Houston’s SPA hires new CEO from Kennedy Center for the Arts
Booth says she will strike balance in programming that attracts first-timers, seasoned patrons alike
Houston’s Society for the Performing Arts has hired a prominent figure from the nation’s top stage as its new CEO.
Meg Booth takes the reins of the Southwest’s largest presenting arts organization Dec. 3, after 11 years as director of dance programming at Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., where she has worked since 2003.
SPA board chair Theresa Einhorn said Booth stood out among many candidates during a national search: “She has the artistic vision and experience to curate diverse, engaging programming for SPA, coupled with proven management skills.”
Unlike Houston Grand Opera, Houston Ballet, Houston Symphony and the Alley Theatre, SPA presents national and international touring shows spanning all those genres and more. That diversity creates opportunities as well as challenges, Einhorn said. “There’s a lot of competition for ticket sales. There’s so much for people to do in Houston — competition for time, for attention.”
At 52, SPA could use an infusion of fresh energy.
“It’s time for a strategic plan,” said CFO Leslie Nelson, who has worked double duty as interim president and CEO since July. “It’s been a seamless transition,” Einhorn said.
SPA, like all of Houston’s arts organizations, is still in recovery mode financially after the disruption of Hurricane Harvey. But the city’s large foundations have been generous with recovery grants, and ticket sales continue to rebound. “Some shows are ahead of budget projections while others are behind,” Nelson said. “We’re where we expected to be.”
Einhorn said SPA, which has an annual budget of $6 million, is “fiscally sound and doing well.”
SPA’s programming has gradually broadened during recent years, reflecting national trends. To attract younger audiences and families, its seasons now feature a number of lectures, magic shows and events such as “Mutts Gone Nuts” as well as music and dance. Some of its relationships go back decades: SPA has long supported Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, for example, by keeping it on regular rotations.
Booth believes a performingarts season should provide a balance of shows that excite first-timers and challenge 30year subscribers. “The economics of presenting performing arts are changing, but the arts continue to evolve in very positive ways,” she said.
More than 20 events, most of them one-nighters, are still ahead in the current SPA season curated by former president and CEO June Christensen, who retired in June.
Kennedy Center’s dance schedule alone is almost that busy — big enough that a dance program subscriber can choose between ballet and contemporary packages — and most artists give multiple performances. Booth is particularly proud of the Ballet Across America programs she has commissioned, often with live music by the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra, to celebrate “the breadth and depth of regional ballet,” she said.
She also commissioned new works from other companies, as well as films and exhibits; produced critically acclaimed festivals and showcases; and produced the Suzanne Farrell Ballet Company, one of Kennedy Center’s resident organizations.
Booth said she is looking forward not just to building on Christensen’s strength in dance but “digging in and expanding” the base of all kinds of performances in Houston and broadening SPA’s community initiatives. She said she would look quickly to SPA’s staff of 15 to gain a stronger understanding of Houston and help identify gaps “where we can lean in and do new programming.”
Deborah F. Rutter, the Kennedy Center president, said Booth has been a passionate advocate for local artists and communitybased projects. “Meg and her team built out the singlemost dynamic ballet and dance season in the country — a foundation and legacy that we and our audiences will continue to benefit from long into the future.”
Earlier in her career Booth worked with the Twyla Tharp Dance Foundation, Baryshnikov Productions Inc. and IMG Artists (all in New York) along with Charlotte Ballet in Charlotte, N.C. She is a past board chair and longtime board member of Dance/USA.
Her husband, Brandon Booth — a Houston native — and two daughters, ages 6 and 8, are making the move with her. “We had planned to come to Texas for Thanksgiving anyway,” Booth said. “Now we’re in the thick of school and neighborhood research.”