From my limited amount of digging, it was not an easy ride... all the more reason to applaud this man for sticking with it, he's still AD but will step down next year (2015) after a tenure of 12 years. That in itself is a remarkable feat in my opinion, this is a man that has a busy career in movie and tv making, yet commits himself for 12 years to a theater that was on the brink of getting lost, it takes time and effort to pull things back together, being the famous face of the theater, be available for fundraising efforts, putting together the Theatre's season, wooing the talent.
Of course he didn't have to do it all alone, every theatre has a creative and administrative team, and running a theatre is definitely teamwork, but that doesn't take away anything from the dedication this man must have for the theatre, for the stage and for the people involved.
He had a rough start, came under attack of the critics since he took over the helm, A Hollywood actor taking over as AD of a London Theatre, that can't be good after all, must keep a close eye! was likely the thought of many Arts journalists
Culminating in an early closing of 'Resurrection Blues' (2006), that got such terrible reviews that I'm sorry I didn't see it to judge for myself. Big name cast, big name director, apparently a complete disaster... time to take a few more shots at the Vic's celeb guy in charge.
***
a few quotes (italic) from Michael Billington's 2006 interview with mr Spacey after they closed down "Ressurection Blues" with its stellar cast and director a week early, playing to about 50% capacity:
 |
| Kevin Spacey and Jeff Goldblum in Speed the Plow |
"Spacey's questions point up the problems of living in a celebrity culture. The fact is that it is his Hollywood name and reputation that have helped rescue the Old Vic - while also guaranteeing that it is subjected to endless media scrutiny. And it is a dilemma he acknowledges.
"I knew coming in," he says, "that we would be put under a microscope that no other theatre and no other artistic director would experience. Things also happen here that happen at every theatre in this country. But because my name can be placed in a headline, the press rake over everything since I arrived. And my only question is - are we being judged on a level playing field? But I'm not going to get into a debate with the press I can't win. I made a choice that I'm not going to play the game and get baited into an argument with people who have their own agenda and opinions. I also don't want to live my life having to answer everything people write. My answer is to look at what's going to happen on that stage at the Old Vic over the next eight years."
Of course he is not judged on a level playing field... but then again, other, relatively more anonymous AD's probably have a harder time getting an interview if they want one, will have a tougher time at fundraisers and so on, in the end I'd say being a celeb going in, mr Spacey knew what to expect from the press, and it's not as if he's had no experience at all in dealing with the press... his celeb status had an up and a down side going in.
Let's not forget The Old Vic, with it's illustrious past was no longer illustrious, no longer a production house but a booking house... to turn that around would have taken anyone time, let alone someone with a vast acting experience, with a lot of connections, but essentially a rookie AD.
"In the first year, I chose plays I thought would be entertaining, challenging and have audience appeal. You and your colleagues questioned that because you have a great emotional connection to the history of this theatre but I'm interested in its future. My mission in the first 18 months was to bring an audience back into the Old Vic."
Spacey claims to have done that. He has had two artistic and box-office flops: Cloaca and Resurrection Blues. But Aladdin, with Ian McKellen, played to 95%, Richard II with Spacey himself to 90%, and both National Anthems and The Philadelphia Story, also starring Spacey, achieved figures of more than 80%. More than 400,000 people have come through the doors in the past 18 months. For Spacey that is sufficient justification for his policy. But, whether he likes it or not, he is also saddled with memories of the Old Vic's classic past dating back to Lilian Baylis; and, even if bland crowd-pleasers such as Philadelphia Story and National Anthems have done the business, they have failed to create the buzz of artistic excitement one associates with the Old Vic. "
Give the man some time! any AD would have gotten a little more credit coming in, turning around a theater is not easy I imagine, making bold artistic choices is great, I for one would come and see... but it's probably not a good idea to do that coming in, if you have 1000 seats to fill, a staff to pay, a building to keep up... that all costs money. There is something to say for bold, edgy programming, but you'd need to be lucky drawing in a loyal audience and not have a huge overhead cost so you don't go down on a miss fired season. I don't know the financial position of the Old Vic obviously, but they are not a small theater, they need revenue coming in just to keep paying the bills and then some to try and build a bit of a buffer to create opportunity for more risky programming.
"Spacey also has to acknowledge that it's his name that gets people into the theatre. He points out that he has spent 41 weeks on stage so far, that he is about to take Richard II to a German theatre festival in May and that he will be back in the autumn in O'Neill's A Moon For The Misbegotten. "But," he says, "because I'm often accused in the press of being arrogant, incredibly vain, of having no humility whatsoever, I chose not to be in the first production. I also didn't come here to start a theatre company that was going to be all about me. I might be at the centre of the wheel but, believe me, it's a big wheel and there are a lot of spokes. If, after 10 years, I hand over a theatre that's been successful because I've been in all the plays, then I will have failed."
The dilemma of the celeb AD... again, I applaud the man for taking it on... and now, 8 years later I think he's proven his point.
 |
| Kevin Spacey in Sam Mendes' production of Richard III at the Old Vic |
***
How it Came to Be... Mr Spacey's own words
from KevinSpacey.comThe Old Vic theatre has always retained a strong grip on my imagination – I remember visiting this great Victorian stage when I first came to London as a young child, and coming back years later to see many of the theatre’s iconic productions. I finally had the chance to tread the boards of the stage myself when we transferred Howard Davis’s production of Eugene O’Neill’s “The Iceman Cometh” from its initial run at the Almeida Theatre to the Old Vic.
During our 16 week run at the Old Vic in the spring/summer of 1998, I was asked if I would join a committee to help the new Trust Board. The Old Vic had recently been purchased by a Trust and needed the committee’s help to find an Artistic Director to take on the re-vitalization of this famous and admired theatre.
This was a task I took very seriously, as The Old Vic is one of the best known and best loved theatres in the world, synonymous with the greatest acting talent that Britain has ever produced; from Laurence Olivier, Peggy Ashcroft, John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson to Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Albert Finney, and Peter O'Toole. This iconic 195 year old building has a rich history and has always been know for the great performances that have graced its stage.
I spent the following year learning all I could about the more recent history of this iconic building. I discovered that after the National Theatre departed the building – after 14 seasons of work under the Artistic Directorship of Laurence Olivier – the theatre became a booking house. This meant that it no longer held a company, and didn’t receive subsidies from the government which in turn lead to a decline in attendance as it ceased to be a destination theatre. There were a number of occasions when a few remarkable directors began their own companies in the building (most notably perhaps Jonathan Miller and Peter Hall), but neither of these companies managed to overcome the difficult challenges the funding presented in order to continue working there.
In 1999 while I was in London for the premiere of American Beauty, I requested that an evening be organized for a free-flowing discussion about the future of the Old Vic. Gathered in the main rehearsal space at the top of the Old Vic were playwrights, directors, actors, theatre personnel and friends of the Vic. The questions discussed revolved around the status of the theatre: when had the Old Vic been at its best? What made it work when it was a major venue in London? What happened to it? What is its future? I left this evening with my mind swirling, and decided to take a walk rather than go to bed.
These discussions and ideas came at a time in my life when I was reflecting on my career and I was feeling that I’d arrived at a cross-roads. Having started my professional life in the living theatre I had spent the previous 12 years focused on building a film career. I was, however, beginning to have a sense that I did not want to spend the next ten years continuing down this same path.
Typically for London it was drizzling this night, and I ended up hailing a taxi which drove me to the National Theatre. I walked to the edge of the Thames and looked up at the grand structure reflecting on what this theatre means today and where Olivier was in his career when he decided to take on the challenge of creating a National Theatre. I then walked the six blocks to the Old Vic and sat across the street in the Emma Cons Garden looking up at the theatre. Sitting there, my swirling mind seemed to settle and I realized that all my musings were leading me to the same idea – to a secret dream I had been nurturing since I was a teenager: I should take on the Artistic Directorship of the Old Vic myself!
Even though I was only announced as Artistic Director a few years later, after that night I immediately began working on an economic model that I believed could work without having to take subsidies, as well as starting to raise the money. I also began to find people who would join me in this major enterprise. First on board was producer David Liddiment whom I convinced to leave his post as the head of ITV. It is now eleven years later and we have a staff of over 75, both behind the scenes and front-of-house, and are working on about 49 main stage productions.
An important part of re-vitalizing the theatre was to introduce a ticket scheme to bring theatre to a wider, younger and more diverse audience. As the Old Vic doesn’t rely on subsidies and ticket sales alone are not enough to cover all of our costs, the financial support of generous individuals, companies, trusts and foundations have been vital to our existence.
The Old Vic also hosts a vast educational department which is involved in community work and runs programs in schools. In addition to this we also host a program in which we nurture emerging actors, producers, writers and directors called Old Vic New Voices.
I am now in my last 18 months as Artistic Director and am excited about the legacy I will be leaving for the next person to step into this role. I have always believed that the best asset the Old Vic has is its future and it has been my honor to dedicate myself to the theatre’s revival and to ensure its continued existence without losing sight of its illustrious past.
***
His Plays at the Old Vic during this tenure:
2014 Clarence Darrow 
2011 Richard III
2009 Inherit the Wind
2008 Speed the Plow
2006 A Moon before the Misbegotten
2005 National Anthems 
2005 Richard II
2005 The Philadelphia Story
 |
| Desk job ... Kevin Spacey in the Old Vic's production of Richard lll. Photograph: Tristram Kenton |
