Colorado arts leaders are not sure what Rocco Landesman might do to shake up the National Endowment of the Arts.
They just know a whole lot of shaking could be going on.
“He’s a boat-rocker,” said Jim Steinberg, a trustee for the Denver Center for the Performing Arts and a well-known philanthropist in the non-profit theater world. “He’s a businessman, a creative force, a visionary — and he will absolutely change the style of the NEA.”
Landesman, 61, a Broadway honcho known for bringing the world such hits as “The Producers” and “Angels in America,” was nominated to chair the NEA by President Obama on Wednesday.
Unlike past agency picks, Landesman is not an artist or a career arts administrator, but a well-known commercial theater producer.
That’s why, to DCPA president Randy Weeks and others, Landesman was a surprising but thrilling choice.
“I could see rather quickly that it’s a really, really smart move,” said Weeks, who serves with Landesman on the board of the Broadway League, a producers’ consortium.
The reason: Landesman’s vast experience getting things done in the private sector.
“The whole concept that the arts employ people and create economic activity is a crucial argument right now, and, therefore, to have someone who is used to being in the world of money — and certainly a Broadway producer is that — seems good to me,” said Alan Fletcher, president and chief executive officer of the Aspen Music Festival.
Fletcher served with Landesman on the National Arts Policy Committe, which advised Obama when he was running for president and helped the candidate establish his positions on arts-related issues.
“We all thought it (the nominee) would be someone from that group, and he would be a very logical person because of the very major role he played,” Fletcher said.
Landesman is perhaps best known for instituting a record-high $480 Broadway ticket for “The Producers” — a calculated, if controversial, move meant to thwart scalpers.
As the president of Jujamcyn Theaters, which owns five Broadway houses, Landesman currently is housing a mix of commerical and artistic endeavors — massive musical hits like “Jersey Boys” and “Hair,” and less commercial dramas such as Eugene O’Neill’s “Desire Under the Elms” and Moises Kaufmann’s “33 Variations,” about a dying woman, played by Jane Fonda, who races against time to solve the riddle of a 200-year-old secret involving Beethoven.
Landesman’s theatrical roots can be traced to the Yale School of Drama. “So the balance between art and commerce is very personal” (to him), Weeks said.
If approved by Congress, Landesman will succeed Dana Gioia.
The agency, established by Congress in 1965, has an annual budget that Obama wants bumped from $145 million to $161 million next year, short of its peak of $176 million in 1992.
“The NEA is kind of hide-bound in a way like all organizations get after a while,” said Jim Copenhaver, vice president of Arts for Colorado and former head of the Colorado Symphony. “They are used to doing things the way they have been doing it.
“The world has changed enormously over the life cycle of the NEA, and I think having a fresh set of eyes and a fresh set of ears is probably going to be a very productive thing.”
Reporters Kyle MacMillan and John Wenzel contributed to this report. Wire service material was also used.
John Moore: 303-954-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com
Additional comment
From Shannon Daut, deputy director of Western States Art Federation (WESTAF):
“It was a bit of surprise, but I think that any new person brings fresh perspectives and new enthusiasm to an agency. I’m hopeful that his leadership will advance the arts in the region and the country.”
Regarding possible down side to Landesman’s lack of political experience: “I think (NEA acting director) Patrice Walker Powell is very strong and a great leader for the NEA, so I think that they could make a really strong team. Hopefully she’ll be utilized going forward for the agency.”
Is this a new direction for the NEA? “In recent years Dana Gioia has run the NEA in what I think will be a different way than what Mr. Landesman will do. Dana excelled in some pretty high profile ways and gained the support of Congress. He also really spread the NEA’s reach and service to every corner of the country, and I would hope that would continue under the new administration.”
