Director Michael C. Hardy has been with the Institute for two years, working to make outdoor theater a little easier to produce for big and small theaters across the country.
What does the Institute of Outdoor Theatre do?
We have done consulting for new outdoor theaters. [We] pulled together this book on outdoor theater consulting—we try to put out authoritative information on the field. I think it’s not well known to the public how many opportunities there are when they travel to see theater in Europe, Asia, Australia, as well as North America; it’s an interesting field.
What are the challenges and benefits?
For many people, both in performing and attending, outdoor theater is a gateway to a theater experience. The disadvantages are, of course, the weather, the rain, the lack of air conditioning in particularly hot climates. There are other leisure-time industries, like cruise lines, theme parks, Disney, that have far larger budgets than smaller theaters have to provide high-caliber entertainment and high-caliber customer service facilities…. So it’s put pressure on, and in a way that’s healthy for theaters to do a better and better job.
Is the casting process different?
We run national
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