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Ann Ciccolella is a fixture in the Austin Arts community. On the scene since 1989, she has touched almost every theater group, both large and small, traditional and cutting edge, in the city. She served for nine years as the executive director of the Austin Circle of Theaters and for eight years as the managing director at Zach Scott Theater, leading the way in the successful Prop. 4 campaign, which secured a $32.5 million dollar bond for cultural facilities as well as a long-range capital campaign with a goal of $25 million. An untiring arts advocate, Ann served for many years on the Texas Commission on the Arts and received the Distinguished Service Award from the City of Austin in 2007. She currently serves on the Communications and Collaborative Ventures Task Force for Create Austin, the city’s master plan for cultural development in Austin. In addition to arts advocacy and administration, Ann is also a noted playwright and director, having won several B. Iden Payne Awards.
I met Ann 12 years ago when I began my tenure as a member of the Austin Circle of Theaters Board. We reminisced about the tedious arts allocations panels we served on, how we missed Karen Kuykendall, and the many changes in the art scene in Austin, particularly among the theatrical community.
austinwoman: With 20 years dedicated to developing the arts in Austin – particularly, the theater – what stands out for you?
Ann Ciccolella: I have found the Austin arts community extremely collaborative and supportive of each other. Of course you have to look at the Long Center and the dedication and focus of those people who got it done. I feel that we in the arts community are standing on the shoulders of giants, including everyone who pulled together – community leaders, arts advocates, executive directors, development directors – who have a vision and a passion for the cultural arts.
aw: Have you always been interested in theater?
AC: Honestly all my life. I fell in love with Shakespeare when I was in high school. I have a degree from NYU in dramatic literature, history of theater and cinema. It was a wonderful degree – interdisciplinary so I got to take classes in the film school, history and literature departments as well as theater. In the mid-80s, before I moved to Austin, I was the associate director of Shakespeare on Wheels, this marvelous program out of Baltimore. Literally, we had a stage built on a flatbed trailer and the sides of the truck were part of the stage. It was ingenious and we would tour all over Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania doing Shakespeare.
aw: What intrigues you about Shakespeare?
AC: It’s just such good stuff. Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, Romeo and Juliet … classic stories … the characters … the language. I am a huge Tempest fan. I guess I would have a hard time choosing a favorite.
aw: And you have returned to your first love – Shakespeare – after 8 years at Zach Scott.
AC: I loved being at Zach. I got to work with great people. In addition to my administrative job, I also directed Full Gallop, Master Class, The Vagina Monologues, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf and Cabaret. I loved working with so many talented people – Dave Steakley, Karen Kuykendall, Joe York. Fran Dorn is, in my opinion, one of the greatest actresses in the world. There is a great legacy at Zach and I am proud to have been a part of it. We did a lot during my time there. Prop 4 passed and the capital campaign is well on its way and it was time for me to look for a new stage. Shakespeare has been a part of my life seemingly all of my life and I am so happy to have this opportunity.
aw: Speaking of that opportunity, tell me about your plans for Austin Shakespeare.
AC: We are so fortunate to have the use of the new Rollins Theater at the Long Center as well as Richard Garriott’s Curtain Theater on the lake and of course Zilker Hillside, so we are all about getting Shakespeare and theater to more people. We opened the 2008 – 2009 season with Macbeth at the Rollins and are in the middle of Oscar
Wilde’s An Ideal Husband. We have Shakespeare’s Birthday Celebration on April 23rd at the Curtain followed by Romeo and Juliet or should I say, Romeo y Julieta at Zilker this summer.
aw: Romeo y Julieta?
AC: We are doing about 10-15% of Romeo and Juliet in Spanish this year to give it a bilingual flavor. It will also be non-traditional in that we are setting it in the 1940s.
aw: Shakespeare in the Park is a great Austin tradition. How do you plan to build on that?
AC: With the economy, we expect a lot more people to be at those performances. We want people to have a great experience and it is a wonderful introduction to Shakespeare for the whole family. How much better does it get than a beautiful evening with a picnic under the stars and theater by the master writing about the nobility and fragility of life?
aw: It is amazing to watch. People of all ages and backgrounds seem to relate to Shakespeare.
AC: We do a program in the schools where the kids do a 20/20 minute split with actors and then the kids read Shakespeare and it is very empowering. They learn the beauty of the language and they really relish the words. In our summer camp programs, we start with children as young as five. We also participate in the Learning Activities for Mature People program at UT so we run the age gamut. Every Sunday evening we have a group, Shakespeare Aloud, which reads entire plays aloud. It is for everyone, not just actors. They discuss the play as they go along. It is not a serous study … it’s about getting Shakespeare. I adhere to the “Shakespeare better said than read” theory.
aw: You are following last year’s successful Shakespeare, Politics and Texas event with Shakespeare, Women and Politics on March 28th. That should be an interesting event.
AC: Last year was great. Kirk Watson, Betty Naylor, and James Loehlin from Winedale were on the panel. At the Curtain, we present selected scenes and we talk about the appeal to emotion versus the appeal to reason. This year, our panel conversation will focus on the role of women in Shakespeare’s plays. Lady Macbeth, Portia, Katherine from Taming of the Shrew, the daughters of King Lear … the female characters are so rich. What is the role of women and women in politics? Is the women’s movement over? Is there more to go? So many young women don’t really realize what things were like for women even 30 years ago, let alone, in Shakespeare’s time. It should be a fascinating discussion.
aw: For the novice who wants to get into the bard, do you have any suggestions to brush up your Shakespeare?
AC: I like the Barnes and Noble series No Fear Shakespeare which places contemporary language alongside the original and I like Bill Bryson’s biography of Shakespeare. It is an easy read that almost reads like a novel.
aw: Last word on the state of the Arts in Austin?
AC: The arts are alive and well in Austin. We are in a recession, but I like the maverick Texan attitude – we’ve seen it all before so don’t panic – we’re survivors. There is something for everyone in this town, so go out and support whatever is close to your heart. The Lyric Opera was born and has matured since I got here in ‘89. Kevin Patterson is the person to move it to the next stage of maturity. The Ballet is a model arts organization. They don’t make better leaders than Cookie (Ruiz). Peter Bay’s tenure has certainly brought the Symphony into prominence. I know I am talking about the top of the chain here, but when the top grows we all grow. Austin has always had educated, sophisticated audiences. The town is open to newcomers getting involved. In Austin, we value the arts and I only see support getting stronger in the future.