Finally, it was all about the money. And persistence.
The FSU/Asolo Conservatory is going to stay in Sarasota because State Sen. Lisa Carlton was devoted and stubborn enough to get the state legislature to commit $1.1-million to the administration of Sarasota's highly rated graduate school for actors.
How important was the allocation? Only a few months ago Florida State University School of Theatre Dean Steven Wallace was saying that the university could no longer afford to pay out over a million dollars (he said $1.4-million) for the maintenance of the Sarasota program. So here comes the state legislature, adding almost as much into the FSU budget and earmarking it for the Conservatory.
True, these budgetary items are reviewed year by year, but according to FSU Provost Lawrence Abele, "there's no reason to expect that this will come up [again] anytime in the near future." So FSU is off the hook and the Conservatory will stay. As Ron Greenbaum, president emeritus of the Asolo board, says, "If I were making a headline, I'd say 'Win-win situation for FSU and Asolo.'"
The agreement between the Asolo and FSU contains much more than a decision on the source of funding. Among the most interesting changes specified in the contract are race-blind casting, a committee to determine Asolo programming and a two-track acting program with actress Jane Alexander most likely at the head of the Tallahassee track. In short: This agreement is about change as well as stability. And some of these changes look to be fairly extensive.
For example, race-blind casting: One of the central complaints Dean Wallace had about the Asolo when I interviewed him several months ago was that the professional Asolo company, which puts third-year conservatory students on stage, seldom uses minority actors. "If the season selected is primarily a white season," Wallace said, "it's very difficult for us to attract African-American students, to attract Hispanic students or other minorities to come into our program." Provost Abele agrees. "I'll tell you, in a dozen performances [at the Asolo] — and I would put the ballet in that too — I don't think I've ever seen an African-American." So a provision of the new agreement says it simply and directly: "The Asolo Theatre and Conservatory Program should reaffirm and execute a commitment to race-blind casting and hiring."
Abele is committed to this intention and he thinks the faculty should have more diversity too. "We're making a real effort to recruit a senior African-American acting teacher out of New York who will certainly have the contacts both for students and for professional actors." And he seems genuinely enthused about an Asolo theater that might offer a black Hamlet or a female Shakespearean king.
Still, even with a commitment to race-blind (and perhaps gender-blind) casting, the scripts that the Asolo proposes to stage will logically influence which actors get which parts. And this is the next important change that the new agreement insists upon. Prior to the agreement, the designation of the Asolo season was made entirely by Artistic Director Howard Millman. But after the coming year — for which a schedule has already been chosen — an Annual Scheduling Committee will make that decision. This group includes not only the Artistic Director, but also the Cultural Center Executive Director, the Ringling Museum Executive Director, the Conservatory Director, a person chosen by the deans of the School of Theatre and the School of the Visual Arts, and the Ballet Artistic Director. Most pertinent here is the fact that a representative of the School of Theatre will have a say in the Asolo's season, as will the FSU Conservatory Director — that is, whoever FSU hires to replace the retiring Gil Lazier. With at least these two figures having an impact on the theater's scheduling, you can bet that there'll be some changes made in the essentially conservative programming the Asolo has offered under Millman.
Now, what about Jane Alexander? After all, this whole controversy began when FSU announced that the Conservatory was moving to Tallahassee and that the well-known actress was to become its new head. With the Conservatory staying put, it might seem that Alexander is out of a directorship, but that's not necessarily the case. For one thing, she remains on the Tallahassee faculty. But more important, FSU is now preparing a second-track "contemporary" actor-training program to start operating in Tallahassee in a couple of years. And if Alexander is willing, says Abele, she'll have the head position. "It is very difficult to be single-sided," the provost explains. "That is, you can't just make a living if you're going to be in theater. … You've got to learn the difference between acting in television and acting for film and acting on the stage."
The program that would teach these "contemporary" arts would also send students to New York to study and perform, probably in association with the New University School (formerly the New School for the Arts). So a student interested in studying acting at FSU will eventually have the choice between the current Sarasota track, with its time spent in London, and the "contemporary" Tallahassee track, with its excursions to New York.
A few other loose ends: Howard Millman, being paid by the Asolo Board and not by FSU, will continue, for now, as Asolo artistic director. And auditions for a freshman Conservatory class of 2006 are going on even as I write this column. No, it's not too late, says Abele: "One of the nice things about the arts is there are so many people and so much talent out there."
Finally, who deserves most of the credit for the agreement? "Nothing would have happened without Sen. Carlton," says Abele. "She persuaded Florida State University that it was in our best interests to continue the program and that she would put some money up to assist us in that."
"The personal involvement and intervention of Senator Lisa Carlton made this happen."
Performance Critic Mark E. Leib can be reached at mark.leib@weeklyplanet.com or 813-248-8888 ext. 305.
This article appears in Jun 26 – Jul 2, 2003.
