ALL ABOUT rod christensen, managing DIRECTOR OF SHARON PLAYHOUSE
Q: Where are you from?
A: I’m originally from British Columbia, Canada - the Pacific Northwest region - a supernatural and most beautiful part of the world!
Q: What made you become interested in theater?
A: The inclusive, collaborative, and creative community of the theater. It provided (and still provides) me with a great sense of belonging - a sense of making the world a better place. I think that is what theater and the arts are meant to do for our society.
Q: What aspect of theater intrigued you the most?
A: My love of musical theater. I’m a song & dance man for sure! I spent many years singing, dancing, and acting in summer stock and loved every moment of it.
Q: What was your first job in theater and where?
A: My very first experience was playing the trumpet in the pit orchestra of The Music Man and as a young adult, I was selected to represent Canada on a world tour with the international music company, Up With People!, which consisted of 100 cast members from 15 different countries. We interacted with and performed for diverse cultures in many countries promoting the belief that through arts and action, young people can be empowered to be positive agents of change; to build a more hopeful, trusting, and peaceful world. Early in my career, I had the great fortune to work at the Shaw Festival (the second-largest repertory theater company in North America). As a senior arts administrator/educator, I spent eight glorious seasons at The Shaw, which is located in Ontario, Canada.
Q: Please give us some highlights of your career up to the Playhouse.
A: I have over 30 years of experience in the nonprofit arts sector. Since 2008, I was the Managing Director at Southgate Education (NYC) – an arts education company that creates audience enrichment resources such as Broadway Study Guides (e.g., Moulin Rouge, Mean Girls, King Kong, SquareBob SpongePants, Miss Saigon, Les Misérables, Kinky Boots, and more). For 10 years I was the Executive Director and Director of Education at TADA! Youth Theater in the City. Most recently, I worked at the Warner Theatre in Torrington.
With this experience, I aim to bring dynamic, innovative, and strategic leadership in nonprofit operations, project execution, and program development in the performing arts. I thrive on building audience/community engagement, creative learning, and organizational capacity-building. I very much look forward to developing these areas at The Sharon Playhouse.
The cornerstone of my practice is to build diversity and understanding across differences; spark empathetic thinking; and foster a meaningful culture where all participants feel valued, supported, and inspired. I am mission-driven with an unwavering belief that the power of the arts brings transformative experiences to individuals and our society at large.
Q: What was it about The Playhouse that made you decide to accept the Managing Director position?
A: The Sharon Playhouse, its community, programming, and aspiration to produce high-quality professional theater while serving as a teaching theater for aspiring theater artists was a profound fit for my current skill set, my past experience, and my continued passion for the arts, arts administration, and arts education.
Q: How would you describe what you do?
A: Simply put, I Organize; Realize; Optimize. In other words, I prefer to lead strategically and aim to steep my decision-making in strategic thinking. For example, as a new strategic leader, it’s important for me and the Playhouse to take multiple opportunities to understand its current culture and operations; assess present key processes; and begin to optimize organizational improvement.
Q: Now that you've been here a few months, how do you view your role in the future of this theater?
A: I can’t believe I’m already into my third month. As we move forward, I’m excited and keen to support and grow the health & wealth of the Playhouse; to make it even more of an arts & culture hub for Sharon and the surrounding communities. The Sharon Playhouse is a place where all ages and abilities can find a welcoming, safe place for artistic nourishment, creativity, and inspiration. I believe the power of the performing arts to be life-changing where audiences and theater-makers discover new ways of seeing the world, new insights into the past, and pathways forward. The Sharon Playhouse is all of this and more! It is my role to foster, culture-build, and support this vision in every way possible.