Interview: American Theatre Wing President Talks Educational & Artistic Impact of WORKING IN THE THEATRE Series

The American Theatre Wing's Working in the Theatre Series has continued to provide ways for people to remain connected to live theatre during a time when we cannot experience the magic of theater in person. The long-running documentary series produced by the American Theatre Wing showcases the inner-workings of the theatre industry, pulling back the curtain and giving a first-hand look at the work of the people who make theatre happen, from actors like Daveed Diggs, to orchestrators like Alex Lacamoire, to makeup designer Thelma Pollard and many more.

Over 200 episodes of the series have been produced, reaching 7.7 million people across all platforms. We spoke with Heather Hitchens, President and CEO of The American Theatre Wing, about the impact the series has had, the importance of educating people about the theatre industry, what we can expect from upcoming episodes, and much more!

---

The American Theatre Wing's Working in the Theatre has educated millions of people on what goes into putting great work on stage. How does it feel to know that this series has brought an exclusive, inside look at the world of theatre to so many people?

One of the most special things about this series is that Working in the Theatre transformed from an original panel series beginning in 1976 to a documentary episodic series (in 2014) that shares insights into the most independent DIY theatre artists to Broadway and beyond. We have not only seen a large uptick in engagement on our platforms related to the series, but we hear direct stories from our scholarship recipients who discovered our programs from these episodes. One of our scholars, saw our Working in the Theatre: Lighting Design episode, discovered Natasha Katz, saw that a career in lighting design was a possibility for her, which ultimately prompted her to apply for a training scholarship to a summer theatre program through our Andrew Lloyd Webber Initiative program. She ended up receiving the scholarship.

This is a series that no doubt has inspired young theater-lovers to pursue a career in the arts by giving them an educational look at theatre in a way that no other series has. What goes into deciding who and what to focus on for each episode?

In order to produce a season that reflects the national landscape of theatre and be inclusive of unheard voices, we brainstorm weekly about trends in the theatre, the most fascinating topics and how things are made. We talk to press reps, digital and marketing teams constantly to see where the stories are living and breathing.

How does it feel to be working on a series about theatre right now during a time when live theatre as we've traditionally known it cannot be put on in the same way that it always has?

When the shutdown happened, we were seeing so many artists, artists organizations and theatre companies step up to create shows, performances and content; and do so rather quickly. We thought we have to capture this. We think we'll see many documentaries about this time in a year or so, but we figured it was important not only to record what was going on in our industry, but to edit and release the episodes this year. Now, we have an open time capsule that everyone can engage with and hopefully be inspired by for the days, months and years to come.

When live theatre returns, how will 2020 have changed how episodes are produced? Or, will it have changed at all?

Right now, our episodes contain interviews filmed remotely with mixed b-roll that we capture or our subjects capture and share. We plan to continue to produce episodes this way in 2021 for now.

What can we expect from upcoming episodes of Working in the Theatre? Any upcoming guests/topics you can share with us?

We have already begun to produce episodes that we are really excited about releasing in 2021. We have another great episode on Theatre Education on a University that is near and dear to us. We have an episode on a venue that did a live theatre experience with many safety measures in place. We also are working with Telatúlsa, the Oklahoma based theatre company whose mission is to make Latinx and Native cultures come alive through theatre.

Do you have anything else you would like to share?

Working in the Theatre has always been about the work of artists across the country, and this year, our main goal was to share the perseverance and dedication that theatre artists endured, even when theatre (in the traditional sense) paused. The work of the theatre community continues on and so we will continue to share these stories, especially the ones that aren't covered very often and the ones that aren't told at all.

---

Check out recent episodes of Working in the Theatre below!