The man whose tiny-town theatre got to be very big
Alex Mustakas’ seven-venue, year-round theatre company started in Drayton village in 1991
Usually when I email someone 30 in-depth questions about their life and motivations — after an initial face-toface interview — they like to mull it over for a few days, then a few more days, then a week or two, until finally they forget about it and I have to bombard them with phone calls and emails saying, “Don’t make me come to your house!”
But Alex Mustakas, who founded the Drayton Entertainment empire in 1991 and as artistic director/CEO turned it into one of the most successful theatre companies in Canada, had his responses signed, sealed and delivered before I finished logging on to my computer.
“With so much going on I tell all my staff, ‘Do it now!’” he notes when I compliment his efficiency.
“If you set it aside, things just pile up and you can never catch up.”
Which explains the success of his seven-venue company that rose like a phoenix from the detritus of a decommissioned opera house with a defiantmandate: take theatre out of the realm of the earrings and monocle crowd and bring it back to the people. Comedy, farces, musicals, kiddie fare — all spiked with a determined populist streak.
People poke fun at Drayton’s eagerness to please, the raffle tickets hawked
at intermission, its lack of cultural sophistication.
But at a time when live theatre is entering the realm of niche entertainment, the indefatigable entrepreneur has succeeded in creating a virtual subindustry: theatre for the masses, the way Shakespeare envisioned it 400 years ago.
“I think it’s rooted in the immigrant story,” says Mustakas, whose family moved to Canada from Cyprus when he was 6.
“You can’t get anywhere unless you work hard. We’re all products of our environment.”
Humble and self-effacing, the genial 58-year-old is an anomaly in the world of dramaturgical posturing: an emissary of cultural enlightenment who is relentless in focus, a real-life Don Quixote, tilting at windmills in a quest to restore theatrical literacy.
“In the first year at the Drayton Festival Theatre men were telling me they ‘were dragged here’ by their wives,” says Mustakas.
“These same men are still with us 28 years later, now purchasing their tickets a year in advance. The theatre has become a very important part of their lives.”
I have this image, based on cartoons and probably a Seinfeld episode, of theatregoers as tweedy stuffed shirts who sit around in tuxedos adjusting their spectacles. How well does this describe the Drayton experience?
This is the furthest thing from reality for Drayton productions. For many years, theatre has attempted to break down barriers.
This notion rarely exists anymore … anywhere.
If I want to defy convention and wear a tuxedo, would you ban me from coming in?
You want to wear a tux to see one of our shows, we welcome you. You want to wear blue jeans and a T-shirt and sit beside someone wearing a tux, that’s OK too. How tough has it been to combat “the snob factor”?
If you’re a snob, chances are you won’t be coming to one of our shows. And that’s OK.
Your parents, who arrived in Canada with a crate of belongings and dreams of a better life, insisted you “get a real job.” When did you realize “a real job” wasn’t part of your repertoire?
I think my parents’ expectations were for me to receive a solid education that would create opportunities I would not have had in the “old country.” In my heart I always knew I’d end up in the entertainment industry but, as my dad would say, “you need something to fall back on.” He was right. How did studying economics at Wilfrid Laurier University play into founding a theatre company?
I was able to use both sides of my brain to excel in a very difficult industry by balancing art with business. “Show business.”
Your dad wasn’t unconditionally supportive but had a knack for pithy exposition that didn’t pull any punches. How did his two-word theatre critiques affect your choice of Drayton productions?
Most children want to impress their parents, to make them proud. I certainly saw my father as a litmus test on opening nights when I would look across a crowded room to see his gentle nod of approval. Except once! It was probably not my best programming choice as the play ( The Wild Guys in 1998) didn’t really resonate with the audience. So I approached him and said, “What did you think, Pop?” He replied in his thick Greek accent: “Alex, I have two words for you: ‘Bo-ring.’” That’s right, two words: ‘Bo’ and ‘ring.’ The Drayton story kicked off when you came face to face with “a little opera house, stuck in time for 50 years” in a village 40 minutes northwest of Kitchener. What ran through your mind the first time you laid eyes on it?
My jaw dropped. This intimate 400-seat venue with its original tin ceiling providing extraordinary acoustics. I imagined its early days as a vaudeville-era opera house, town hall meetings, local music recital hall and local amateur theatrics. I was awestruck that this beautiful venue would be located at two crossroads in the country. “If you build it will they come?” People have asked why you started a theatre chain so close to Stratford. Your response was “Why not? McDonald’s opened up next to Burger King.” In this scenario, which fast food outlet is Drayton?
Wait a minute! What a great idea. Drive-Thru Theatre! Actors will greet you at the window with a 30-second comedy routine, dramatic monologue or song. Let’s do this! How imposing was it to set up shop 45 minutes away from a stentorian beacon of traditional “the-a-tuh”?
You want to see Shakespeare? Come to Drayton and I will drive you to Stratford.
You’re going to drive me to Stratford?
The more theatre we have the better, as far as I’m concerned. As long as it’s good theatre. Some seek a higher art-form experience. Others just want two hours of escape from the real world. It’s all good.
Stratford’s biggest hit this year was The Rocky Horror Show, not Shakespeare. What does this tell you about the direction of popular theatre?
Like every other company in the world, we’re trying to program a variety of works to introduce the live theatre experience to a wide range of tastes. Do you know what just opened on Broadway last week? The Cher Show. They’re doing more and more movie adaptations for the stage. Why? Because there’s a built-in audience. Good thing? Bad thing? We produced Rock of Ages two years ago, a risk for us. Not only did it entertain our core audience, it brought in an entirely new group who love the sound of ’80s rock bands. The question is whether we can convert these specific tastes to joining our family of loyal patrons.
What’s the biggest misconception about Drayton?
That we only produce light commercial theatre: big Broadway musicals and comedies. But we have historically presented many challenging pieces and Canadian works. Last year’s Death of a Salesman starred Cheers TV star George Wendt. Our 2019 playbill includes 12 Angry Men, The Miracle Worker, Art and a new Canadian play called Glory, based on the Preston Rivulettes women’s hockey team.
Seventy per cent of your patrons are 70 and older. How do you bridge the generation gap to pull in younger audiences?
Every theatre company in the world is dealing with a shifting demographic. Our goal is to introduce theatre to the next generation through family and specifically targeted programming while, at the same time, not alienating our loyal audience that has been with us for many years.
I was looking forward to dragging my 81-year-old mother to see Oklahoma! but you told me it’s no longer a viable property. Why not? What should I tell her?
Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! will appeal to an older generation, but we have to remember it was first produced on Broadway in 1943 with the film adaptation in 1955. What may have appealed to an audience almost 80 years ago might not be what appeals today. But tell your mother it’s still one of the best musical scores ever written. I just don’t want her to be the only one in the audience. If she loves theatre, I’m sure she’ll agree we need a new Oklahoma!, one that will appeal to a new generation. She should see Come From Away or Dear Evan Hansen. She’ll understand. You saw Rocky the Musical on Broadway and were unimpressed. Why pick it up for Drayton’s 2019 season?
It’s not that I didn’t like Broadway’s Rocky. It was just a bit overproduced technically. Like many who remember the movie, fans like me, I would like to produce what’s at the core of this piece. How has the move toward a more diverse, inclusive society affected your playbill, especially productions rooted in nostalgia?
Cultural diversity and gender equality are major topics in all industries right now, not just show business. That’s a good thing. The theatre can act as a catalyst for change. The danger is to turn away from theatre that may reflect a different era, where sometimes elements of these historic shows can be used as a “teachable moment.” We’re having the conversation right now. If someone complains about, say, the drag queens or transgender woman in your upcoming production of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, what would you say?
What would I say? “I direct you to Canada’s Charter of Rights. Thank you for coming.”
You pulled in 260,000 people last year, which rivals the Shaw Festival and is more than half what Stratford draws. People call begging you to rescue their failing theatres and program their new ones.
I’ve had calls from New Zealand: “We’ve got a theatre. Would you be interested?”
So why no plans for further expansion? You could become the Walmart of theatre companies.
I think we make it look easy, but it’s not. It’s a tough business. I equate it to a business that might have a warehouse full of inventory and they sell it all but still can’t make a profit. That’s the nature of the arts. The true cost of producing theatre is not reflected in our average ticket price. We rely on so much help from patrons, members, fundraisers, corporate partners, media, the list goes on.
You recently played Don Quixote, tilting at windmills, in Drayton’s Man of La Mancha. Am I mistaken, or is this your life story?
Quixote’s signature song, “To Dream the Impossible Dream,” best answers this question. It’s also my parents’ immigrant story. And here we are. When Drayton started in ’91, it was primarily a summer theatre company. Now the season has extended into January with a late-winter restart. How much longer until you have no break at all?
There is no break anymore. At least not in planning and administration and production preparation. The only down time in performance we have now is basically from early January to mid-February. Who knew?
“The theatre can act as a catalyst for change. The danger is to turn away from theatre that may reflect a different era, where sometimes elements of these historic shows can be used as a ‘teachable moment.’”
ALEX MUSTAKAS DRAYTON ENTERTAINMENT