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Collins Goss, Grants Manager

Without using the words in your job title, what do you do at the Alliance? 
“I write and administer all of our foundation and government grants, sorry it’s hard to talk about this without using the word ‘grant.’ I’m also kind of a repository of information, so I have to be able to talk about the Alliance from a super high-up view of all the things we do and be able to present them in as few words as humanly possible. And sometimes it’s in a few words, sometimes visual aids. And sometimes I zoom into way into a particular program and get granular. I  kind of steal everyone else’s stats and then use them to tell the story that needs to be told.”

How did you get involved with theatre?
“Probably like most people, I started in high school. My friends were in the one-act plays or the spring musical, so I thought, ‘Ok sure.’ I did the literary competition because Lord knows I couldn’t jump hurdles or play basketball. Then I went to college and because English was my first love, I majored in English and theatre. I didn’t want to just do the acting track or just do the design track, so I did a little bit of everything and that’s how I landed on arts management and went to grad school in Alabama for it. I’m University of Georgia born and bred, one of those crazy dynasty families, so to be able to say ‘Roll Tide’ took about six months before not wanting to throw up a little.”

What’s your first theatre-related memory?
I grew up in South Georgia, and as part of your music class that you took once a week, they would do some type of play every year. Every child had to get up and say some type of speaking part, so I always remember doing those. Everyone has to wear a costume that your mother made for you and it was adorable. By 5th grade it wasn’t quite as cute, but that’s neigher here nor there.”

Holland Baird, Brand Marketing Manager

Without using the words in your job title, what do you do at the Alliance Theatre?
“To put our theatre programming in front of Atlanta audiences. Invite them in. It’s my job to make sure our programming is appealing, inviting, sexy and fun, friendly, cute, sad, happy. It’s my job to make sure that these people of Atlanta know that the Alliance is here and we want them to come see our shows. I don’t want the first thing that comes to their mind for a night out is just dinner and drinks. Maybe it’s dinner and a show. Or brunch and a reading. Or brunch and an acting class. Get people out of their element.”

How did you get involved in theatre?
“It wasn’t really by choice. It was kind of thrust upon me. It’s the family business. It’s my life. My mom was a high school theatre teacher and my dad was an actor on soaps in the 80s and 90s. They met in Savannah. And I grew up going to theatre, whether it was as an audience member or the kid standing in the wings watching a show or watching my mom choreograph a scene. Or hanging out in the scene shop helping paint. It’s so funny—when I was a rebellious teenager, I got in this big spat with my mom and I said, ‘I’m never going to end up like you. I’m never going to be in the theatre life. I’m not going to do this.’ Lo and behold, I moved to Atlanta and it’s where I wound up. But I have no regrets.”

What’s your first theatre-related memory?
“I guess it would be the sound of my mom warming up at the piano. Getting ready for her vocal lessons or getting ready to go on stage. Like Do, Re, Mi… And I hated hearing that. I’d wake up at six in the morning to the sound of her voice. But I look back at it now and I love those moments because they are so beautiful. Beautiful sounds.”

What was the show that changed your life? 
“I grew up listening to all kinds of Broadway cast recordings. But my favorite had always been Ragtime. I never saw it on Broadway, but I loved Audra McDonald and her voice. So finally, a couple years ago, a theatre company I used to work for in Kansas City, the Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre, did a stage production of it. It was in a small 200-seat black box theatre in a old warehouse that had also been a makeshift Halloween haunted house. They used a rustic set with platforms that were built up like ladders. They staged an old 1800s shanty town in New York, kind of like the movie Gangs of New York. Seeing that show performed on a stage like that with the riots, the issues of African Americans and the family, and the aggressiveness of those times, it was eye-opening because it’s still relevant. Seeing it in person after listening to it for years really made an impact on me. It’s probably my favorite musical of all time.

What is your biggest struggle?
“Staying engaged in arts and culture industry. Because it was something I grew up with and am still in, sometimes I’m mentally drained from it all. I will say, I don’t see many shows at other theatres, which is why I’m so excited for this off-site season in these new performing arts spaces, because now I have no excuse. I may be there for our shows, but I  can also come back and see other things.” 

How did you end up at the Alliance?
“Well, I didn’t plan on it. I moved down here from Kansas City five years ago. I actually wanted to get my start in the TV and film industry in Atlanta. I put my resume out there for all the industry website job listings and never got a bite because it was so competitive. I lived in Midtown and would often walk by this big white building every day. I wondered ‘What is this big white building?’ and then found out it was the Woodruff Arts Center. I remember checking it out online and finding the job page. I thought ‘I’m actually qualified for a lot of these jobs. I’m just going to apply.’ I got called in for an interview for the Alliance Theatre Marketing Coordinator position.  At the time I was already working two part-time jobs, so I was ready for something full-time. I didn’t really want to go into theatre, and maybe at the time I wasn’t planning on staying there for very long, but I really enjoyed working for a company that had so much structure and such a presence in the Atlanta community that was well-respected nationally. So I thought, ‘I want to see where this goes.’ Five years later, and I’m still loving it.

I have such a much greater appreciation for non-profits, especially performing arts centers. They are the like the ‘kitchen of the city.’ The kitchen is where you go when you talk about your day and you let loose, enjoying a glass of wine. You talk with your family. At the theatre, you have a dialogue with the action on stage, the person sitting next to you, the parking attendant. It’s fluid and it’s hospitable.” 

What does the off-site season mean to you?
“It means a chance to get to know Atlanta better. Not only as an Atlanta resident, but as an audience patron. And vice-versa. I’ve lived here five years and I’ll tell you I’ll never been to the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta, the Southwest Arts Center. I’ve never seen a show at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre. There are people out there who have no idea that we exist, or if they do, they have this perspective we are ‘stuffy’ and ‘untouchable.’ But no, we want to be inviting and we want to get to know you.”

A little known fact about yourself.
“Because I was a kid in a theatre family, I did all sorts of odd jobs. I worked the concession stand and the bar. I painted sets. I built sets. I took notes for directors. I’ve been a costume dresser. My favorite instance of being a dresser was when I was a junior in college and I was a dresser for a production of The Light in the Piazza. The show had really fast scene and costume changes. My claim to fame is that I know how to undress and dress a person in 30 seconds or less. Arm length gloves, hats, blouse, overcoat, pencil skirt, heels. I had to be calm and organized so my nerves didn’t affect the actor’s nerves. It was exhausting, but so much fun. My dates love it when I tell them this.”

What is your hope for the future?
“For myself, I want to be happy. Motivation to succeed. For humanity, I wish for there to be more understanding, without disregard or hate.”

Describe the best theatre-related project you’ve ever done. 
“During my first full season with the Alliance, we did The Geller Girls by the lovely Janece Shaffer. It was one of my favorite productions here. The setting was 1865 Atlanta during the World’s Fair. Michael Winn and I did an awesome collaboration with the Atlanta History Center. We brought in a pop-up museum that had photos, maps, renderings of what the World’s Fair looked like, as well as chachkies and cute takeaways from that fair. It was gorgeous. I just love Southern history. I really hated having to take it down when the show was over. It was a beast to put together, but it was so worth it.  A history museum paired with a performing arts theatre – two different kind of organizations on the spectrum, bringing history and art together.“

What makes you feel fulfilled?
“A challenge. I need something to work on at all times. Give me a challenge. Give me something to make my brain work. Or my hands work. I think that’s what keeps us alive, young and aware.”

by A’riel Tinter, Brand Journalist

Patrick Myers, Management Assistant

Without using the words in your job title, what do you do at the Alliance?
“I guess you can call me the theatre therapist. I’m part of the central hub of the company—disseminator of information between multiple parties. Staff, artists, crew, patrons and the like.”

How did you get involved with the world of theatre?
“I did an Oscar Meyer commercial audition when I was four. I actually booked a national Walmart commercial when I was nine. A little known fact. Am I going to regret telling you that? You can find it online if you look hard enough. I did school theatre since middle school, so I’ve always been involved.”

What is it about theatre that you love?
“I grew to love theatre through the practice of it. It became a lot about engaging in stories in a way that felt more alive than just words on a page. But as I grew older, it became less about that, and more about the community-building aspect. Experiencing the same story in the same room. What that allows you to do. And also, who doesn’t love a good musical? Every time Beth Leavel sang “The Lady is Improving” [from The Prom], I lost my darn mind.”   

What is your first theatre-related memory?
“When I was four years old, I went to see my cousin perform in Man of La Mancha. We were sitting in the school gymnasium and there were these fold-out seats. Not the comfy ones with the cushions, but the dented beige metal ones that looked like they had been there for 30 years. I remember the show had started and I wasn’t really clocking anything in my mind because there was so much going on. But then the actor who played Don Quixote entered from the back of the room and he was illuminated in a pool of light. Just him and his shadow. I was so transfixed with watching him walk on stage. Something about his presence just stuck with me. I think that’s why I’m actually in theatre today.”

What is your biggest struggle?
“Balancing my creative ambition with the necessity to survive on a day-to-day basis.”

How did you arrive at the Allliance?
“I graduated from Savannah College of Art and Design in 2013 and then I became an acting intern at Actor’s Express, thanks to Freddie Ashley, whom I love and adore. As part of the program, you take classes. And one of the classes was a dramaturgy class and it was taught by Celise Kalke, the Alliance Theatre Director of New Projects. I had done some literary work in college and I had a professor who told me I should look more into dramaturgy, so I started experimenting and fell in love with the art of it. And here was this lady who just knew anything and everything I could’ve ever wanted to know about the field, not just practical, but artistically, too. Her class was amazing. The play she had us read was knock-out brilliant and something I had never heard of before. And I thought: ‘I have to know you.‘ So I asked via email to shadow her one day and she let me submit my application for her literary internship after the due date. And then I started working for her in 2014.”

What does the off-site season mean to you?
“A ton of work. But really, it’s a fun opportunity to push outside of our comfort zone. Engage with audiences in a way we’ve never been forced to engage with before. And that’s off our home turf. And I think for an organization that is as storied and institutionalized as ours is, having the opportunity to play with more local artists and venues, it’s a positive way to mix-up our culture.”

A little known fact about yourself.
“I’ve held the Olympic Torch! Well, my dad did while I was on his shoulders. When the Olympics came to town in 1996, we were outside the city along the torch route. The torch carrier came over and offered for my dad to hold the torch. And I remember that I kept fighting with myself wondering if I should actually touch it or not. Then something came into my five year old brain that said ‘If you don’t do this now, you’re never going to have the chance again.’ So I finally did. I ended up with a photo of both my father and I holding it and it’s one of my favorite pictures.”

A little known fact about the theatre.
“The Atlanta History Center has a few boxes of old Alliance photos, flyers and files stashed away. There’s also a history of the Alliance dissertation from 1993. It’s a fascinating read. You can get in their library. I’ve only read the first 20 pages, but I already know much more information about the theatre.”

What is your hope for the future? 
“I hope we can continue to use stories from the theatre to be able to help build empathy. The idea of radical empathy through storytelling. Not presuming to know anything about someone else and allowing them to tell you. I think theatre is the best vessel for doing that. I hope we can continue to pursue that.

Describe the best theatre-related project you’ve ever done. 
So I drive my mom’s car I inherited. ‘Baby Nilla.’ The official color of the car is ‘cool vanilla’ and my mom came up with the name. Thanks to the grocery runs I do for my job, I’m proud to say that my car now has earned an EGOT. I’ve had an Emmy winner, Grammy winner, Oscar winner and Tony winner in my car. I’m so honored to have chaperoned so much talent. 

What’s a show that has changed your outlook?
“I took my first trip to Broadway when I was 24. I saw Fun Home because, of course I did. The experience is still so fresh. Growing up as a gay individual, not seeing yourself reflected in any capacity in popular forms of media, I didn’t have any way of being able to recognize myself, which made it harder to grapple with my reality. Having the opportunity to see that show on stage, in my artform, the way I choose to tell stories, it deeply affected me. I remember crying so much.” 

What makes you feel fulfilled?
“Honestly, I’m going to real with you. Pandas. Every time I see a panda video, my heart just feels full. I should just live at the zoo and pay rent.”
 

by A’riel Tinter, Brand Journalist