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November 2011
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Andrea Rogers – Taking a Well-Deserved Bow
By Margaret Michniewicz
“You can see that getting out of here is going to be wild!” chuckles Andrea Rogers ruefully, gesturing around her small office before starting to dig through one of many brimming boxes on the floor – still there from their last move, nearly 10 years ago. Nonetheless, Rogers quickly emerges from the clutter, triumphant, handing over the item she was searching for – a copy of the first annual report of the Flynn Theatre, from 1982.
The contents of that report detailed the status of a fledgling performing arts space. It would hardly be recognizable in today’s annual report, which would outline the enviable health of a renowned multi-use cultural center with an annual operating budget of approximately $6 million, an organization that has indelibly transformed the landscape of downtown Burlington. This transformation has been accomplished under the leadership of only one executive director: Rogers.
So while it may prove to be “wild” for Rogers to extricate herself from the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts upon her retirement at age 70 in June, it is wildly difficult for almost everybody else to imagine the organization without her in the lead. The name Andrea Rogers is simply synonymous with the institution. But she believes it’s the right time to exit.
“We’ve got a great staff and that’s partly why I wanted to leave now,” she says of her decision to finally retire.
Rogers chatted with us in her Burlington office on a bright and sunny winter day, with City Hall Park visible from her window. However, the conversation really started last fall. In the Flynn lobby following a frenetic comedy show by Paula Poundstone in October, a buoyant Rogers circulated among the crowd. It was just days after her public announcement that she would be retiring in June – shocking news to some, but a decision that had been nearly a year in the making and was known to the Flynn’s board and senior staff. So it may have been the relief of being unburdened of her secret that showed in Rogers’ beaming face. Prompted by Vermont Woman’s Sue Gillis, she laughingly recalled funny moments of her tenure as well as some of the extraordinary performers she has witnessed on the Flynn stage over the years, legends such as Ella Fitzgerald, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Miles Davis. From her recitation, it was clear that Burlington had become a regular stop on the tour routes of established international stars and avant-garde artists alike.
It’s a familiar sight, yet one that still sends a sizzle of excitement through the city: the Flynn’s Main Street marquee lit up at night, and people milling about in front, with others streaming from all directions toward the theater from downtown restaurants. Or, having emerged after the show, people walking and talking animatedly about what they’ve just experienced, either on the Flynn MainStage, or at the more intimate FlynnSpace, which opened in 2000. It’s an image that speaks to the quality of programming typical of the Flynn – and that also translates to dollars. According to Rogers, the Flynn (including the Discover Jazz Festival) has a $25 million economic impact on the community annually.
For many Vermonters, it’s impossible to think of downtown Burlington without the modern Flynn. But there are still those who remember how things used to be.
Coming Attractions
There were three downtown theaters – the Flynn, the Strong, and the State – and parents of movie-going teens were well-advised during the colloquially dubbed “sleazy ‘70s” era of the Queen City to check on exactly what movies were being shown on a given night, especially at the latter two theaters. Films with titles such as “Touch of Sex” and “Wet Rainbow” could just as easily be on the marquee as the latest Disney offering.
Built in 1930, the Flynn was initially a jewel of architecture in the Queen City, with magnificent Art Deco detailing, featuring live performances by Hollywood and vaudeville stars. It thrived for a time, but eventually suffered financially, like its counterparts, from the rise of television and the development of the multiplex movie theater. It also fell into physical disrepair as the years went on.
Burlingtonians who were kids in the 1970s recall going to the Flynn for a closed-circuit showing of the “Thrilla in Manila” Ali/Frazier boxing match, or grabbing balcony seats at the Rocky Horror Picture Show to gain maximum prop-hurling advantage. Tales abound of antics such as college students sneaking from their neighboring apartments across the Flynn’s roof to let themselves in through a balcony exit door (that they’d left propped open on previous excursions) to see Easy Rider, and we’ve heard other fond memories of unauthorized personnel gathered high in the projectionist’s booth. One local man, now in his 40s, describes how just being in the dingy theater itself was scarier than the previews he saw there for the horror film Halloween.
That is the Flynn Theatre that the nearly 30-year-old Andrea Rogers would have encountered when she first moved to Vermont in 1970. Originally from the blue-collar industrial town of New Britain, Conn., Rogers could have learned business from her father, but instead studied French, history, and art history at the University of Michigan. After college she ventured to Manhattan for a job interview with little more than “a toothbrush and nightgown,” she says, laughing in fond remembrance.
She knew the Burlington area thanks to a favorite aunt from Williston, and after a few years in New York, she felt drawn to relocate for the skiing, the lake, and the proximity to Montreal (where she could use her fluency in French). She took a job in the social services sector as director of prevention with the Vermont Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse.
In 1974 Rogers’ marriage to Avery Hall made her a stepmother to three children, and her career path now veered to downtown Burlington. She had no inkling that this initial step would ultimately form an enduring footprint on the Queen City.
“This job came up that was to found the Church Street Center,” Rogers says, referring to the University of Vermont’s non-credit community education program, housed in what is now the Firehouse Center for the Visual Arts. As part of the interview process, Rogers explains, candidates were asked to conceptualize their vision of the program. “It was really fun because I got to create the idea,” she says. Such nontraditional course offerings at off-campus venues were novel, and the initial success of the project can be attributed to Rogers’ innovative vision for education, a theme that would continue on to her next, and grandest, venture.
A study was conducted in the late 1970s that identified the city’s need for a new performing arts space, one that was relatively large, but that would offer greater intimacy and better acoustics than Burlington’s old workhorse, Memorial Auditorium. Rogers was involved with a group called Champlain Arts Council, an outgrowth of the Church Street Center, and describes the confluence of interests among members of the community. Some were advocating for a new, alternative cultural events venue; others wanted to attract more national performers; others were concerned about preserving the distinctive architecture of an Art Deco showcase. It seemed as though taking over and renovating the Flynn could be the solution to please everyone.
The City of Burlington was less hands-on in those days; and according to Rogers individuals could feel empowered to come together to make decisions about the theater's potential. “We weren’t controlled by the City; it was more of a community process – it was very exciting!” Rogers smiles in recollection.
Around 1974, desperate for a location to perform their stage productions, the Lyric Theatre Company had set up residency at the Flynn in an arrangement with local movie theater mogul Merrill Jarvis, who had purchased the building a couple of years before. They carried valiantly on despite leaks and clanging heat systems in the midst of performances.
Burlington business owner Mary Ann Ficociello was a Lyric member (and a neighbor of Rogers in the South End). “When Merrill Jarvis proposed selling the theater to the community [for use] as a performing arts center, I was involved, along with attorney John Gravel, with representing Lyric Theatre’s interest and commitment,” Ficociello recalls. “As a member of the very first board of directors, I met Andrea Rogers. Andrea’s leadership qualities and organizational skills were immediately apparent. She was involved with the present and future direction of the Flynn, and her vision guided the successful transition. Her focus and astute perceptions guided the campaign to finance that vision; [she also knew] how to use each of us for our unique talents and the contribution we could offer the endeavor.”
Concurrent with Rogers’ expanding involvement, key steps occurred in rapid progression: the nonprofit Flynn Theatre for the Performing Arts, Ltd., was formed in August 1980; it purchased the theater in July 1981, and the Flynn officially reopened two months later, on September 26, 1981.
Rogers’ role began as a volunteer who used her experience as a grant writer to help the fledgling organization obtain the necessary funding to get off the ground. After a while, having opened an office for the nonprofit corporation, she recalls telling organization members that she was happy to continue coming in every day and working on grants, but that she thought she should receive at least nominal payment. And she recognized that the necessary effort wasn’t going to be limited to grant writing. “Really, it was much more about mobilizing the community,” Rogers explains.
She relates how an initial contribution of $150,000 from IBM jump-started the process of garnering financial support from the commercial and private sector – money that would be needed for both the building purchase and the ensuing restoration costs. She merrily recalls the strategic decision to state a target goal of $999,999 rather than a more daunting $1 million figure. Rogers still wasn’t envisioning herself ultimately taking charge of the institution, though it was her money-raising efforts that made it viable. And even though she had never started a theater before and, she jokes, she and the group sometimes didn’t know “what the hell we were doing,” it’s safe to say that Rogers possessed the acumen to ultimately make it happen.
“There were a lot of people and organizations that wanted the Flynn to [come to fruition]. Lyric Theatre, of course, being primary at the very beginning – and all the other arts organizations – so there was a lot of momentum that I was able to tap or orchestrate.”
“Amazing” is the word frequently used by those recalling the transformation undergone by the former movie house – especially in view of the nearly catastrophic damage suffered that first winter from burst water pipes. The following years brought continued renovations; the institution of a regional box office (a savvy financial move to bring in revenues, under the leadership of Tony Micocci, the Flynn’s first artistic director); the development of a membership list; and a long list of luminaries gracing the MainStage.
Teamwork and Culture Wars
Key to the Flynn’s success was the strategic objective of attracting substantial support and grants from large national foundations. Rogers, whose position as project director had merged into that of executive director, worked in tandem with the artistic directors to set ambitious goals for garnering national grants. (The artistic directors, incidentally, have been remarkably few in number; only four people have held the title in all these years, a reflection of Rogers’ astute and selective hiring.)
Philip Bither, who served as the Flynn’s artistic director from 1989 to 1998 and is now with the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, remembers well the stalwart support Rogers extended for one of the most “significant and daring projects” taken on during his tenure – the 1990 co-commissioning and production development of choreographer Bill T. Jones’ “Last Supper at Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” It was a provocative work, shining a light on such issues as racism, religion and homophobia in U.S. history, that happened to conclude with a scene in which 50 local participants sang together, nude. “While it was a completely asexual vision of human purity, I remained concerned about whether Vermont and the Flynn were ready for such a work,” Bither explains. “When I discussed the content and reasons it was important to present the work with Andrea, she wholeheartedly and without a moment’s hesitation supported my commitment. Many other executive directors would have shied away, especially so soon after the ‘culture wars’ of the late 1980s.”
Rogers thought it would be wise, though, if she and Bither gave a heads-up to the board of directors – “something I would never have thought to do,” Bither notes. “After that lively discussion, the program commitment was enthusiastically supported by the full board. When the inevitable controversy ensued (it was picketed by members of the religious right and there was even an attempt through the State’s Attorney’s office to shut it down because of the nudity), having the backing of the full board made a huge difference.”
The “Last Supper” story is one of many that remain in Bither’s mind from his years with the organization. “I learned so much during my time there,” Bither says. “A lot of this education came by way of watching how tenacious, strategic, selfless and courageous Andrea was in her leadership of the Flynn.
“During my early years in Vermont, the Flynn was still a young, financially struggling organization,” Bither says. “It was not atypical for me to stay there late into the night, working on programming or grant writing. Often, when I would finally head home, I would find Andrea still in her office, handwriting personal notes on hundreds of thank you letters to Flynn members (or doing some other essential but time-consuming task). That sense of teamwork and commitment and vision that we shared were essential ingredients to the Flynn’s success during those important years.”
Going Big, Yet Keeping it Local
Burlington was the first city outside New York to host a production of the full “Last Supper.” That fact helped put the Flynn on the map nationally and opened up many other funding and programming opportunities in the ensuing years, according to Bither.
In the early 1990s, “We built this strategy around artistic excellence and community involvement,” Rogers explains, noting that the strategy remains in place today. “It was our mission, and it was also a funding strategy: we had to be excellent to get national money. We set out to position ourselves for NEA money [and the like] – and we got it. It was very strategic – we were going to be one of the 15 or 20 performing arts centers, jazz festivals [and so on] around the country that would get funded by these various strategies. And we were; we did.”
Such strategies have been necessary, given the stages of rehabilitation, restoration and expansion – not to mention general upkeep and maintenance – that the Flynn’s physical site has called for, coupled with the expenses of programming. And, observes Rogers rather drily, Vermont is characterized by a grassroots mentality that translates into the dispersal of grants to many small organizations.
“I remember saying in a meeting, ‘You have to recognize that larger institutions need more money!’” Rogers recalls. “So that was my song, because in our evolution, even when we were new, we were one of the larger arts organizations. There never was any money from the State – the biggest Vermont Arts Council grant we ever got was $13,000, and that was the old days. Now we get $7,000.”
Although Bither credits her for not shying away from more daring, avant-garde performances, Rogers still thinks of herself as “usually too conservative.” But that doesn’t mean she tries to impress her will on Arnie Malina, the Flynn’s artistic director since Bither left. “I have very little hand in [the programming],” she says. “And, as a result, Arnie shares his thinking with me.” She adds with a hearty self-deprecating laugh, “If I had a big hand in it, he probably wouldn’t share it with me.
“I give him my thoughts, but ultimately I respect that it’s his decision,” Rogers continues, explaining the part she plays in the programming process. She adds that Malina has a much better sense than she does of what will draw audiences, offering the example of the recent presentation of “Annie”. Because it had been at the Flynn previous years, she wondered if it might not do as well. “And of course – it sold out in two days!” she says, citing Malina’s savvy ability to assess a show’s potential for success, from the popular to the avant-garde. Offering a contrasting example, Rogers continues, “I remember when David Byrne was coming, with an unusual kind of string quartet or something like that, and I [asked Arnie], will it really work? And he said ‘trust me, it will work.’
“I made him negotiate a really tough contract [for the Byrne show] – and of course, it sold out!” she smiles. “I know on the esoteric side when they’re going to be tough to sell – and that’s part of our mission [to include the less mainstream fare]. So I think my role there is to try to [present] my opinion and when Arnie really wants to do something challenging, or very costly, and we don’t have the grant support, I work with him to try to find the resources. I think my job is to number one, make sure we have a really good artistic director, and number two, to work with him or her to be sure that we have the resources to [carry it out],” she explains. “He writes the NEA grants and [those for] Chamber Music America, things like that. I write a lot of other grants, American Express [for example], that are more general. And I do the corporate sponsorships and we [confer] because you have to really understand the programming in order to link the right sponsor – it’s a big puzzle.”
Explaining the process further, Rogers continues, “We create a season and have kind of a profile of [it], like three Broadway shows, for example, some [folk] music, some jazz, some dance – Arnie has a really good sense of what’s mainstream and what isn’t, and how you balance it. So we [proceed] with a kind of profile. And I [may] have five [clients] and they all want mainstream Broadway shows!” she laughs. “Or HydroQuebec [will] want a French [show]; I [then] have to match funding with product.
“But generally, what Arnie does is deliver the season to me, and it’s budgeted, and we together set sponsorship goals – that’s all part of the budgeting process – and then I go out and meet with the sponsors and try to move them around to raise that $220,000 (or whatever amount it is) in sponsorships to support the season. And sometimes I’ll put several sponsors on the really big [shows], or I ratchet up the levels on those because I might not get it on the ones that are more esoteric. But generally we try to be realistic about that and then we support the more esoteric things with our endowment distribution. So we allocate a certain amount of the endowment every year to Arnie’s programming and then he can move that around and know that he has that [financial] support.”
Yet with the internationally-renowned performers who the Flynn brings to Vermont on a regular basis, it’s not black limousines you’re likely to spot arriving – but what is a very common sight is a queue of yellow school buses in front of the theater. And that is the visual testament to the Flynn’s commitment to educational programming, central to its mission. Rogers credits then-artistic director Tom Dunn for implementing this key component to the organization’s mission, starting in the late 1980s.
“I think that there’s the impact through schools, helping people understand that we learn in many different ways. I think that for those schools that have been engaged with us the whole environment of the school changes,” Rogers explains. “And it opens up whole new ways of learning which in turn opens up kids that don’t necessarily succeed in the traditional [process] and it suggests potential careers for kids that they might not have imagined. It speaks sometimes to those who don’t necessarily thrive in the normal environment – I mean, great artists and great thinkers often don’t function well in a traditional school or traditional setting. And, it raises the level of dialogue and aesthetic awareness in a community through a spillover effect.”
Lasting Impact
Rogers and the Flynn remain in the hearts of many Vermont ex-pats.
“The Flynn Theatre has come a long way from being a second-rate dingy, dilapidated movie theater, which is how I remember the Flynn, prior to Andrea Rogers,” remarks former Vermonter Martin Guigui, son of the late Efrain Guigui, who conducted the Vermont Symphony Orchestra (VSO) from 1974-1989.
“Andrea has a very special place in the heart of the Guigui family,” Guigui says. “I remember Andrea being a passionate supporter of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra during my father's tenure and his mission to reach a larger audience with classical music. Andrea's efforts certainly aided in the VSO's growth by providing a ‘true’ home base for the Symphony by facilitating multiple concerts events annually at the Flynn [previously there had traditionally only been one Symphony concert per year in Burlington], by adding a Christmas show and subsequent concerts echoing the change of seasons – thus tremendously helping to expand the Orchestra's audience base.
“Looking back on it,” Guigui continues, “it was a real thrill to be a part of that cultural growth, which Andrea was greatly responsible for. Andrea understood Burlington's (and Vermont's) need for a venue that could accommodate high profile artists that [the now-defunct but ever-beloved] Hunts could not afford given its size, and Memorial Auditorium could not provide proper staging for. Andrea maximized the true potential of what was simply a ‘theater’ and created an authentic Performing Arts Center. Andrea also knew how to create, build and empower a strong team around her.”
Guigui, himself a musician and filmmaker now living in California, recalls the assistance Rogers extended on his behalf for his film projects when he still lived here. “Personally for me, she was extremely accommodating and facilitated my ability to document (on video) international acts that visited the Flynn in the mid 1980's, for local public broadcast – the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton and Sun Ra, among others,” he says, explaining that the video documenting served two purposes. One was for a documentary entitled “What is Jazz" and also, making the footage available for public access station(s). “Andrea did the legwork with management for each performer. We kind of tag-teamed to get the clearance rights and, though not an easy task, Andrea diplomatically made it happen.”
Making Her Exit
Having orchestrated seven multi-million-dollar rounds of fundraising, Rogers says she knew when it was time to bow out. “I couldn’t envision doing another capital campaign!” she exclaims, conveying the exhaustion that would entail with a dramatic sigh.
Her impending retirement raises mixed feelings, she says: “It’s hard to explain. On the one hand, shedding the overall responsibility – that’s appealing!” On the other hand, is it mixed with any worry for the organization she has led for so long? Not at all, according to Rogers. “I feel confident that the processes and everything that we have [in place] will continue and that people will continue with their support.”
She is looking forward, she says, to spending time this summer being active outdoors, playing tennis and sailing – as well as enjoying more traveling and time with Avery.
One thing about which there is no doubt: Rogers is leaving a rich legacy in the community. “Lots of people care about the arts in Burlington, and in Vermont. But I can’t think of anybody who's worked harder to such great effect as Andrea Rogers has,” remarks David Beckett, who was among the core group that conceived Burlington’s Discover Jazz Festival. “Her great and varied skills as a manager and organizational visionary seem to spring directly from her own passion for the arts – and for Burlington too. I see this every time I see her after a show, excitedly talking about what she’s just witnessed. Burlington’s now a regional magnet for the performing arts for a variety of reasons, but if I had the task of awarding credit to one person for this, Andrea Rogers seems head and shoulders above the many, many other worthy candidates.
“It seems to me she’s earned the right – for several lifetimes – to enjoy the show from Row K at house left, free from thoughts about grant deadlines or budgeting,” he adds.
For her part, Rogers jokes that what she’d really like as a retirement gift is a key to the back door, so she can slip in whenever she wants.
Brava, Andrea, for a long and successful run!
Margaret Michniewicz is editor of Vermont Woman.
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Vermont Woman is a forum for news, issues, features, arts and entertainment from the perspective, experience, and voices of Vermont women. Vermont Woman is a bi-monthly
newspaper published in South Hero, Vermont and is excerpted here on this site. All content © Copyright 2011, Vermont Woman Media.
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