ALL ABOUT CARL ANDRESS, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF SHARON PLAYHOUSE
Q: Where are you from?
A: I’m originally from Nashua, New Hampshire. I have also lived for many years in New York City, as well as in Chicago and Los Angeles for brief periods.
Q: What made you become interested in theater?
A: My family. When I was a child, my parents were great devotees of the theater, especially of musicals, so I grew up going to see shows with them in New York and Boston, even Washington DC. Later on, for a period in the 1980s my folks were theater critics, so we went all around the greater Boston area seeing various professional productions. My mother is also a performer and so I became immersed in the practice of theatre both onstage and off at school and in local productions for as far back as I can remember.
Q: What aspect of theater intrigued you the most?
A: That the magic was created in real time and by actual people. The first show I was ever taken to was Li’l Abner at age three. My mother’s best friend was playing “Daisy Mae” in the local Spring musical and she made a secret “Carol Burnett ear-tug” type of gesture at me from the stage to acknowledge that she saw me in the second row, and I was hooked. A couple of years later, when my mother was playing “Julie Jordan” in Carousel, she gave me an onstage tour of the set just before they flew in the main drape and opened the house. It was an intoxicating environment to be in. In that moment I understood that this was something that I could do too! And what was so special was that the magic being created was immediate and for that performance only. It could be totally different the next night. I suppose I have been chasing that feeling ever since...I’ve never recovered!
Q: What was your first job in theater and where?
A: I jokingly say that I was “a dancer first,” because my first paying job in the theater was for a few roles in dance performances while I was in high school. Alas, my dance career was cruelly curtailed because it turned out that although I was a wonderful, expressive dancer – I was also a dancer who could never quite get the hang of turning! Ah well. My first real job came after college touring the country and Canada as a performer in a musical production of Aladdin with American Family Theater for almost a year. I learned a lot being on the road, playing in every kind of space from large beautiful legitimate theaters to school auditoriums, cafeterias, county fairs and even in parking lots. Wherever there’s an audience, there’s the glamour of the theatre.
Q: Please give us some highlights of your career up to the Playhouse.
A: I began my career with ambitions for being an actor, but my first real job in New York came about rather accidentally. A friend recommended that I submit myself as the replacement head of wardrobe for an off-Broadway musical, because if for no other reason, I’d get to see the performance for free during the interview. In a wild turn of events, they actually offered me the job even though I was hardly qualified! I suppose my enthusiasm won them over. Working on a real live production in New York City was so exciting, and I learned as I went along. I look at everything in life as a puzzle to be sorted out and this particular puzzle was preferable to many other day-jobs at which I labored in those early days. And somehow fate put me in the right place at the right time because during that show, which was called Swingtime Canteen, I met my eventual mentor, champion, and best friend - the author and star, Charles Busch, who saw something in me, which I hadn’t yet realized myself. He believed that I had what it took to be a director. And he backed up that belief by giving me an opportunity to prove myself with a new play of his. That was the beginning of an almost 30-year creative collaboration, which has taken us to off-Broadway, Broadway, all around the country, and even to the silver screen. Last fall, we were honored by Primary Stages, the prestigious New York theater company, with their Einhorn Mentorship Award. We are currently developing a new play and have a movie coming out this year called The Sixth Reel, which we shot during the pandemic.
Q: What was it about The Playhouse that made you decide to accept the Artistic Director position?
A: I had always known of The Sharon Playhouse by its strong reputation, but it wasn’t until 2018 when my husband, Christopher, and I found our home in Kent that I began visiting the Playhouse. When I learned that the Board was searching for a new Artistic Director, it seemed as though an opportunity to explore a new chapter had landed right in my new backyard. Through the years, several colleagues had suggested that I should consider seeking an artistic director position if the opportunity should arise, and suddenly here was Dame Fortune with just such an opportunity. And as I went through the interview process, I found that I had developed a profound affection for the mission of the Playhouse and a deep respect for what its history represents. I also became impressed by the people I was meeting on the Staff and on the Board. Wonderful people who are passionate about the arts and this theatre. And so, when the position was offered to me, it felt right and it was an honor to join the team.
Q: How would you describe what you do?
A: I dream. And I listen to the dreams of others. And then I work to figure out how we can make those dreams come true in a real world sense. It takes a great and varied team to present a dream onstage and to achieve the goals of an arts organization. So the dream is only as good as the team behind it.
Q: Now that you are here, what are you looking forward to?
A: I cannot wait to have our campus brimming with artists and humming with audiences. I look forward to continuing the tradition of bringing quality entertainment and educational opportunities to this community and beyond and to make the Sharon Playhouse a favorite destination of theatergoers and theater artists alike.