INSIDE THE INDUSTRY: Alan Hatton- Company Manager
Extracted from Scene 2008- 09 December Issue 2
develop a successful career. Despite all
the hard work acting is a wonderful
profession and sometimes all it’s
cracked up to be.
Bill Bowers – Actor
What is your
current title/
position/job
description?
Actor, Mime,
Teaching Artist
Where were you
born and where
did you grow
up?
Missoula Montana, USA
What were your favourite
subjects/passions at school?
Drama, English… I love to read. I
also played trumpet in the band and
orchestra.
Did you know at school what you
were going to do?
I grew up in rural Montana, so the
prospect of making a living as an actor
wasn’t something in my realm of
possibility. I imagined I would be a
teacher. I had amazing teachers, and
have such respect for them.
Did you receive ‘on the job
training’ or did you attend college/
university?
I went to college at a small private
college in Billings Montana, called
Rocky Mountain College. I got a
scholarship there in drama and music.
I double majored in English and
Drama, and minored in Art.
I then went to graduate school at
Rutgers University’s Mason Gross
School of the Arts in New Jersey, and
got an MFA in Performance.
I also was awarded an Honorary PhD
from Rocky Mountain College in 2001.
Can you describe a favourite
project/job that you have been
involved with?
I have volunteered for several
organizations, donating my time as a
performer and workshop leader. I have
been affiliated with Paul Newman’s
Camp Hole In The Wall, which provided
opportunities for terminally ill youth, and
also for young people who have lost a
parent or family member to a disease.
Other memorable experiences
include work with In The Best Interests
Of The Children, a Boston based group
that provides services to children and
teens living with HIV/AIDS. And Camp
AmeriKIDS, a summer program for
children affected by HIV AIDS.
20 | Scene | 2008-9 December Issue 2
I offer performances and
workshops in Mime and Creative
Movement, providing an opportunity to
express feelings, emotions, and
anxieties non verbally.
Please provide an overview of how
you got to where you are now.
I am from a little town in the big
state of Montana… a big quiet place. I
grew up in a big quiet family, who
talked about NOTHING… I am also a
gay man, and I was a gay kid in a
small western town, in the 60’s,
before Oprah or Will And Grace. There
was no conversation to be had about
who I was or how I felt. This is what
made me a MIME.
I was drawn to silence. When I
learned that there was an art form all
about Silence, I began teaching my
self what I thought it was. Learning
about mime led me to high school
drama, which led me to finding my
voice as an artist (ironically the voice
was Silence.)
I went on to study acting in college
and graduate school, and then took an
internship at an Equity theatre in New
Jersey. From there I moved into NYC
and started auditioning. I continued
to support myself by performing and
teaching mime. I worked in regional
theatre and eventually landed roles on
Broadway (The Lion Kiing, The Scarlet
Pimperel) and Off Broadway. (And
many of these auditions came to me
because of my background in
movement and mime). I am now in my
25th year as a professional actor, and
in the past few years, I have written 3
solo plays that have been produced
Off Broadway, across the US and in
Europe. I grow more and more
interested in writing, and in developing
my own work. I am now working in
Devising theatre, and will create a new
ensemble play with a company of 20
actor/creators. It is based on the
Native American “Contrarie” clowns,
called the Heyokah.
What does a typical ‘day in the life’
look like for you at present?
I am writing from a Northwestern
tour of the US, doing my solo show It
Goes Without Saying. I am in a hotel
room in Colorado Springs Colorado. I
do my show here this week, then fly to
Seattle for performances and
workshops there next week. This is
“typical” for me. Hotels, airports, and
trying to find good food in strange
towns! Tomorrow I have a tech
rehearsal in the afternoon, then
performance at night. I will also teach
2 workshops here.
What is it you enjoy most about
your current work?
I love to travel, and am delighted to
have performed in all 50 states! Now I
want to explore more of Europe and
Asia, and want to find ways to perform
and teach overseas. I love meeting all
kinds of people, and want to write
about my experiences.
What are the greatest challenges?
It is hard to make a living as a solo
artist. I also generate my own work,
and am constantly looking for the next
“gig.” It is hard to relax. I try to do yoga
as much as possible, to physically and
emotionally take care of myself.
I also travel alone most of the time,
and it can be lonely.
What are your dreams, aspirations
for the future?
I want to write a book about my
adventures as a mime. I am
considering the title Travels With A
Quiet White Guy. I am also interested
in adapting my play It Goes Without
Saying into a film.
What advice can you give to a
young person, interested in your
line of work?
It is not enough to be an artist. You
must develop a mind for the business
as well. As the economy shifts we as
artists need to make choices that give
us financial security. We live outside
the system, and have to consider our
long-term wellbeing.
Don’t wait for someone else to hire
you or discover you. Create your own
work. Start a theatre company, write a
play, make a film. Work breeds work.
Alan Hatton – Company Manager
What is your
current title/
position/job
description?
I am Company
Manager for
Cameron
Mackintosh’s
new production
of “Oliver!” which
opens in December at the Theatre
Royal Drury Lane. This involves taking
care of the day to day business side of
the production, dealing with financial
matters such as payroll, petty cash
and box office, health and safety, union
issues and that sort of thing and I
regularly find myself acting as a
psychotherapist or agony aunt to the
company!
Where were you born and where
did you grow up?
I was born and grew up in Grimsby.
My father and grandfather were trawler
skippers.
What were your favourite subjects/
passions at school?
My favourite subjects at school
were art, music, English and
woodwork. I was always hopeless at
maths! I developed a very early passion
for the theatre after being taken to an
amateur production of “The Mikado”
when I was five years old.
Did you know at school what you
were going to do?
I always had a secret dream that
one day I might work in the theatre but
was swayed by my parents and
headmaster to go into a “secure”
profession and therefore initially chose
hotel management. After two career
changes, I finally decided that the
theatre was the only thing I really
wanted to do and took the plunge.
Did you a) receive ‘on the job
training’ or did you b) attend
college/university?
I studied stage management at
RADA.
Can you describe a favourite
project/job that you have been
involved with?
I have had the most incredible
career beginning in opera, a short spell
in ballet and moving on to commercial
theatre – nearly always large scale
musicals. Without doubt, my favourite
project was The Phantom of the
Opera. I was the stage manager for
the original production at Her Majesty’s
Theatre which opened in 1986 and
then went on to be involved in the set
up of a further nine productions around
the world. Phantom has always been
very special to me.
Please provide an overview of how
you got to where you are now.
Throughout my career, I have
always just followed my instincts and
just taken the jobs that appealed to me
at the time. I never had a particular
“ambition” to achieve a certain career
path but everything I have done, I have
always enjoyed immensely.
What does a typical ‘day in the
life’ look like for you at present?
We are in production for Oliver and
so from now until opening night, the
days will be very long.
I am up around 6:00 in the morning
and leave home at 8:30am.
We are rehearsing at 3 Mills Studios
which is only a 15 minute drive away.
I like to be in the rehearsal room at
least one hour before the day begins.
My day is spent dealing with
scheduling, payroll, and everything to
do with the administration of the show.
I am also responsible for the smooth
running of the rehearsals and the
general well being of the company and
creative team.
We are working a three session day
so I generally get away by about
9.00pm and after I have had dinner, I
unwind by either reading or watching a
movie on TV before falling in to bed
around midnight. As long as I get 6
hours sleep I survive very well!
What is it you enjoy most about
your current work?
The challenge of managing a very
big show and all of the diverse
problems that fall into my lap during
the course of the day.
What are the greatest challenges?
The greatest challenges are always
striving to keep the company happy. I
like to feel that by opening night the
company are a “family”, all caring for
and supporting each other. If you get
this right, it not only makes for a great
working atmosphere but reflects in the
standard of performance we present to
the audience each night.
What are your dreams, aspirations
for the future?
After 33 years in the profession, I
feel I have accomplished most of my
dreams. The best I can hope for now
is that I can maintain the energy and
enthusiasm to keep going for at least
another ten years.
What advice can you give to a
young person, interested in your
line of work?
I think that anyone wanting to
pursue a career in the theatre should
follow their dream. If they have a
genuine passion for the business and
are not afraid of hard work and the
inevitable disappointments which occur
from time to time, it is the most
wonderful way to earn a living.
Maggie Young – Teacher
When I look
back on what I
laughingly refer to
as ‘my career’, I
realise that I
always wanted to
be a teacher.
That is apart
from a period
when I was
about nine years old when I wanted to
be a dancer. Unfortunately my dancing
instructor soon realised I was seriously
left/right impaired and couldn’t
remember sequences so suggested I
probably wouldn’t be very successful if
I went that route! Thank goodness I
listened to her.
I think I wanted to be a teacher
because of my own education. I went
to Princess Road Primary School in
Moss Side, Manchester. The
Headmistress, Ms Bevan was
obviously a wonderful woman because
she put my name forward to go to The
Manchester High School of Art in the
early sixties. The school was founded
by Ernest Goodman, a man who
believed profoundly in the importance
of aesthetic education and he created
a school that put his ideals into
practice. The seven years I spent at
that school were incredibly happy. I
worked with people who loved their
jobs – there was no caning in our
school even though it wasn’t banned
in the UK until the 1980s! We had
Drama, could drop Maths at 14 years
but could take six different art classes.
Most students went down to London
to study art after A Levels. I was one
of the few students who took Biology,
English and History. This sort of
perversity has been a significant
feature of my life! The key lesson I
learned at that school was that there is
no necessity for a ‘them and us’
atmosphere in a school. High
standards can come from mutual trust
and a belief in a shared vision. We all
seemed interested in every aspect of
the arts. We used to take the bus
from Manchester to Stratford with
friends from school. I saw the first
cycle of history plays in the early sixties
and Ian Holm playing Richard III before
he got stage fright.
I had a shock when I went to
college. It was an all-girls Church of
England college of education in
Camberwell, London. However, again
I struck lucky. The college was staffed
by women who believed in women.
Even now when I do not prepare
properly and ‘wing’ a lesson or a
workshop I have the spectre of Miss
Hetherington on my shoulder – forty
years on! It was there that I really
started my Drama education, both in
the college and in the London theatre
scene. We went to everything, quickly
working out if you sat in the cheapest
seats you could see all the
productions.
Scene | 2008-9 December Issue 2| 21