Allison Stockel, the executive director of the Ridgefield Playhouse, on the theater’s stage. Ms. Stockel celebrates her 10-year anniversary as director at the Playhouse’s Fall Gala next Wednesday, Sept. 17. Willie Nelson will headline. —Kristen Jensen photo
It takes a lot to phase Allison Stockel.
The Ridgefield Playhouse’s executive director has been around famous and talented people — from members of the Rolling Stones to Luciano Pavarotti to Buddy Guy — throughout her career in the entertainment business, which has left her feeling more than comfortable with the big names she bringsto the town’s intimate performing arts center.
“People always say how it must be such a cool job, but meeting the musicians is the part I don’t really care about,” Ms. Stockel said. “I know for them it’s a job and that allows me to talk with them the same way I would to anybody I meet around town, like the other night I was talking to Chris Isaak about electric cars; he went up on stage after and I came back to my office to send out some emails — we both do our jobs.”
Ms. Stockel will be honored for 10 years of service as the Playhouse’s leader at its annual fall gala Wednesday, Sept. 17.
She’s landed a pretty big fish — Willie Nelson — to headline the event which kicks off at 5:30 with food tasting and a silent auction.
Following the recognition ceremony, it will be business as usual for Ms. Stockel.
“It’s going to be a little different than going to an event and being honored,” she admitted. “I’m going to be working it — running back and forth like on any show day, but that’s OK; I’d rather have it that way.
“I probably wouldn’t be happy if I wasn’t,” she added. “I like being in charge to a certain extent.”
Ms. Stockel’s been in charge of the Playhouse’s day-to-day operations since the fall of 2004. She took over as interim director in July of that year after a three and a half year stint as the non-profit theater’s fundraising chairman.
With a background in television production and entertainment news, she was able to do a lot more than raise money though. She helped book shows and expand what the performing arts center offered to the community — a prowess that eventually helped turn the interim position into a permanent one.
“We moved to Ridgefield in December 2000, which is exactly when the Playhouse opened,” she explained. “I was naturally drawn here because of my background as a television producer for CNN — I was in charge of all the music segments coming out the New York bureau and I started doing that when I was 19.
“For most of my young adult life, that’s what I knew,” she added.
When the Playhouse’s board of directors asked her to temporarily fill in while they conducted a search for a new director, she never imagined she’d still be in the position 10 years later.
“Did I expect to be here for 10 years running the place?” she said. “No — it was supposed to be temporary…
“I didn’t expect to be engaged for this long,” she added. “But now I think there’ll always be some level of involvement for me because it’s become such a great thing for the community and I’ve been able to build up great relationships with agents and talent buyers.”
Home away from home
Ms. Stockel sees the Playhouse as her second home.
Her dog Charlie sits in the corner of her office, where business cards are scattered on the floor and two big calendars display the theater’s upcoming acts through December 2015.
“It’s just a vibe you don’t get from other venues,” she said. “Primarily because that’s the vibe I want them to feel.”
This connection to a particular place has forged an inseparable bond.
“When I’m not here, I live a mile and a quarter from here at the other home,” she said. “I can come here at 10 at night and not feel like I’m at the office…
“The fact that it’s in my town and I live so close to it, I would never be able to do this any other way,” she added. “The location couldn’t be more ideal.
“My commute is a walk if I want it to be; that’s the only way I can do this.”
While the short commute makes it all possible, coming to work in a family environment like she’s built makes it that much easier.
“We’re one big family,” Ms. Stockel said. ‘We all take care of each other and genuinely care about each other.
“That comes across to the artists when they come here and that’s one of the reasons they ask to come back,” she added. “It’s a great testament to the venue and to the town that artists want to come back and they reach out to do that.”
Out of darkness
Retaining acts and getting bigger names has become less difficult as the Playhouse’s reputation has continued to grow.
A venue that once held 16 live shows in a year, the Playhouse now hosts more than 16 performances in a single month.
“In October 2013, we only had five days where we didn’t have a show,” she said. “This October we have nine free days and the rest of it’s live events.”
On the days when live acts — and there’s a variety of them ranging from comedians to pole dancers to former baseball players to dietitians — aren’t filling the stage, the Playhouse shows second-run movies.
It was an idea that Ms. Stockel pushed for back when she was transitioning into her role as executive director.
“We didn’t book over the summer so our summers were dark but slowly but surely we added movies,” she said.
The adventure into film wasn’t the only risk she was willing to take in her early days as director.
“The biggest challenge early was convincing the board to spend money on bigger acts — I had to tell them if you’re spending money on bigger names, you’re going to make money,” she admitted. “It seems counterintuitive but the bigger the name, the more costly the ticket; the more they’re going to sell tickets than the local, smaller name…
“It’s a balancing act to see how much the customer is willing to spend to see a certain performer in this intimate setting and how many times they’ll spend it,” she added. “It’s crazy what sometimes sells.”
More than music
Ms. Stockel’s influence on the Playhouse goes far beyond expanding the number of famous names who come into town.
“It was never just a live music venue, I’ve always been very aware of that when I book someone or something,” she said. “I’m very conscious that we’re a performing arts center and that includes all aspects of the performing arts — we have dance, we have a jazz series and a world beat series; we have the opera and the theater; there’s a children’s theater, exercise and fitness classes, speakers and comedians; we have a documentary on dieting coming up and our annual fall fashion show; and then there’s arts and education, which this year will focus on the Apollo moon landing…
“If I was just a musical venue, I would just do the acts I know would be successful – you can do those every year, but that’s not what we are, she added. “It’s constant — you can come back here literally every night and see a completely different show.
“You’ll never see the same show,” she continued. “For me, it’s necessary for the mission of what we do.”
Arts for Everyone
Through the Arts for Everyone program, low income families and schools in low income areas are given the opportunity to experience the arts through live performance.
The program works with 40 non-profits in the area, including New Haven-based Little Wonder, who helps people going through cancer treatment attend entertainment shows.
It’s not a luxury, Ms. Stockel says.
“It’s very hard to explain to people what the arts do; it’s very easy to say, ‘give money to the hospital or give money to the homeless shelter or building homes,’” she said. “Food, shelter, health care — that’s all tangible; the arts are a tough sell to some people. They say, ‘so what if you’ve never seen live dance before?’”
Ms. Stockel references a specific example when answering that question.
She remembers a little girl who was able to attend the Connecticut Ballet’s production of Cinderella with her mother at the Playhouse in 2006 through its partnership with the Family and Children’s Aid Home in Danbury.
“They came out to the lobby and the little girl’s eyes were lit up,” she recalled. “The girl was the cutest thing and she was just beaming, ‘Look mommy, it’s Cinderella on stage!’
“She had never seen dance live before,” she added. “I go back to that moment whenever I tell somebody about how important the Arts for Everyone program is to our mission.”
Ms. Stockel doesn’t hide that this is her favorite memory from her 10 years as executive director.
“That little girl’s life was made that much better by being able to experience Cinderella live and seeing that story she’s heard being performed on stage,” she said. “It was magical for her.”