Michael Hirsch Executive DirectorSBMT is… expanding?

In a few weeks, the SBMT Board and executive team will gather for our annual Board Retreat. This is a chance to step away from the daily work of running a theatre company and think about the future. This year, the executive team will present three initiatives that could significantly expand what SBMT offers to the community.

The rationale for expanding what SBMT is and does is simple:

  • Last year, the community lost WVLO, a long-lived and cherished theatre organization in the South Bay. Its loss demonstrated how fragile the arts ecosystem currently is. We have been thinking carefully about how SBMT can become more resilient while also helping strengthen the South Bay’s arts ecosystem.
  • The cost of producing musicals continues to rise each year. While musicals have the greatest potential upside, they also require significant investment and carry greater financial risk. We will continue to make musicals our core competency (we plan, in fact, to expand our musical offerings) and expand with alternative and complementary ways to produce great theatre. This should diversify what we offer as an arts organization, help distribute risk, and provide economies of scale. 
  • The pandemic worsened the isolation and fear experienced by our community, making it harder for many to participate in community-based activities with the impacts still being felt today. Community theatre is inherently local, social, collaborative and inclusive. It gives people a reason to leave the house, meet their neighbors, learn something new, work toward something together, and feel that they are part of something larger than themselves. As a community organization, we need to provide more opportunities for learning, participation, personal growth, and connection to improve the lives of more people. 
  • We had a tremendous last season that put us financially above our target. Success creates an opportunity and a responsibility to reinvest. We want to better realize our mission and continue to earn the trust the community has placed in us.

In a few weeks, we’ll have an update on how the retreat went and what comes next in much more detail. In the meantime, feel free to write with any questions so we can answer in a future post. Thank you and see you at the theater!

— Michael Paul Hirsch, Executive Director