DRAYTON – David Connolly is set to become Drayton Entertainment’s second artistic director.
CEO Alex Mustakas has served as the theatre company’s artistic director for 35 years, and will remain CEO as he passes the artistic directing baton to Connolly.
“Alex isn’t going anywhere – that’s the most important part,” Connolly told the Advertiser, noting Mustakas currently “wears many hats.”
It’s not a seismic shift, Connolly said; he will just be leaning more into the artistic director responsibilities, with Mustakas’ “really wonderful guidance just down the hall.”
Connolly’s role will include developing and implementing a new vision for Drayton Entertainment, which he said will be built on the core values the non-profit has always centred around: “providing world-class entertainment at an affordable price.”
He called Drayton Entertainment an “international success story.” It is offering 20 productions on seven stages in just one season, he noted.
Its success is due to something Connolly said Mustakas highlights: finding a balance between the show and the business in “show business.”
People should leave each production feeling enriched and feeling that watching the show was time well spent, Connolly said, and they should also be able to “park, have dinner and see a show; and not have to re-mortgage your house.”
The company has grown and changed over time, Connolly noted, and it will continue to change to reflect the changing tastes of its audience.
But the focus will remain on family, community and affordability, he said.
Removing barriers
Connolly kicked off his theatre career in New York City’s Broadway scene in 1989. He was the first amputee to ever perform on a Broadway stage, appearing in the musical, Shenandoah.
To date, Connolly remains the only male amputee to have performed on Broadway, with Katy Sullivan becoming the first female amputee on Broadway 43 years later, in 2022.
Connolly told the Advertiser this limited representation of amputees on Broadway reflects a broader trend of a lack of disabled people on stage and on screen.
That’s something he’s working to change through his position at Drayton Entertainment.
Connolly is currently the associate artistic director and the educational director of the company’s youth academy.
Through his work with the youth academy Connolly aims to remove barriers for youth to participate in theatre.
He said since Drayton Entertainment built its Waterloo-based youth academy three years ago, it has been a priority to make the space as welcoming and accessible as possible for all.
That means reducing physical barriers by making the space wheelchair accessible, financial barriers by offering an endowment fund for anyone in need of financial assistance, reducing geographical barriers by offering programming at each of its five locations, and by providing supports, such as pairing someone up with a helper when needed.
“Being disabled doesn’t mean you get a free ticket” to an acting career, Connolly said.
“You need to be trained, and still need to be excellent at your craft,” he added.
Youth academy
The Drayton Entertainment Youth Academy aims to offer that training, as well as camps and classes that are enriching all parts of people’s lives.
Students, from six-years-old to adult, study a wide-range of theatre-related areas, ranging from Broadway Blockbusters to magic classes, improv to technical theatre, and stage combat to on-camera auditions.
Connolly said students walk away with life skills such as confidence, an ability to take feedback, accountability and teamwork.
It also offers people a sense of belonging and a way to figure out what self expression means for them, Connolly said.
