will fill her shoes when she departs. <\/p>\n “Liz Lydic is an awesome interim who has been working with us as a volunteer and interim for another employee who was on maternity leave. Liz will take the hand-off from me on November 4th. Then, the board will be doing a search, probably after the first of the year. The important thing is to keep the momentum going, and keep all the balls in the air. Liz is going to be brilliant for that. I trust her completely. <\/p>\n “The Playhouse is poised for great success,” Morris predicted. “They truly know what is possible and they can continue the work that I helped to get started. I didn’t create the success of the last year and a half without the help of many many people, so I know what we started will keep growing.” <\/p>\n — <\/p>\n Lauren’s last official day is Friday. <\/p>\n To learn more about the Long Beach Playhouse, visit LBPlayhouse.Org<\/a>. <\/p>\n