Q&A With Connie Canaday Howard

Growing up in Iowa, Connie Canaday Howard had an unusual mix of interests — she loved dance and theatre, but she also liked riding motorcycles and three- and four-wheelers. Fortunately for local theatre-goers, Canaday Howard eventually focused her efforts on the stage, which led her to a position teaching theatre at College of DuPage. She eventually became Director of Theatre at the college and early on also became a member of the Buffalo Theatre Ensemble (BTE), a professional in residence performance company. For the last 24 years Canaday Howard has served as that group’s Managing Artistic Director. As she prepares to step down from that role this June, she took time to reflect on her time with BTE and her long and distinguished career in theatre.

When did you get interested in theatre?

CCH: I started in dance classes when I was little and singing in church and school. From there, it was an easy transition to theatre. My older sister also was in theatre in high school. While I was much younger, I found it fascinating to watch rehearsals and performances.

After participating in music, dance and theatre in high school and college, you went on to get an MFA in directing, from University of Pittsburgh. Why did you opt to emphasize directing?

CCH: Interesting question. I had several callbacks for grad schools in both acting and directing. A friend said to me, “You know, I can list several wonderful female actors, but I have trouble thinking of female directors.” Though that landscape is thankfully changing, that did it for me — I was pursuing directing, to ensure one more female voice/perspective in the future (though, to be honest, I also continued to study and pursue acting).

What are some of the most important lessons you learned about directing, both in school and in your career since?

CCH: I had two very opposing points of view set up for me early on: 1) that directors need a personal “stamp” on their work, to be identifiable, and 2) the best direction is when the audience fails to be able to discern a directorial hand. Though I explored both, I am definitely in the latter camp. I think a director’s best work is when it’s so interwoven into the piece that you forget you’re viewing a production. It’s so subtle and integrated, that it’s invisible (at least most of the time), regardless of genre.

How did you end up at COD and what early career professional experiences helped pave the way for that job? Was teaching something you always wanted to do and did you initially also do acting or directing on the side?

CCH: I was a double-major undergrad in theatre and public relations, and got a double minor in English and speech. And I did get certified to teach Theatre, English and Speech, though, at that point, I was really fulfilling my mother’s desire to have that in my back pocket (she was also a teacher). I taught as part of an assistantship in grad school but I didn’t intend to pursue teaching. After graduating, I worked a lot at different theatres, and occasionally taught a class at a studio or community center, and I realized I really missed teaching. So I gradually began to teach more. I interviewed at COD and liked the people in that interview. I also had a great time coaching some of the then current students. At the time, the McAninch Arts Center was a brand new building and the Buffalo Theatre Ensemble (BTE) was one of five new professional arts groups at the MAC. I got three job offers including COD. And I accepted COD’s offer.

You became an early member of the Buffalo Theatre Ensemble, a then new professional in residence theatre group on campus.

CCH: Craig Berger, who was Director of Theatre at COD at the time, founded BTE. The first ‘test’ production of Mamet’s American Buffalo was staged and deemed a success, and BTE took off from there. I joined first as a second eye (someone who watched rehearsal and gave feedback to the director), then as an actor/director. I later became Associate Artistic Director and then Craig and I switched roles in 2000. I became the Artistic Director, with the title changing later to Managing Artistic Director.

One aspect of being connected with or being on-site at COD is I’m sure many people used to think — and some may still think — that BTE shows are college student productions. Was that misperception a problem and did it affect BTE’s reputation and ability to reach a broader audience? Has that changed in recent years and if so why?

CCH: Because of location at the college, that misperception may have existed at times. COD has an excellent theatre department and many students work with BTE backstage, and even on stage in some instances. Education is a part of our mission, and we embrace that, helping to train the next generation of theatre artists. But BTE is an equity theatre and has been for decades. We have excellent artists, both in our company, and those with whom we contract on each production — usually between 30-40 professional artists yearly. We’re widely recognized by the community.

You have been serving as the Managing Artistic Director for many years. What does that position entail and what is the biggest challenge of the job?

CCH: Guided by our mission, audience, budget and performing space considerations, I’m the primary steward of the legacy and values of BTE. I’m also an ambassador and the leader and strategic visionary for the future of BTE. All of that is challenging and exciting, in the same moment. Probably the biggest challenge, in recent years, has been (with all performing arts entities) coming out of the pandemic lock-down, and finding ways to safely produce and welcome back audiences.

What is your vision for theatre in general and how has that been shaped by your involvement in BTE?

CCH: I have always believed that the arts, generally, and theatre specifically, can truly enhance, and inform our lives — that it opens us to new ideas and perspectives and helps us become more empathetic as humans. I think I embrace that even more now than I did prior to coming to BTE, the mission of which is to “provide a forum in which artists, scholars, writers, students and community members explore new ideas and provocative issues through the production of quality theater for the enjoyment of its audiences.”

Take us through the process of selecting the shows each season — what are the key criteria, eg: cost, cast size, etc? Does input come from other ensemble members, other sources? Is there an ongoing “wish” list of shows you work from? How do you balance the need to present more well-known shows that have a better chance to draw a larger audience and “help pay the bills” versus newer or lesser known works that may not resonate as much with potential theatre-goers?

CCH: We have a long process, each year, and actually are about to announce our ‘24-’25 season, and yet are already working on reading or re-reading potential scripts for the ‘25-’26 season. We are all reading, seeing plays, talking to friends, other colleagues, hearing from subscribers and patrons — looking for potential pieces. We’re guided by mission and a range of other criteria, such as how much time we would need for technical rehearsals on a particular script, our performance space,our budget, our audience and what we can produce well. We have an “active” script list that includes 300+ titles. As an ensemble, we create a ‘shorter’ list of 10-20. If we haven’t read scenes from them recently as a group, one of us will pull a scene, and ask others to read out loud. We talk about pros/cons of scripts and ultimately the Managing Artistic Director and the Associate Artistic Director finalize the season for the following year.

How has the appetite for live theatre in the western suburbs changed over the years in terms of audience willingness to embrace edgier, more challenging themes and content?

CCH: From its inception BTE has been in residence at a college, which is, at its core, about learning and growth. BTE’s mission also includes exploring new ideas and provocative issues. Theatre, as an art form often deals with life’s concerns, questions and circumstances. Though our world has grown and changed in our nearly 40 years of producing, I think our audiences have embraced both enjoyment theatre (lighter toned pieces) and engagement theatre (pieces that ask you to consider while you’re watching, and even after) and we try to include some of both in each season.

In the current divisive and more polarized societal environment, does theatre have a special or more important role, eg: perhaps by shining light on social concerns, or perhaps to help build community, or by just following its own creative vision?

CCH: There are theatres that have each of those as a mission. Ours’ embraces all of it. We definitely do consider what we think will speak to our broader audience when selecting shows each year. This past year we chose a comedy/romance; a piece about a family confronted by a medical issue that many of us have grappled with; and a world premiere about a family that is both extremely funny and poignant, with a touch of something beyond this world mixed in. So we are offering a wide range of shows that hopefully appeal to many people.

From your extensive behind-the-scenes perspective, what are the things most non-theatre people would find most surprising about how theatre really works? And finally, from your experience, what is the most interesting or rewarding thing about being involved in theatre?

CCH: We do behind-the-scenes subscriber events, and I’ve found that all of them are popular — from designer’s or director talking about their process, and showing sketches and models throughout the process; to a fight director choreographing and make the moment work realistically while keeping everyone safe,); to open rehearsals with the director, stage management, and actors working through moments of a scene; to a dialect coach working with individual actors. But often it’s the really ordinary that is most intriguing — like how did that special effect work, or how do you do a costume change in 15-20 seconds, that are most interesting.

The most rewarding thing about a life in theatre is that, though at times exhausting, it’s about a love of life and people that you’re celebrating. Even working on a tragedy, it’s still really about love of life and creativity — that art is necessary in a fulfilled life. We’re providing that for many, many people — more than 5,200 have seen our last two shows. That’s exciting, humbling, and gratifying.