If you're connected via social media to Central Florida's theater scene, your smartphone has surely been emitting smoke over recent incendiary commentary surrounding Winter Garden's Garden Theatre.
This dramatic dumpster fire first ignited publicly last summer, when acclaimed artistic director Joseph C. Walsh abruptly resigned in June; the resulting wave of resignations and terminations saw the departures of nearly the entire staff and the cancellation of several shows.
Flames were fanned again in December when the Garden announced that, rather than rebuilding their internal team, they would turn to Victory Productions to present four shows in 2023, beginning last weekend with the 1980s jukebox musical Rock of Ages.
What really poured kerosene on the conflagration was playwright Michael Wanzie's widely shared "Wanziegram" of Jan. 19. The e-newsletter promoted Victory's production and pinned blame for pushback against it on former artistic consultant Roberta Emerson not being hired to succeed Walsh, rather than presenting her passing-over and dismissal as symptoms of the chronic disconnect between the theater's board of directors and staff.
Wanzie's intemperate editorial was seen by her supporters as a personal attack on Emerson, a co-organizer of Central Florida Entertainment Advocacy, which has led calls for reform at the Garden — and the intense backlash prompted Wanzie to withdraw from the upcoming Fringe Festival, resign his chairmanship of the Greater Orlando Performing Arts Relief fund that he helped found and deactivate his Facebook page.
‘I think there’s a perception that we are just out here trying to burn down theaters. And that perception is far from true.’
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Victory Production's controversial collaboration with the Garden Theatre — an unusual arrangement in which the for-profit producers and nonprofit theater share the budgetary expenses and revenue — began last summer when Garden Theatre board vice-chair Keith Smith contacted Victory president Fernando Varela, who sang at the theater's Encore gala a decade ago and served as an artist liaison for a year.
In a phone interview, Varela says that before getting involved again, he met repeatedly with board members and "found that each and every single person on the board, at least the ones that I met with, they truly wanted to get it right. They wanted to make sure that the issues that led to what happened over the summer never happened again. And they were committed to creating art on that stage, and making sure that the Garden Theatre continues to operate, to be there, to thrive."
Although aware of the organization's documented dysfunction, Varela says he ultimately accepted the assignment because "if it wasn't me, it could have been someone from out of town. It could have been someone that just didn't have the same values and the same vision." He says those values include paying a "fair living wage" of at least $650 per week to local non-union actors and crew, and creating a space that's "inclusive and diverse and welcoming to all people in all different walks of life." As for the Wanziegram, while Varela says he agreed to be interviewed for it "to tell our side of why we're involved," he adds, "I did not know that it was going to take such a personal turn."
Despite the volleys between Victory's and CFEA's camps, Varela says, "Being myself a person of color, I think it's incredible, the work that they do, and very needed." As a self-described "pragmatic person," he says that the city of Winter Garden dissolving or evicting the board for breaching their lease by leaving the stage dark "would have never happened," and also says demands for the entire board to resign en masse are "not a realistic ask."
But he does support several of CFEA's calls for action, including ongoing work with the Edyth Bush Institute, "intensive DEI training for not only the board, but for the staff and for Victory, for myself and my team," as well as completion of in-progress audits of "all their procedures and structures."
Varela vows that he and CFEA will "sit down and try to have a dialogue and figure out how we can build this bridge and help heal the situation."
For her part, Emerson says the first and most necessary step is a public acknowledgment of harms done. "Without that, we cannot move to the other steps that involve the work of repairing the damage," she told Orlando Weekly in an interview. Even so, CFEA has not advocated a boycott, and Emerson cautions against "shaming of artists who are caught in the crossfire of problematic leadership," whose positions are unlikely to change until a voting majority of like-minded members join the board.
"I think there's a perception that we are just out here trying to burn down theaters. And that perception is far from true. Everyone should be able to create art in safe, equitable and inclusive spaces. That shouldn't be a hard ask," says Emerson. "But people have to be willing to come to the room, and realize that that room is gonna look different than what they may want it to. That's the very definition of inclusion."
With a cast that includes reality royalty Bo Bice (American Idol) and Omar Cardona (The Voice) alongside Broadway star/director Justin M. Sargent, I'm confident Victory's Rock of Ages looks and sounds as good as this lightweight crowd-pleaser possibly can. (If you want to support the show, but are uncomfortable patronizing the venue, consider seeing it in February at the Villages' Savannah Center, the second stop on its potential multi-city tour.)
Varela says they've already "started early conversations about next season," and that going forward the Garden will probably focus on resident presenting partners like himself, plus rentals and touring acts, rather than producing seasons internally, essentially undoing years of effort developing the theater's reputation as a professional regional company. Educational programming, essential to the theater's 501(c)3 status, also remains on hiatus with no firm future announced.
This whole debacle drives home a few hard truths: First, Orlando's alleged arts "community" is actually only a dog-eared Venn diagram of overlapping tribes; second, discord between different marginalized groups only benefits the monied powers-that-be (who may sincerely profess not to see black or white, but certainly see green); and finally, Facebook is the world's worst forum for interpersonal conflict resolution since the Weehawken dueling grounds. I typically use social media solely to self-promote and share cute cat photos, and have refrained from the fray — less out of antiquated notions of journalistic neutrality, more because nobody needs another well-meaning white man performatively proclaiming his allyship.
However, I hope readers of this column understand I'm firmly in favor of listening to and supporting artists — especially BIPOC women — when they stand up and speak their truth.
Perhaps the most positive thing to emerge from this firestorm was the outpouring of support for Emerson, so I'll step aside and let her have the last word: "I am so grateful to this community for the uplifting that they did of me. ... Sometimes it's really good to hear that people see and acknowledge the work that you're doing. And because of that, I'm gonna keep doing."
