Education Matters

Breaking new ground at the Manatee Performing Arts Center

By Ryan G. Van Cleave

It’s kind of difficult to keep up with all that’s happening at the Manatee Performing Arts Center because they’re constantly breaking new ground in a variety of ways. Janene Amick, CEO of the Manatee Performing Arts Center agrees. “Our goal is to partner and collaborate with as many organizations, entrepreneurs, and impactful thinkers as possible. We love new ideas and new ways to synergy about important conversations.”

Breaking Ground #1: Amick recently mailed off the proposal to the Board of County Commissioners of Manatee County that revealed their plan to create a new conservatory. “We’ve already outgrown our space, and we know there’s a need for a teaching center in the theater and performing arts,” she says. “Our hope is to purchase the three-story, 14,000-square foot building most know as the GTE building. It’s got ideal, amazing bones—high ceilings, wooden floors.” Among other benefits, the idea of being able to have all of their rehearsals in one place versus having people drive all over town to go to different locations to practice? Amazing. Plus, a donor has already stepped up with a lead gift, so things look promising.

Breaking Ground #2: The innovative Acting Through Action program is informing the community about important issues. For example, last year, they put on a production of The Father, the acclaimed play by Frank Langella about a man who’s in the early stages of dementia. One of the partners for that production was the Roskamp Institute, and every single evening of the two-and-a-half week run, they had people in the lobby after the show, mixing and mingling, providing information about dementia, including sharing how and where to get local support and resources. Many of the audience members had no idea that these opportunities exited. Amick explains that “Our goal is to build upon what we’re just sparking and ignite community-wide passion about issues that matter.”

Breaking Ground #3: “We’ve been in this building for six years,” Amick says, “and we now think this is the year we can break the $1 million mark in revenue.” Their growing reputation for presenting and producing professional-quality musical, theater, and dramas is sure to help make that happen. Add in the concerts, films, lectures, and other ways the various spaces are being used, and that lofty goal becomes more and more likely.

Amick says that their successes are largely due to the hard work of the eleven full-time and six part-time employees who tirelessly work to provide diverse and enriching opportunities for the community. She’s also extremely thankful to have such a forward-thinking board that stays committed to looking three to five years out. “They’ve been strategic in analyzing information and taking smart risks. They’re conscientious about what type of legacy they’re creating with every move we make. I couldn’t wish for a better board.”

Amick and her colleagues love sharing their space. “We’re excited to host Theatre Odyssey’s One-Act Play Festival this year [October 31 through November 3]. We get a charge every Tuesday when the Bradenton Kiwanis club meets here. We’re so much more than the productions we put on. We’re here for the community. This facility is here for them.”

Ultimately, Amick is still as excited to be part of Manatee Performing Arts Center as she was when she arrived in 2005. Why? “We’re still on a journey,” she days, “not close to the finish line. We’re just now starting the conversation about how impactful theater and entertainment can be in the lives of individuals.” She adds that if anyone sat in her office for a day, they’d think she lived in a stampede of constant chaos. But to Amick, that’s how she prefers it. “I love threading things together, using the best resources around to make something great.”

Perhaps the greatest thing the Manatee Performing Arts Center does is serve as the hub where community members can partake—as performers and as audience members—of theater experiences in a safe, supportive, and creative environment. For the performers, the commitment they have is impressive, considering that they’ve committed to five days a week of practice 7-10pm for three months as preparation for two-and-a-half-weeks of performances. “Many of them come in after a long day of school or a hard day or work,” Amick says. “Yet they do it because they love it. They have passion for this world.” As do we all.

That’s the same sort of passion that keeps Amick and her colleagues moving forward in their goal of making Manatee Performing Art Center exactly what community theater and a community-focused facility is meant to be—a place where we all belong.

For more information on the Manatee Performing Arts Center, please visit manateeperformingartscenter.org or call 941.748.5875.