Taking the Chattanooga Theatre Centre into the future
Many people are born knowing exactly what their calling in life is, but for many other people, we have to learn through experience, which is exactly what Todd Olson, current Executive Director of the Chattanooga Theatre Centre, did.
Olson, who came to the Theatre Centre in 2017, grew up in a small town called Sioux City, Iowa. He explained that when you’re a big guy in a small town, you compete in all the school sports they have to offer.
Well, Olson did just that. It wasn’t until he was in ninth grade and was actually dared to audition for a play that he discovered that theater is the best team sport he’s ever been a part of, and it was then that he began figuring out what path he wanted his life to take.
After high school, Olson received his Bachelors of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre at Missouri’s Tarkio College. He completed a four-year degree in three years, and it was also then that he realized he wanted to get into directing as well.
After his time at Tarkio College, Olson went straight into another degree at the University of North Carolina, where he earned a Masters in Acting and Directing. He then went to New York and worked for several years. He also spent time teaching and working at a community college in Michigan, and he earned a certificate in stage directing from Harvard.
He worked for the American Stage Theater Company in St. Petersburg, Fla., for over a decade, and he also lived in Maryland, where he was an executive director for an arts festival.
Olson resigned from that position in 2016, and he found that the Theatre Centre was looking for a new Executive Director at the same time he was looking for a new home, which is why he made his 55th move to Chattanooga in April 2017.
Olson inherited the current season at the Chattanooga Theatre Centre from his successor, but his first official season as Executive Director begins with the production of Disney’s “Newsies” this September. Olson is really looking forward to the CTC’s upcoming season for a number of reasons.
“There’s a lot to look forward to. To do two huge, sort of tent pole musicals, like ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ and ‘Newsies.’ ‘Newsies’ is auditioning this month, and we’ll end next August with ‘Little Shop of Horrors.’ That’s exciting,” explained Olson. “We have a young professionals group this year, and they chose two of the shows in the season. We have a cultural outreach group with a real eye on diversity, and they chose three of the shows in the season.”
In part thanks to Olson, the Theatre Centre will also be performing “Fences” next February, and they are going to complete the cycle of August Wilson’s plays, which means that every year for the next 10 years, the Theatre Centre will perform a play written by August Wilson.
At one of his last directing jobs, Olson helped his theater become the 13th theater in the world to complete the cycle.
In addition to the great content for the CTC’s upcoming season, Olson has also worked hard this season to optimize the existing strengths at the Theatre Centre.
With both a team effort and a little luck, Olson said they have been able to nearly double their attendance, subscribership, facility rentals, and endowment. The long-serving staff at the Theatre Centre has helped in that respect; several of the directors, such as Scott Dunlap, and other employees have been with the CTC for close to 20 years.
In terms of the future, Olson said he is looking forward to a company of exceptional associates, 5,000 subscribers, a $4 million endowment, and no debt. In many of the jobs Olson has worked in the past, the pressures of the financial side have crept into the artistic side. While the majority of people involved with the Theatre Centre are volunteers, there is still the pressure for shows to do well, to sell enough tickets, and to grow their audience.
One aspect of the Theatre Centre that Olson was exceptionally impressed by is the fact that it has been a part of the city for almost a century. With the direction of Olson, the Theatre Centre will easily be around to serve Chattanooga and surrounding areas for another hundred years.
“Well, I didn’t know that 95-year-old theaters existed. In the professional theater, you’re lucky to get a theater to last 20 or 30 years. I have a photo of the original cast from 1923, which was found when they renovated this building,” Olson said. “I just think that is really remarkable, that any theater has served a community for 95 years. You just don’t get that in professional theater. So, this theater really has my respect.”