RSS 2.0 FeedMay 6, 2009, Cover Stories, Theatre
Starlight's Trek
There are stars, and then there are stars -- and then there is Denton Yockey. In his new capacity as president and executive producer of Starlight Theatre, Yockey is the guiding force behind the actors, singers and dancers seen from under the night skies.
There are stars, and then there are stars -- and then there is Denton Yockey. In his new capacity as president and executive producer of Starlight Theatre, Yockey is the guiding force behind the actors, singers and dancers seen from under the night skies and applauded after the inevitably happy endings and curtain calls. As the man behind the curtain, so to speak, Yockey is not quite a wizard or magus; rather, he is a businessman, with an actor's calling. As he begins his first season with the resplendently giddy Legally Blonde: The Musical, on June 30, he stopped spinning long enough for an interview to praise Kansas City audiences and explain his journey from the boards to the boardroom.
He did not come from a show biz family, exactly, though how many Barrymores or Redgraves are ever found in the family gene pool? An older brother of Yockey's acted in a few high school shows, and it was at such a production of South Pacific that the younger Yockey had "a cathartic experience, wondering if Emile de Becque would ever return" after the dramatic second-act disappearance by the mysterious plantation owner. Yockey followed in the fraternal footsteps in college: "It was always about the theatre, to be honest -- a little bit of a moving target." At the college level, including Indiana University at South Bend and the University of Georgia, he got an MFA in acting and pursued his plans of becoming a high school drama teacher, then a college professor. His first audition crystallized the dream; yet as a working actor who was unemployed for only six weeks out of three years, he learned more than technique, so when a job offer arose to take on the challenges of production manager and then company manager, he knew "I could do that." Evidently administration appealed to him: Before coming to Kansas City, Yockey had already spent 25 years assembling theatrical seasons, most recently at the Casa Mañana Theatre in Fort Worth, Texas.
Starlight is entertainment for many Kansas Citians; its history as an outdoor venue is part of the city's historical landscape, like the Nelson-Atkins Museum or Union Station. The starry entertainers who have passed through, from Mary Martin in Peter Pan to Ethel Merman and Carol Channing, have been the closest to Broadway's boogie-woogie that many theatergoers will ever get. It is a legacy that Denton Yockey approaches without the least bit of apprehension. On the contrary, "Whenever I tell people where I work, they smile. They all have some Starlight memory, maybe when their dad took them to their first musical. It is a seminal event. It doesn't intimidate me. What a fantastic theatre and an opportunity to work in a setting that people hold so dear. It is part of their lore, woven into the tapestry of their lives."
Mr. Yockey is solely responsible for booking Starlight's shows. As the successor to Bob Rohlf, who managed Starlight for 29 years, the mantle sits easily on his shoulders, backed up by modern business technology. When asked about the forthcoming season, which also consists of Anything Goes (July 13-19), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (July 28-Aug. 2), Chicago (Aug. 11-16), and the ubiquitous Mamma Mia! (Sept. 8-13), he explained that it was not the human stars who rated most highly in audience surveys. "We had a great list of musicals to choose from. Two were chosen by Bob, and then we chose Mamma Mia! together. I chose Chicago on my own. We knew we had great hits: Mamma Mia! and Legally Blonde came in as one and two, and Chicago was another one that audiences reacted the most strongly about." All this was prior to the economic upheaval, but Yockey was unconcerned. "These are recession-beaters. We considered Cabaret, but right now audiences need light entertainment."
Anything Goes will be the first Starlight self-producing presentation in more than 17 years, and will also allow Yockey's mostly dormant directing side to overlap with his managing side. Local talent will have a chance to audition, and the final product will include "a couple of Broadway stars, but not big names." That is a different circumstance than years past, when Starlight produced its own seasons by putting together subscription packages with "season anchors" like My Fair Lady, around which lesser-known plays were introduced. In the future, Yockey "won't always choose the most obvious choice," which the hit-or-miss production of Anything Goes represents.
If a show fails, it will not be because of the facility (the stage "is one size bigger than the largest tour needed in 2000; it is one of the largest roadhouses in the country") or because of the wattage of the touring stars. "Surveys tell us that stars are not a big deal to customers," Yockey said. "That the Starlight experience -- outside under the stars, informal, with lots of leg room -- is number one, didn't surprise me." He expects to gain experience quickly, working late on show nights to learn everything he can. He believes that the most important quality for an arts administrator "is a passion for the art form he's administrating: failing that, he ought to be an accountant." For one whose entire professional (and with his actress wife and professionally acting children, personal) life is the theatre, when he casts his annual Tony votes he knows the shows from the inside-out. Accountants, beware: The new arts administrator knows how to play by the numbers, and work the numbers, too. There is a new lion king in town.
For more information visit www.kcstarlight.com
Theatre Contributor (Past writer)
Steve Shapiro has been writing about the arts for over twenty-five years. He wrote and broadcast a weekly radio book review on KCUR-FM for ten years, and has contributed to NPR's Morning Edition book segment.
As a contributor to local publications such as KCMetropolis.org, KC Tribune.com, The Kansas City Star, Review, The Pitch, and Helicon 9, he has published essays and criticism on art, books, cinema, theater and the cultural Zeitgeist.
A chapter on the museum architects Frank Lloyd Wright and Steven Holl was published in the anthology, The Sixth Surface: Steven Holl Lights the Nelson-Atkins Museum (2007). On the side, he juggles Dachshunds and is available to moderate book groups.
All material contained in KCMetropolis.org is the property of or licensed for use by KCMetropolis.org. Any use, duplication, or reproduction of any or all content of this publication is prohibited except with the express written permission of KCMetropolis.org or the original copyright holders.