Quick Chat: Managing Director Carrie Van Hallgren

Learn more about the people at American Players Theatre. This week, Managing Director, Carrie Van Hallgren.

Welcome to our Quick Chat series where we'll dive into the life and times of some of APT's finest. Each interview will supply insights ranging from the obviously relevant to the vaguely strange. Sounds fun, right? 

Today we're chatting with APT's Managing Director, Carrie Van Hallgren. Carrie came to work at APT in 2015, following the retirement of Producing Artistic Director Emeritus, David Frank. Since then, Carrie has settled in and made the job her own, managing all the business aspects of the theater. But let's let her tell her story! Without further ado, here's our chat.

APT: So, this is your third season as APT’s Managing Director. Can you tell us a little bit about what you do, and how your job has evolved?

CVH: I work as a partner to Artistic Director Brenda DeVita. I describe our jobs broadly in this way: she makes sure we create great art at APT; I make sure we have the resources to create that great art. Marketing, Development, Operations, Education and Patron Service fall under my umbrella. But what I really do is support our incredible staff and help them realize their goals. My job looks different depending on the time of year and what we are up to at APT. Over the past three years, a lot of our work was about planning and fundraising for the Next Great Stage. Now that this project is nearly complete, we will look ahead to strategic planning for APT’s next 10 years. During the summer, I am spending lots of time meeting patrons and audience members, supporting our development team at events and trouble shooting tricky issues that might arise during the season. During the winter we are all planning for the coming season by analyzing the last season, all the while budgeting, scheduling and hiring for the coming summer. And I try to get out into the state and the community as much as I can to spread the word about APT.

APT: What’s your favorite thing about your job?
CVH: Sitting under the stars with a crowd of people experiencing a great play. It is like a miracle to me, that this place exists, out here in the middle of nowhere. I remember writing an essay when I was an adolescent about what I wanted to do as a career. I wrote that I wanted to work in the arts and I acknowledged that I would never be rich and famous in that line of work. “But I would be able to see lots of great art all the time,” I wrote. "And that would make me happy." I do. And it does.

APT: What led you to a career in theater?
CVH: I saw my first Shakespeare play at age 4 at the Wisconsin Shakespeare Festival in my hometown of Platteville. I was enthralled from that moment. When I was 11, I was Mustardseed in a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Wisconsin Shakespeare Festival, directed by Jonathan Smoots, with Laura Gordon as Titania. After working with talent like that in a brilliant play, how could I consider anything else? (I’m sure my parents wished I did.)  

APT: People may not know that your son Dave plays a fairy in Midsummer. How has that worked out for your family this season?
CVH: Dave is having a blast. This is a dream come true for him. He has learned so much about how a play comes together, how all sorts of people collaborate to make a work of art. Obviously I spend a lot of time at APT in the summer months, and selfishly it is nice to take Dave to work with me. I’ve seen a lot more of him this summer than I usually do.

APT: Finally, would you rather be able to control animals (but not humans) with your mind, or control electronics with your mind?
CVH: Weather. I’d like to control the weather with my mind. Isn’t that an option? I’d make sure to always hold off the rain until the show comes down.