John Shea (8/06, 3/09-7/14 Theatre Workshop of Nantucket)
Excerpt from Boston.com 8/2/06: John Shea | Theatre Workshop of Nantucket
Theatre Workshop bash was divine
John Shea's theatrical career was born in 1968, when he wandered into a Theatre Workshop of Nantucket rehearsal and was immediately thrust onstage as ``Second Furniture Removal Man" in an O'Casey play. The film, stage, and TV actor was more prepared Monday night when he took the stage to mark the Theatre Workshop's 50th anniversary. Some 270 people turned out at the fete held at the 'Sconset Casino, a shingle-style theater built at the turn of the last century by vacationing Broadway stars when the Great White Way used to shut down for the summer. (And even after 107 years it is still not air conditioned.) Providing red-carpet commentary was Tucson's Invisible Theatre's artistic director, Susan Claassen , dressed as Hollywood designer Edith Head, the subject of the workshop's current show. Channeling the late eight-time Oscar-winning costumer, Claassen pronounced Nantucket designer Cheryl Fudge's vintage silk ensemble ``divine." Joining Shea, who's now on the Theatre Workshop's board, onstage was San Francisco Opera diva Greta Feeney, a fellow Theatre Workshop alum.
© Boston.com
The Inquirer and Mirror 3/12/09: John Shea
Shea named Theatre Workshop artistic director
March 12, 2009
Actor John Shea, long a seasonal island resident, was this week named artistic director of Theatre Workshop of Nantucket. Shea, who owns a summer cottage in Sconset with his wife, the artist Melissa MacLeod, won best picture at the 1998 Seattle International Film Festival for his independent film “Southie” about the Irish mafia in South Boston. He's starred in the UPN network’s “Mutant X,” a syndicated science fiction series and portrayed Lex Luthor in the Warner Brothers series “Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman." He has also had recurring roles on "Sex and the City," "Law and Order" and "Gossip Girl." Shea has also worked on Broadway and began his theater career in 1968 in the Theatre Workshop of Nantucket production of “Juno and the Paycock.”
© Inquirer and Mirror
Excerpt from Mahon About Town 3/14/09: John Shea
John Shea Named Artistic Director of the Theatre Workshop of Nantucket
March 14, 2009
John Shea, actor, director, and screenwriter, has accepted the position of Artistic Director of Theater Workshop of Nantucket. This is excellent news for TWN, and could not come at a better time. For John, it’s his chance to help the organization that set him on his career path. John first came to the island in the 70’s, and he was here not more than an hour before he walked into the Straight Wharf Theatre, home to Theatre Workshop in those days, and met Mac Dixon, artistic director of the theater at the time. Thus a career was born, encompassing theater, film, and television as a writer, director, and prize-winning actor. John will help in the selection of plays to be produced, bring in guest artists, keep the theater company connected to the best that is happening in theater across the country, and help reach out to the Nantucket community. As his schedule permits, John will also act in and direct plays. John will be at the opening night reception for “Almost, Maine” tonight.
© Mahon About Town
Excerpt from Nantucket Independent 3/18/09: John Shea
Actor John Shea named new artistic director at Theatre Workshop
BY MARY LANCASTER INDEPENDENT WRITER
What is in a name? A lot for the Theatre Workshop of Nantucket, whose board recently appointed internationally known actor John Shea as its new artistic director. Shea has long ties to the island and its theater community. He also has an impressive resume of performances in movies, on the stage and on television. As TWN's artistic director, Shea will help with play selections, bringing in guest stars and ensuring that Nantucketers and seasonal residents recognize the importance of community theater and its need for a stable venue. "We're just delighted about this," said Frank Morral, TWN board president. "He knows writers, he knows actors and he knows the way of the theatrical world in our time. He is also enormously eloquent about what theater can do in the culture of Nantucket. "
Besides acting in 50 films, 25 plays on and off Broadway and in four TV series, Shea, whose history with the island stage extends to the 1960s and the former Straight Wharf Theater, has directed and filmed movies and written screenplays. A founding member of the Nantucket Film Festival, Shea was just 26 when he made his Broadway debut in "Yentl," for which he won the Theatre World Award for Most Promising Actor. He achieved international fame in 1982, at the age of 32, for his role as a young American idealist involved in Chilean political violence in the Academy Award winning movie "Missing," which also won the Cannes Film Festival Palme D'Or.
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When actor and comedian Kevin Flynn, a regular Nantucket performer and strong supporter of TWN, knew the company wanted another artistic director he contacted Shea, his close friend and colleague. About a week ago, Shea and the TWN board reached the new agreement. "I feel honored because I feel like I'm carrying a torch that was lit 55 years ago by Mac Dixon and a group of like-minded artists who realized theater was a missing element in Nantucket's cultural life in those days," said Shea, who was on island this week for the opening of "Almost, Maine." "What they did and what I feel is my responsibility is to tell stories to the island, about the island and for the island. It is in telling and hearing stories that we learn about life. That is one of the most important reasons the Theatre Workshop has to survive. It's not for entertainment, it's for enlightenment."
Shea, now 60 and married to painter Melissa MacLeod, with children Jake, 21, from his first marriage and Miranda, 8, and Caiden, 4, from his marriage with MacLeod, came to Nantucket in 1968 when he was a 20-year-old sophomore and on a break from Bates College where he made his initial stage play performance. Last year marked his 40th summer on the island. He recalled the fateful day 41 years ago when he got off the ferry and went to Harbor View Way where he rented a room overlooking Children's Beach. He heard singing, but found no one at the inn. When he went outside, Shea saw retired actor Gibbs Penrose, who had starred in "Porgy and Bess," singing a song from the play to himself. The men talked, then went downtown to Cy's Green Coffee Pot to eat together. Later that evening, when Shea was on his way to Cap'n Tobey's for a beer, he saw the Straight Wharf Theater sign next door to the restaurant. Curious, he walked into what he called "a little jewel box theater" where a cast was rehearsing. When he told them he had just done his first play at college and was on Nantucket for the summer, director Mac Dixon asked if he could speak in an Irish dialect. When Shea said yes, Dixon immediately gave him a role in "Juno and the Paycock" and told him he was due on stage momentarily. "That started my romance with Theatre Workshop," said Shea. "It was literally the first night I was here, within hours of getting off the boat, that I was on the stage."
Over the years, Shea has aided TWN through benefits and contributions, but said when he was called to be its artistic director he could not refuse becoming more involved. "This is my home and I said 'Yes, I would do it.' I will help in every way I can from choosing plays to putting on special events to tying the Theatre Workshop with other existing arts councils and foundations and the Artists Association," he said. "The idea is to find a way to cooperate with each other in a new way. I don't know exactly what the way will be, but I feel it's coming."
In 1973, Shea joined the Nantucket Stage Company founded by John Wulp. In the beginning, the company plays, including "Dracula," were performed at the middle school. Later that summer, the company productions ran in conjunction with those of TWN and in 1974 the two joined forces, with the Stage Company's professional groups performing at Straight Wharf in the summer and TWN's community theater using the space in the winter. Shea stressed that since the Straight Wharf Theater burned in 1975, Nantucket Stage Company dissolved but TWN persevered though it has since bounced from venue to venue to the present day. Finding a secure home where sets, equipment and costumes can be stored and the company can rely on a consistent location for rehearsals and productions is at the top of Shea's list of things to do. "One of the things we're concerned about is keeping this theater going and in the downtown," he said, noting how much business a night of downtown theater brings to restaurants and others. "The Theatre Workshop has harnessed talents of musicians, artists, seamstresses, carpenters and aspiring actors on the island. The plays are for the young, old and everyone in between. One of my efforts is to put the word out there to secure a home for the theater."
Shea cannot serve full-time as artistic director because of his busy career, but since he lives in New York City it is easier for him to come to Nantucket more often and he has plenty of ideas to explore in his new role. Among them is live, short story readings similar to what he does regularly for National Public Radio in a program called "Selected Shorts." He is also in a group called Food for Thought, which presents lunchtime performances with actors and directors in New York who read oneact plays. Those events draw regular crowds, said Shea. Further, he wants to present films here that he has written and will direct to raise funds for both TWN and the Dreamland Theater restoration project. "It could be in a theater space if we had one here, and if not, it could be elsewhere," he said, brimming with concepts and full of enthusiasm for being asked to play a crucial, if off stage role, in aiding and abetting a community arts organization that has been of great importance to him for four decades.
© Nantucket Independent
Inquirer and Mirror 3/19/09: John Shea
John Shea hired by Theatre Workshop as artistic director
By Joshua B. Gray
Theatre Workshop of Nantucket announced late last week that actor and long-time Nantucket summer resident John Shea has agreed to take on the role of artistic director for the island cultural institution. “John Shea, actor, director, screenwriter, has agreed to be artistic director of Theatre Workshop of Nantucket. John, whose connections with theater in Nantucket go back to the l960s and the Straight Wharf Theatre, has had an enormously varied career in theater, films and television. A writer, director and prize-winning actor, John brings a lifetime of experience to TWN,” TWN president Frank Morral said in a statement released to the media Thursday. “John will give artistic direction by helping us form our season through reading plays, bringing in guest artists, and working with our play-development committee. He will keep us in touch with the best that is happening in theater in New York and across the country,” Morral said.
A summer resident of Sconset for 40 years, Shea said his initial intuitive reaction to the offer from TWN was positive, but for a time he began to think he would not be able to the devote the time necessary, a concern that was soon alleviated. “I was afraid I couldn’t devote myself full-time due to all my other commitments,” said Shea, who along with his wife, the artist Melissa MacLeod, and their children, make their primary residence in New York. “But after talking to Frank (Morral) I realized that what they need is kind of a part-time person anyway to operate in a supervisory position, consulting with the great team that is already in place. I am on-island all summer during the heavy parts of the performance season, but there are aspects of the job that will keep me busy all year and there is so much that can be accomplished through modern communication. So the position really seemed to fit my schedule in some odd way.”
The Emmy winner who has appeared in nearly 50 films and is well-known for his recurring television roles as Lex Luthor on “Lois and Clark” and Adam Kane on “Mutant X,” got his big break appearing alongside Sissy Spacek and Jack Lemon in Costa-Gavras’ Oscar-winning “Missing.” He also has a long history with theater on Nantucket. His first job on stage reaches back to the late 1960s when Joseph “Mac” Dixon, the first artistic director of Straight Wharf Theatre, offered him his first job. Shea considers Dixon an early mentor and a person who encouraged his start in acting. “I remember the day I got off the boat, I checked into a rooming house on Children’s Beach and went down and got a job washing dishes at Cy’s, (Green Coffee Pot, now the defunct Atlantic Cafe)” said Shea. “I asked where I could find a good beer and was directed down to Capn’ Tobey’s. Next door I saw a sign hanging over a door that said ‘Straight Wharf Theatre’ and walked inside. I felt something magical immediately. There was a red leather door with brass studs that I pushed open to find a little jewel box of a theater and a rehearsal going on. An elderly couple introduced me to Mac Dixon and as I shook his hand he asked me if I could fake an Irish accent. I said I could probably do a bad one. The ‘Second furniture removal man’ in Sean O’Casey’s ‘Juno and the Paycock’ was the role he gave me and it could be said that is where my professional acting career began.”
With the $10 he made at each performance (the amount Dixon paid all his actors), Shea, a theater student at Bates College at the time, went on to study at Yale, all the while returning summers to Nantucket and participating in what he considered to be some very exciting theater. “I want to help recreate the energy that I felt when I first started with Straight Wharf Theatre,” said Shea. “It was a very exciting thing as young guy caught up in that atmosphere. I would like to carry on and institutionalize this feeling in a way and in doing so help find us a permanent home.”
Morral echoed that sentiment. “We really do need to have a home and that is one thing I hope he (Shea) can help us with.” This, he said, he hopes to see accomplished through expanded and new programming, Shea’s far-reaching connections, and a renewed commitment to having a strong downtown theater.
While Shea has not signed a contract with TWN, he has signed a letter of agreement for a commitment of two years, during which time he will receive “an embarrassingly small” stipend, said Morral. This stipend, said Shea, will help defray the cost of his travel and his visits to New York plays in order to research possibilities and viability for the Nantucket stage. Using his own broad experience on- and off-Broadway as a guide, Shea said he has already begun to look into the possibility of bringing staged readings of some of his favorite works to the island. The talent will include both playwrights and actors from New York combined with what he called “a tremendous amount of talent on the island” that he has seen over the years. In more recent times, Shea said his participation with TWN and island theater has been primarily focused on fundraising, doing one-night performances with both island and visiting actors. He starred in “The Guys” with Amy Stiller during a recent summer, a play about the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He has also appeared alongside Pam Murphy in an A.R. Gurney play and made other performances as well as his schedule allowed.
“I hope to be a lightning rod for Theatre Workshop,” said Shea. “I want people to know that the doors of TWN are wide open to anybody and everybody. These people have talent that should and can be channeled creatively.”
Shea also has strong convictions regarding the benefit of a vibrant community theater. “When you see a good play, you go away delighted and entertained and enlightened, and in some ways you come away a better person,” he said. “Theater has the ability to shed a light on all those dark corners and people will be drawn like moths to a flame and learn from their experience. I think this is the role of community theater.”
With direct knowledge of Shea’s great passion for his art, friend and fellow actor Kevin Flynn (also a summer resident and a co-founder of The Nantucket Comedy Festival) first suggested the post would be a good match for Shea. “He is the perfect person for it, but I don’t think people thought he would do it,” said Flynn, referring to Shea’s busy professional schedule. “He has such a great history on the island, a sense of community and his passion is remarkable. It is something I am always pretty taken by. I think John will be able to raise the profile of the theater through his personality and reputation.”
Morral said the board of TWN will look to Shea for their visionary leadership. “I think his artistic leadership will be his primary role with us,” said Morral. “It is very interesting when I talk to people about this. There is a sense of excitement that something really big has happened. I am just really pleased and feel this a turning point for us.”
Amidst this transition, Shea continues to work in Hollywood with a recurring role in the television series “Gossip Girl,” all the while working on several films and screenplays, one of which is a thriller set on Nantucket.
© Inquirer and Mirror
Excerpt from Video on Plum TV 3/28/09: John Shea
Theatre Workshop of Nantucket: Meet John Shea, Artistic Director
March 28, 2009
John Shea is the new artistic director for the Theatre Workshop of Nantucket. Kate Brosnan sits down with John to discuss the new position and what the future may hold for the beloved organization.
Kate Brosnan: I am very excited to be joined by John Shea. How are you, John?
John Shea: Happy to be here, Kate.
Kate: John, it's very exciting for our community to have you come back! Or, you've never left the island, but certainly in a new role as artistic director of our theatre workshop. And someone of your caliber, as a writer, director, actor, the community is abuzz about it. Tell me why you thought it would be important for you to take on this role here.
John: Well. Good question. It seemed like the right thing to do at the right time. Kevin Flynn is a buddy of mine...you know Kevin?
Kate: I do know Kevin, very well.
John: He called me and he said, "John, will you call Frank Morral" -- who is the head of, you know, the board of directors -- "because they're looking for someone to help take the reigns as the artistic director of the theatre workshop. And since you know the theatre workshop, would you be interested in helping out?" And so I talked to Frank. And I have to say, after speaking with him...I had some concerns that I wouldn't be able to give a hundred percent to this--
Kate: As a busy guy that you are, yeah.
John: Well, because I have a lot of other things going on. But Frank convinced me that whatever percent I could give would be a welcome percentage. And I have to say, I have had a soft spot in my heart for the theatre workshop for forty years since I stepped off the boat in 1968...
Kate: You've gone way back!
John: ...and stumbled into the Straight Wharf Theatre, and I had a kind of magical experience that first night I was ever on this island. And I remember the feeling, of going into the theatre, and I peeked through the doors, and there was a well-dressed kind of distinguished gentleman with a jacket and tie at the foot of the stage, and the actors on the stage, and this beautiful set.
Kate: Sounds like Mac.
John: And it was Mac Dixon. At the end of the night, at a break in the rehearsal, this elderly couple said, "Sit down." You know, they said, "What are you doing here?" I said, "I'm a theater major at Bates College, and I'm just interested in what's going on." And they said, "Well, we're doing this play." Anyway, they said, "You've gotta meet Mac." And so Mac came back to the end of the theater, and he said, "What's your name?" And I said, "John Shea." He said, "Shea? That's an Irish name." I said, "Yeah." And he said, "Can you do an Irish accent?" I said, "Well, I could fake one." And he said, "Well, fine. Take this, you're about to make your entrance!"
Kate: Oh, wow.
John: And he sent me backstage. And the play, he said, "We're doing Juno and the Paycock by Sean O'Casey, and you're playing the second furniture removal man." So before I knew it, I was on the stage with all these great actors, and part of this theatre, within six hours of landing on this island.
Kate: There you were.
John: The island opened its theatrical heart to me, and I stepped in and I became part of it, like in the bloodstream. And I discovered at that moment, what a magical thing it was to be onstage and telling stories to audiences. But then to be in the audience, as I did, because I wasn't in all the plays, seeing the stories that were being told. And how great it was for all the people that I met. I met musicians and actors and carpenters and plumbers, and you know, Marie Giffin?
Kate: Well, sure.
John: Whose daughter Maryanne, runs the Inky Mirror. She was the publisher of the newspaper, well, she and I did a song together in Carousel. Then there was, you know, Gwen Guyard from the opera house.
Kate: Sure.
John: And then there was Reggie Levine who ran the art gallery. And there was people from all over the island, young, old, middle-aged. And so I realized, that this was...if you want to get to know the island, get to know the theater, and go work at the theater, because everybody's there.
Kate: John, let me ask you, what is the importance of -- I mean, obviously, you have a very personal connection to the Theater Workshop. What do you think the importance of community theater is? Especially in a place like Nantucket.
John: Well, first I think that it helps channel and focus the energies of everybody on this island who wants to be involved in a creative community experience. The doors of the Theater Workshop are open, wide open to everybody who wants to help. Whether they want to be on a board and help contribute things financially, or creatively or intellectually, or if they want to help build sets, if they want to make this snow or use those pliers or bang those nails, build this set, if they want to build costumes, if they know music, if they want to sing, if they want to act, if they little children with aspirations or old people with experience, there are parts for them in our plays.
Kate: Right. John, what do you think, what will your role be, specifically? I mean, do you have ideas already, coming into this new position?
John: I do have a couple of ideas. I mean, we're in tough times, right?
Kate: Right.
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John: And so I think it would be fantastic for the Theater Workshop, for example, to maybe join forces with the FNA, and there in the great hall sponsor a weekly series of short story readings.
Kate: What a great space.
John: I'd be happy to take place, and read some.
Kate: Take part, yeah.
John: And then find other people on the island who love short stories, writers who want to read their own short stories, think about it, you know? Read it here at the Theater Workshop or wherever we have the space. And the second thing is, I do short story readings. I'm part of a group of actors and directors in New York, and we do something called Food for Thought, where we read short plays, one-act plays of all the best writers in the world. And we have audiences come, and they love it! And it doesn't require sets, and we only rehearse for a few hours, and we read it kind of cold with a script in hand to a live audience.
Kate: So it's not a big time commitment, right?
John: One day! In and out.
Kate: Right, and yet so entertaining.
John: And a hundred people come and they laugh like crazy.
Kate: Wow. Sounds great.
John: So it's a good thing.
Kate: How are you gonna make time, I mean, with all your acting and directing? How do you think you're gonna make time for this?
John: Well, look, the modern age is one of instant communication.
Kate: Okay.
John: So, for example, Frank and I have been talking in the last couple weeks from Los Angeles and New York by cell phone, emailing each other, FedExing each other. I mean, so the new world allows for that kind of instant communication. In the old days, you'd have to send a horse across the island, right?
Kate: Right.
John: So now we can be in touch all the time. That's one thing. And part of the thing that I'll do is help read some of the plays that we're thinking about, make suggestions, hopefully bring visiting artists from New York.
Kate: That in itself is very exciting.
John: I mean, just recently, well, I talked to Pete Gurney about this, you know, A.R. Gurney whose plays we've done here, whose plays I've done in New York. And I talked to him about it. I've just emailed John Guare, I'm back in touch with him, whose plays we've done in the Theater Workshop over the years. And maybe John would like to come back and, you know, do a one night thing with him, but then maybe do one of his plays in reparatory. But I think of all the other great actors, playwrights that I know in New York. Actors that I know, guest directors who could come up and do workshops, work with the young actors on the island.
Kate: It's exciting.
John: I mean, there's a lot of possibilities. I mean, theater, film people who are coming in that I know, they might be on the Cape and I'll have them fly over here and spend a day with the community.
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John: So now part of me wants to...here's what I know about theater. The theater is about storytelling. And what we learn about the theater by going to the theater is we learn the lessons of the great playwrights. We either laugh ourselves into enlightenment or we cry ourselves into enlightenment, whether it's comedy or tragedy. But by going to the theater, you are exposed to the works of great writers. And The Theater Workshop has a history for 53 years of exposing the island to some of the great writers of the world.
Kate: Well, it is certainly nice to sit down with you, John, here in the off-season. And congratulations to you on your new position as the artistic director of The Theater Workshop.
John: It's an honor, Kate. Thank you.
Kate: Thank you so much.
© Plum TV
Excerpt from Inquirer and Mirror 8/12/10: John Shea
Laughs keep coming as summer heads toward fall
By Joshua B. Gray I&M Staff Writer
Actor and TWN artistic director John Shea hoped to fill some of those nights this season with complementary programming. Earlier this summer the theater hosted comedian Jane Condon’s one woman Off-Broadway show “Janie Condon: Raw and Unchained” to a sold-out crowd. This was after Shea and TWN board members saw the show in New York and recognized that it would supplement their own programming. “Everyone agreed her show would make sense for the theater,” he said. “It is the nature of the theater to have dark nights that we have filled with different events in the past, particularly when there are opportunities for people to perform and we could provide a showcase and platform for them.”
© Inquirer and Mirror
Excerpt from Inquirer and Mirror 9/13/10: John Shea
Curtain rises on remade theater
By Joshua B. Gray September 13, 2010
NANTUCKET -Theatre Workshop of Nantucket is out of debt - an unusual success story for an arts organization during a period of economic recession. Not only that, but the theater company expects to end its current season with $20,000 profit on the books, after all its $70,000 in debt is paid off. The turnaround has happened in the first year the company has been under managing director Gabrielle Gould, who joined president Frank Morral and artistic director and actor John Shea.
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In the past the group had sought underwriters for individual plays - a pursuit Shea said was misguided. “No one underwrites the arts, they produce the arts,” he said. “We started thinking of people as producers. ...They give a sum of money and they will be treated as producers,” he said.
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“I think the key reason why the theater has turned around is Gabrielle,” Shea said.
© Inquirer and Mirror
Excerpt from Inquirer and Mirror 9/30/10: John Shea
TWN's "Peter Pan" taking stage with cast of 50-plus
By Joshua B. Gray I&M Staff Writer
Another large production, Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town,” started things up in April, and with a wide range of material including David Harrower’s controversial and dark “Blackbird,” artistic director John Shea’s first season has largely been a critical and financial success.
© Inquirer and Mirror
Excerpt from Inquirer and Mirror 12/30/10: John Shea
Gabrielle Gould and John Shea
Gabrielle and John took on a daunting task this year, that of bolstering the financial stability and creative energy of Theatre Workshop of Nantucket, which in recent years has lost money and in many ways direction. Shea, who came on board last year, is now guiding the community-theater group with a strong artistic hand, providing the creative leadership it needs, and Gould has taken charge on the fundraising and logistical end. Together with help from a revamped board of directors, they presented the most financially successful and creatively ambitious seasons at TWN in years, capped off by a truly spectacular run of “Peter Pan."
© Inquirer and Mirror
N Magazine 6/11: John Shea
A Dramatic Comeback: John Shea and the Revival of Theatre Workshop of Nantucket
Written by Marie-Claire Rochat
On television John Shea played the villain, Lex Luthor. Yet here on the island, he's acting more like Superman, helping save the day for the Theatre Workshop of Nantucket and bringing new life to the island's cultural arts. It was the spring of 1968 on Nantucket. John Shea was on his way to Captain Toby's for a bowl of chowder when voices and singing caught his attention. Peeking into the doorway, Shea was greeted by an elderly couple in the midst of a play rehearsal. That fortuitous peek into the Theatre Workshop of Nantucket would launch Shea's theatrical career on the island and ultimately around the world. Since then, Shea has achieved smashing success as a writer, director, and Emmy award-winning actor. Most recently, he finished production on a romantic comedy -- The Trouble with the Truth -- and premiered three other films this spring, including An Invisible Sign with Jessica Alba. Here on the island, the 'Sconset resident is passionately working to make Nantucket a cultural arts destination. Fittingly, the Theatre Workshop of Nantucket -- the very stage that started his career -- has become the spearhead of this effort. Unlike Shea's prolific career, TWN has floundered since its inception in the early 1950s. Yet all that has changed within the last two years, thanks to Shea and a talented supporting cast. Recognizing the dire need for leadership, Shea assumed the role of artistic director in 2009. "When I accepted the job, I agreed only on the condition that someone be hired to run the administrative end," he said. Within the year, Gabrielle Gould joined on as executive director, injecting a much-needed dose of business and fundraising acumen. Together, Gould and Shea have done much to turn the company around in a short time. Not only have they reversed the organization's finances (TWN is operating in the black for the first time), but they have also made tremendous strides in furthering the mission first set in place by TWN founder, Joseph "Mac" Dixon.
An important element of Dixon's vision was for TWN to remain "community based" theater. To that end, Shea an dGould have formed successful collaborations with such island non-profits as the Atheneum, Nantucket Historical Association, and the African Meeting House. "It's thrilling to have so many of Nantucket's creative forces coming together," said Shea. "Through our synergy, we can create all kinds of amazing things. I see the Theatre Workshop of Nantucket as one finger on the fist of the creative organizations that are going to be forging the future for Nantucket."
This summer, TWN teams up with the NHA for a reading of Herman Melville's Moby Dick, which will be performed in a whaleboat under the skeleton of a sperm whale in the Whaling Museum. "It's showbiz meets community," said Shea. The company will also produce Shakespeare's Macbeth with a group of Nantucket New School students, and will run a regular schedule of performances geared to families and caregivers of children with special needs. All this on top of a full schedule of 16 performances slated to run through December. The playbill covers the spectrum of the genre: drama, comedy, family musicals, one-man shows and short play festival. "We aim to put together a balanced season," said Gould. "We want to offer something for everyone."
Ultimately, Shea and the organization's board of directors want to see TWN become a forum for major productions. Presently, its summer sights are set on launching a world premiere production of "Blue Roses," by Tennessee Williams. "Nantucket has a very sophisticated theatre audience," said Shea. "Both the year-round and summer populations have very high expectations for the caliber of stage acting they want to see -- and that is what we aim to meet."
Shea and TWN are confident, moving forward on a steady path with strong leadership, smart management, great creative vision, and a groundswell of community support. "We are growing TWN very carefully and with a great deal of direction and purpose," said Shea. "It seems to be working. TWN is on a great trek -- and can become even better."
As for John Shea's track on Nantucket, it looks to be long and exciting. "During the last couple years, I've begun to talk to people around the island about this vision of Nantucket as a cultural arts destination," he said, "as a place that people come to not only see great theatre and film...but also where we can be making this kind of art as well. It could be one of the new financial drivers of a new Nantucket economy."
© N Magazine
Excerpt from The Inquirer and Mirror 6/9/11: John Shea
TWN's "The Seafarer" deals a winning hand
By William Ferrall (June 9 , 2011)
When the actor John Shea as artistic director and executive director Gabrielle Gould took the helm last year at Theatre Workshop, they vowed to reach for this level of quality on their island stages. The first year under their leadership brought some great successes.
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Excerpt from The Inquirer and Mirror 6/30/11: John Shea
The play's the thing for island theater troupes
By Hana Schuster I&M Senior Writer
Gabrielle Gould, executive director of Theatre Workshop of Nantucket, and artistic director John Shea have chosen a slate of productions that encompass a wide range of styles and tastes.
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Excerpt from The Inquirer and Mirror 10/27/11: John Shea
"Beyond Therapy" at Atheneum
By Lindsay Pykosz (Oct. 27, 2011)
Theatre Workshop of Nantucket and the Nantucket Atheneum are gearing up for their second annual Staged Reading Series, set to kick off Friday, October 28 in the Atheneum’s Great Hall with Christopher Durang’s comedy “Beyond Therapy.” Directed by islander and actor David McCandless, this six-person production is the perfect way to start the six-month series, said TWN executive director Gabrielle Gould-a project that is the brainchild of her and artistic director John Shea. The two joined forces last year after deciding that it was necessary for the Nantucket community to be exposed to year-round theater. “John and I were really excited about this,” said Gould. “It’s sort of our little brainchild together. We basically went to each other and thought, ‘The island can’t not have theater all winter-long.’ It was a really exciting idea that the two of us got to see go on and do six runs last winter.”
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Excerpt from Nantucket Property News NAREB 3/12: John Shea
Gabrielle Gould
-- Jill Evarts March 2012
The experience prompted Gould to write up a five-page proposal creating an executive position for the Theatre, which she hand-delivered to Frank Morral --- then president of the Board of Directors. "As it turned out, he had just hired John Shea as artistic director, and John's ideas were very much in line with my proposal," said Gould. When the position of executive director was officially created, Gould applied for and was offered the position. In the two years Shea and Gould have been at the helm, TWN has gone through a transformation. Productions such as Peter Pan, and Oliver, have worked to revitalize downtown Nantucket, and have increased theatre attendance by thirty five percent. "John and I wanted something grander than what the theater was doing before," said Gould. "Part of this was raising the visibility of the theater, but we also needed to join business and art to get the theater running successfully. What It was an incredible collaboration."
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Excerpt from Nantucket Today 6/12: John Shea
Army Bernstein Hollywood Producer
by Marianne R. Stanton
Bernstein has also been a big supporter of Theatre Workshop of Nantucket, the island's community-theater group where Shea is the artistic director. He and Christine have signed on as producer-level supporters for the past couple of years and this winter, his 1991 film "The Commitments" screened as part of a double-header benefit for TWN along with Shea's "Southie."
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He and Shea share a dream of bringing some film and television projects to Nantucket in the off season for two reasons: because the island is magic, a unique setting for stories, and because it will help stimulate the local economy as film making does whatever it happens throughout the world. If anyone could be successful with that, it's Army Bernstein.
© Nantucket Today
Excerpt from Nantucket Today 6/12: John Shea
Army Bernstein Hollywood Producer
by Marianne R. Stanton
Bernstein has also been a big supporter of Theatre Workshop of Nantucket, the island's community-theater group where Shea is the artistic director. He and Christine have signed on as producer-level supporters for the past couple of years and this winter, his 1991 film "The Commitments" screened as part of a double-header benefit for TWN along with Shea's "Southie."
....
He and Shea share a dream of bringing some film and television projects to Nantucket in the off season for two reasons: because the island is magic, a unique setting for stories, and because it will help stimulate the local economy as film making does whatever it happens throughout the world. If anyone could be successful with that, it's Army Bernstein.
© Nantucket Today
Excerpt from New York Times 8/29/12: John Shea
You Could Google Her
By LAURA M. HOLSON Published: August 29, 2012
When John Shea, a longtime resident and actor best know for playing Lex Luthor in the 1990s television series “Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman,” approached her a few years ago about producing a play for the Theater Workshop of Nantucket, where he is artistic director, Ms. Schmidt instead offered to match donations from other backers up to $15,000. “They were happy to give money if she did,” he said. “If someone like Wendy Schmidt is backing you, it gives you legitimacy.”
© NY Times
Excerpt from Nantucket Chronicle 9/12: John Shea
Taking Nantucket To Chekhov: World Premiere of New "Cherry Orchard" Onstage Now
by Kate Splaine on Sep 21st, 2012
The ‘70s are when many of Stroud’s friends first came to the island. He offers, “It’s sort of a love letter to them.” This love letter took over a year to write. Amidst such an enormous undertaking, a fully-staged production seemed unimaginable. “We thought ‘nah it will never happen.’ Then, to their credit, the Theatre Workshop of Nantucket-John Shea and Gabrielle Gould-got on board and have been really supportive.”
© Nantucket Chronicle
Excerpt from arts Nantucket 6/13: John Shea
58 Years of Theater
by Sara Boyce
Current Artistic Director John Shea believes that “TWN reflects the spiritual life of the island. Our job is to inspire and entertain and reflect the community. That’s why I think people are coming: to share in that mission.”
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An award-winning Broadway, film, and television actor, John Shea studied acting at Bates College and earned an MFA from Yale University School of Drama, but the start of his career was on TWN’s stage. “It was 1968, and I had just stepped off the Nantucket ferry, one day after my 19th birthday. On my way to Cap’n Tobey’s for a beer, I poked my head in the back door of the Straight Wharf Theatre and was beckoned in by a couple in the back row. Little did I know, I had wandered into a rehearsal that was short an actor. Soon I was asked, ‘Shea, can you do an Irish accent? Take this script.’ At the end of the week, Joseph M. “Mac” Dixon, the Artistic Director, handed me $10 and said, ‘You’re doing a great job. You’re a professional actor now.”
While Shea admired Dixon’s commitment to producing great theatre, it is doubtful that he imagined he would follow Dixon’s lead as Artistic Director. Shea and Executive Director, Gabrielle Gould, are the dynamic leadership team currently at the helm of TWN. “I knew Gabrielle as a wonderful actress,” said Shea. “We were bonded together by acting in an emotional roller coaster of a play, Blackbird. We have since become an inseparable team, and I’ve learned just how unbelievably organized she is with very professional capabilities as a producer.”
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Mentorship is a recurring theme in TWN’s history. Part of Shea’s personal pleasure is the opportunity to work with aspiring actors. From time to time he quietly pulls actors aside to share the basics of acting with them. “That’s what people did with me when I was young, and we were bonded for life. It is a challenge and a real privilege.”
© arts Nantucket
Excerpt from Nantucket Conservation 7/13: John Shea
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
Theatre Workshop of Nantucket, established in 1956, has been infused with energy since John Shea and Gabrielle Gould took over as artistic director and executive director, respectively. Shea, a long-time Sconset resident and well-respected actor of stage, screen and TV, has raised the bar on the level of local theater since he came on board in his current role. Gould, an actress herself, works behind the scenes to make it all happen. It’s truly one of the island’s nonprofit success stories, giving Nantucket a slate of quality theater productions throughout the year.
© Nantucket Conservation
Excerpt from Inquirer and Mirror 7/21/14: John Shea
Leadership changes at Theatre Workshop of Nantucket
By Joshua Balling
(July 21, 2014) Theatre Workshop of Nantucket, the island’s public theater since 1956, today announced that its artistic director of six years, John Shea, will become artistic director emeritus. The move will allow him to continue his involvement with the company while shifting more of his attention to his other film and TV ventures, including his upcoming movie, "Grey Lady." Current resident artistic director Justin Cerne will take the helm as artistic director of TWN with a contract that extends through 2015. TWN also announced the resignation of Gabrielle Gould as executive director, effective Dec. 31, a position she has held for five years, during which time she led the company to new heights in programming, fundraising and community outreach. TWN Board President Joe Hale will lead a national search for a new executive director. “Over the last five years, John and Gabrielle have worked together to take TWN to a new level, both in the quality of our productions and the administration of our theater. We cannot thank them enough for their commitment and dedication to our mission and for all they have accomplished for TWN and for live theater in Nantucket. It will be a challenge to replace Gabrielle with someone with her knowledge, energy and enthusiasm,” Hale said.
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