Banking on KC – Lindsey Rood-Clifford of Starlight Theatre
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Kelly Scanlon:
Welcome to Banking on KC. I'm your host, Kelly Scanlon. Thank you for joining us. With us on this episode is Lindsey Rood-Clifford, the Chief Operating Officer and VP of Philanthropy for Starlight Theatre, and she's slated to become the CEO of the organization this spring. Welcome, Lindsey.
Lindsey Rood-Clifford:
Thank you. Happy to be here today.
Kelly Scanlon:
Well, first I want to congratulate you on your new role coming in the next couple of months. You're succeeding Rich Baker as the CEO, and you're going to be the first woman CEO of, what, 70 plus years of this venerable organization.
Lindsey Rood-Clifford:
Almost 75 years. Yes. It's one of those things, I feel like I've been asked about this a lot over the last year, and I tend to go to, no matter how you feel about her, the Sheryl Sandberg quote that, "Hopefully someday it will not be that there are female leaders, there will just be leaders." So while I certainly feel there is some burden, maybe a little obligation to being a first because people are looking at what you're doing, and especially the people that made those choices, I think have made a choice to do something differently. My hope is that being a woman is probably one of my least important qualifiers.
Kelly Scanlon:
And I couldn't agree more when that day comes. You've been with Starlight now for how long?
Lindsey Rood-Clifford:
This will be my 17th summer, this upcoming summer, so a while.
Kelly Scanlon:
It's been such a venerable institution, as I mentioned here in Kansas City, and really in the Midwest. What's your vision as you take the helm?
Lindsey Rood-Clifford:
I think the vision is pretty simple and maybe a little cheesy, but I really believe that theater and music make the world a better place. So Starlight's a vehicle, I think, for great theater and music, but when we think about its tradition of 75 years and who grew up coming, I grew up coming to Starlight. My parents and grandparents took me as a kid. So of its 75 year history, I have almost half of it, but there are plenty of Kansas Citians who have not experienced Starlight or for whom a lot of theaters are smaller. And we're very lucky. We're an 8,000 seat theater. So we're a very large theater, particularly for Broadway musicals. We're a mid-sized theater for live music and concerts. But we have this scale component, which means in theory, we can bring a lot of people out to experience things that they might not otherwise experience. So I think that's the most important thing. That's the vision, is how do we continue to extend the Starlight tradition to as many people as possible?
Kelly Scanlon:
How are you going to do that? What's your thoughts about the future and exposing the theater to more people under you as a CEO?
Lindsey Rood-Clifford:
Well, part of it is the world's in a different place today than it was five years ago for theater and music. So, we have to do a lot more evaluating and looking at what comes to the stage. I think Starlight is more than what comes to the stage, but ultimately what we put on the stage that attracts people to want to come out is what matters the most. So a lot of what we do is we're sitting around and we're having these conversations now to go, what do we think the audiences of today, but maybe more importantly, what do the audiences of 10 years from now want to see and what would bring them out? Sometimes it's bigger than what's on the stage. It's about what's the overall experience.
And I think as we look at younger generations particularly, what's going to get them to come out and be in a big group of people when they could be home or they could be watching something on TV or they could be on their phones? The competition, I think has never been greater. So we have to continue to go, "Then what is the experience that we are offering that would compel someone to leave the comfort of their home or to do this instead of something else?" So a lot of that is really being, I think choosy about what comes and also not being afraid to try some new things.
I think Starlight's had a long history of trying new things in the spirit of saying, "Hey, we think this place is important." So what we do here has to continue to evolve. It's how we started doing live music. We started as just Broadway. So adding live music was a way, and at the direction of really caring civic leaders who sit on our board and volunteer, who are leaders in the business community that said, "Just because that's the way we've done it doesn't mean that's how we have to keep doing it." So I think that spirit is the undertone for a lot of how we look ahead. I always say Starlight doesn't have a perfect peer because there is really nobody else doing the combination of live music and Broadway theater outside the way we do it. So we're having to look at peers that do one or the other and then trying to make the best possible decision for Kansas City and the surrounding area too. So, Kansas City's its own unique market as well.
Kelly Scanlon:
That's very true. And as you said, there are so many more ways that people can spend their money these days, their entertainment dollars, their time, than 70 some years ago when Starlight first opened, there are out there. So in addition to the live music, in addition to the Broadway shows, I know there are other things that you have in the works. Can you talk about any of those?
Lindsey Rood-Clifford:
So we've got some big plans for the future, and a lot of it is around how we're going to expand programming. Really when we say expand, I always say I am a less is more person. So how do we get smarter about the things that we're doing, but really keyed in on what people might come out for? So we're going to be expanding programming. We also have some big changes to the theater that'll be coming in the next couple of years. So, a little will be under construction in the winter seasons for a couple of years. In the summer of 2025, you're going to see a new Starlight, and we think that's going to be a really exciting thing for people to not only come out and see, those that have been coming for a long time, but I think how they will experience Starlight will be different.
We're also doing some programming expansion within the community because part of how we build audiences is through our community engagement education programming. So, there's a big focus on that, of how do we make sure that we're getting as many kids as possible to have that first theater and music experience and to associate it with Starlight so that hopefully they come back to us again someday.
Kelly Scanlon:
I don't think a lot of people really know about that community engagement with your programs. Can you talk more specifically about those?
Lindsey Rood-Clifford:
Yeah. So right now, we have six programs that we do. They serve basically middle school through college students. They're centered on arts access, how are we getting access to students in theater and music, including through scholarships, free tickets, discounts, those kind of things. And then around education. So, what are we doing to provide professional training? That's not just in performance training, but it's also in, I always say there's a real competitive advantage for Starlight as a large nonprofit theater to be able to give experiences backstage, both in the technical side, but also in arts administration. I often call myself a recovering theater kid. I wish someone had told me when I was young that if you can't be on stage, there's a lot of ways you can stay in and around the thing that you love.
So I think we've focused on how do we provide paid summer internships for college students in all the disciplines of the theater. So that if you love theater but you're in finance, you have a place and you can find a career there. And the same for backstage jobs, which post pandemic, backstage Jobs is a sector that needs a lot of attention and you can make good money in. So telling middle school and high school students that and giving them some opportunities to explore that has I think been a big focus for us. And at the high school level, we have one of the largest regional high school musical theater programs that serves over 50 local schools every year. We sponsor a couple kids to go up to New York each summer to participate in the National High School Musical Theater awards. So that's a huge program for us that serves thousands of students and a lot of different schools and educators as well.
Kelly Scanlon:
You've been at Starlight for 17 years. What pulled you into theater to begin with?
Lindsey Rood-Clifford:
Well, I started theater as a child. Theater and music has been a part of my life, it seems like from the very beginning. I think when you're a little redheaded kid, your parents can't resist putting you in a production of Annie either. I was impacted by it. I'm a product of it. I grew up doing theater and music. I knew what it meant for me in terms of how I developed as a person, what it brought to me in terms of social skills and work ethic and confidence and how to work with a team and how to take feedback. Because in theater, you get notes in a way that you don't in any other industry. So all of those things were really formative for me to the point that, and I grew up in Kansas City, so Starlight was always a part of my history.
I'm not sure that I ever imagined, well, I never imagined that it would end up the way that it's ended up because for a recovering theater kid to end up about to lead one of the largest theater organizations in the city, it's a pinch me. But I started, I mean, I think I've had eight different titles at Starlight through the years, and I started as a product of one of our programs. I was a paid summer intern in events management. So, that story of how workplace experiences and the programs matter, it's not just me saying it, I mean it, because it affected me and I've watched it affect my friends, my family. I've got a 14-year-old, a 21-year-old and a 22-year-old, and two of three are theater kids, and I've seen what it's done for them. So it's really easy for me to say that my vision is to just extend what the experience is because I know what it does. I've seen it. So I feel pretty confident in saying, "I want everyone to have this. Everyone should have at least the opportunity to have this."
Kelly Scanlon:
So now here you are, CEO. So as Kansas City's art scene and the arts community continues to grow here, where do you see opportunities for Starlight? Where does it fall within the arts community?
Lindsey Rood-Clifford:
We talk a lot about Starlight's place in the arts ecosystem. We are so fortunate in Kansas City, and a lot of people from out of town don't always realize what a thriving arts and culture city that this is. You have a lot of theater per capita here in the Midwest in a way that even people from the coast sometimes will come and be surprised about. And what we talk a lot about is how can we compliment, not duplicate, what else is happening? What I mean by that is there are a lot of great theaters where you can see innovative new works, and there are theaters like the Coterie where you can take your kids for the first time to sit cross-legged and experience theater in a small hundred seat house.
So, I think where Starlight fits is that it is a place for accessible theater and music. And when I say accessible, I mean you can come as you are. Starlight, since you are outdoors in a park, you can come and experience still world-class professional theater and music, but you can approach it in a way where it's okay to bring your little kids with you because they might need to run up the hill. It's okay if you need to walk back up to the top of the hill. Most theaters are created to make everything that's around you go away. And Starlight is an experience that I think you come to and you are meant to not just see what's on the stage, but everything else that's around you. You are supposed to drive into a park and see what looks like a castle over a hill and then walk through the gates and be greeted by volunteers that have big smiles on their faces.
And that end-to-end experience is I think what differentiates Starlight and also is what, within the ecosystem, you're able to come and have that different experience than maybe you do in those other theater settings.
Kelly Scanlon:
I don't know where Starlight ranked when it first was built. Was it one of the first outdoor theaters?
Lindsey Rood-Clifford:
So when Starlight was built, it was actually, there used to be 40 outdoor theaters that produced or presented Broadway musicals. There are now two that do a series of Broadway, and the other one is also in Missouri. It's the Muny in St. Louis.
Kelly Scanlon:
Oh, for heaven's sake. So what happened? How does the country go from 40 down to two?
Lindsey Rood-Clifford:
I think sensibilities changed about where you experienced Broadway theater. I think the houses, the theaters that you sit in, are often much smaller than outdoor theaters are. So Starlight at 8,000 seats is four times the size of the average Broadway house. So we're really big. And as shows changed over the years, it just became a matter of economics. I think most theaters that were doing only a Broadway series found that it wasn't financially viable. Now different, in St. Louis, the Muny theater, they produce all of their shows. So they are creating, and they do five to six shows every summer that they build from the ground up. We produce at least one show every year. So we are building one show from the ground up where we get to have students participate. But we also made changes to the physical theater so that we could have national Broadway tours come through because we used to be fully open air.
Some people forget that. I forget that. That's the first Starlight I came to. But when we enclosed the stage house, it allowed us to present Broadway. And then when we added live music, it just gave us enough diverse revenue streams to have a really sustainable business in a way that most theaters, for whatever reason, probably made choices over the year to not do things differently, to stay viable.
Kelly Scanlon:
What you are doing at Starlight, has it changed theater in general? Starlight is setting an example that theater is available to anybody, that it's something everybody can experience. Have you played a role in shaping that?
Lindsey Rood-Clifford:
I think we have, and I think what's changed is understanding the value of a theater located where Starlight is located. I do think that means that what we can do to create access and to change the makeup of theater audiences is really unparalleled. It's a really unique thing that we have in Kansas City, located where it's at. And being in that, going back to that, we can meet people exactly where they are. You don't have to put on airs to come experience Broadway theater at Starlight, which means anyone can come, everyone is welcome. So that's become a tenet for us, and it's one of the biggest challenges I think in theater and entertainment right now is, who is it for? Because it can be very expensive and therefore very exclusive.
Part of that is because the shows are very expensive to create. It is the financial model of it. But when you have as many seats as we do, then you have this ability to bring people in, still charge less to see a Broadway show, even at our highest ticket prices than what it costs to go downtown or on Broadway, but still do things like have huge numbers of free tickets. We give away 364 tickets to every single Broadway show that we have, 364, which is tens of thousands of tickets that are going out to primarily nonprofit organizations and clientele who would otherwise not have a theater experience like that.
Kelly Scanlon:
So one of the roles that Starlight plays, in addition to the one that you just described, is ambassador to Kansas City. I mean, when you think about it, you host major stars on a regular basis. You also attract attendees from all over the Midwest and even further to the performances. So, talk about playing the role of ambassador and the economic boost it gives to Kansas City.
Lindsey Rood-Clifford:
We just reevaluated because of the planning that we're doing for the future. We just reevaluated what our economic input is to the city of Kansas City and the state of Missouri. And currently, we have a $60 million economic output for Kansas City.
Kelly Scanlon:
60 million?
Lindsey Rood-Clifford:
60 million. It will grow over the next couple of years with some of those expansions and improvements I spoke about to over 100 million. So it's a huge impact that we have on the local economy, and we draw people from all 50 states every single year. So I think when we think about who we are as an ambassador and what we have to offer, going back to where we fit in that ecosystem too, it's amazing that we have a facility like the Kauffman Performing Arts Center and a Starlight so that when people come, and whatever misconceptions or perceptions they may have about Kansas City, if you're trying to attract talent, if you're bringing in guests, that we have this variety of really amazing, unique, I think the uniqueness of it is also what's really important.
There's a lot of theaters in the world, and you go inside and you sit in the dark, but here you get to go and they're architectural marvels, and it's at a level that I think people sometimes find as unexpected. So I think we take that really seriously and it's why we've continued to make improvements. There's also a love of history in Kansas City, so I think we're always very careful to say, how do we honor what has come before and stand on the success that we've had to date, but how do we continually improve knowing that for us, we know that the single most important thing that people say they want from Starlight is that it is here for generations and generations to come.
Kelly Scanlon:
Well, and we certainly hope that you are continuing to be here for generations to come. It truly is an icon and such a gift to the people of Kansas City. Lindsey, thank you so much for being our guest today and for everything that you're doing to make theater accessible in Kansas City.
Lindsey Rood-Clifford:
Thank you. Thanks for having me.
Joe Close:
This is Joe Close, President of Country Club Bank. Thank you to Lindsey Rood-Clifford for being our guest on this episode of Banking on KC. Starlight Theatre is often thought of as an entertainment venue, but it's so much more than that. Besides bringing popular Broadway shows and musical acts to Kansas City, Starlight serves as an ambassador to our city, to performers and people from around the country who want to experience outdoor theater. Beyond the stage, Starlight's community engagement programs provide performing arts scholarships to underserved students, promote healing for children in shelters and hospitals, offer access to individuals with disabilities and more. Throughout the years, Starlight has flourished by staying in tune with the changing needs of the market and of the community. Perhaps its greatest contribution has been making theater accessible to all. Thanks for tuning in this week. We're banking on you, Kansas City. Country Club Bank, member FDIC.