"It’s an ideal time for me to conclude my 40-year career on the top and move on to Act Two of my life."
— Alexander Speer

Actors Theatre’s executive director to exit Alexander "Sandy" Speer, who has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, will retire April 3 as executive director. Actors Theatre’s board will hire a consulting firm to conduct a national search for his replacement.

Parkinson’s ends Speer’s career
By Judith Egerton
The Courier-Journal

After 40 years, Actors Theatre of Louisville is losing the gracious, savvy and unflappable leadership of Alexander Speer, the executive director known to everyone as "Sandy."

Speer announced yesterday that he would retire April 3 following his diagnosis with Parkinson’s disease. His departure from the Tony Award-winning regional theater that he helped build will coincide with the conclusion of the 30th Humana Festival of New American Plays.

"We are also close to finishing our successful ‘Next Generation of Excellence’ capital endowment campaign, and the theater has never been in better shape," Speer, 62, said yesterday. "It’s an ideal time for me to conclude my 40-year career on the top and move on to Act Two of my life."

Actors Theatre’s board plans to hire a consulting firm to conduct a national search for Speer’s replacement. Speer, who arrived at Actors in 1965 as a part-time house manager, plans to stay in Louisville and be available as a consultant through the transition.

In the meantime, current general manager James Roemer will assume some of Speer’s responsibilities as interim executive director for operations and finance, while the theater’s development director, Christen McDonough Boone, will take over duties related to marketing, sales and external relations.

Speer, a Pittsburgh native who moved to Kentucky with his family at age 10, said he must give up the job he loves to take care of his health. The disease has slowed and softened his speech, caused stiffness in his joints and altered his gait, he said.

Among his years of memories and plays, Speer said one stands out: "Under Milk Wood" by Dylan Thomas, the first play Jon Jory directed at Actors Theatre in 1969. "That was the turning point for me in terms of dedicating myself to this theater," Speer said.

As for his legacy, Speer was hesitant to speak of his own achievements, but when pressed, he said, "What I think that I have done over 40 years is to build what I hope to be an important and lasting arts institution for the people of Louisville."

Actors’ staff members and arts leaders in Louisville and beyond praised Speer yesterday for his contributions to Actors and to regional theater. They also expressed concern for Speer’s health and sadness at his retirement.

Actors’ scenic designer, Paul Owen, struggled with tears when he talked about the diagnosis and departure of his longtime friend and colleague. "I knew that there was something wrong but I didn’t know what it was. And I didn’t realize how devastating it was going to be."

Speer already was a leader at Actors when Owen arrived 35 years ago. "It seemed like he was just a kid when I got here…. We have been very, very close friends over the years and have gone through the wars together as we built it from a fledgling to a major institution. It’s such a major loss for the organization and for us personally."

Statesman of the arts
Phil Eschels, president of Actors’ board of directors, called Speer "one of the great statesmen of the American arts."

"As one of the key architects of the regional theater movement, Sandy has been a force in establishing the League of Professional Theatres and leading change in arts management nationwide," he said.

Speer has been treasurer and executive committee member of LORT, which serves nonprofit professional theaters in the United States. Harry H. Weintraub, the group’s legal counsel, said Speer is "one of the most beloved people in the nonprofit business" and is looked up to by young theater managers.

"From my perspective, it is managers who make it happen for the artists, and Sandy has done that to a degree that is unparalleled. Actors is an organization that works at the highest artistic levels, and Sandy has been there through all that…. If Louisville is on the map, it is some extent due to Jon Jory and the current artistic director. But it is Sandy who has been there. He is the through line."

Artistic director Marc Masterson, who replaced Jory in 2000, said: "I’m feeling a lot of mixed emotions right now. I’m obviously concerned for Sandy and we want to offer him all the support the theater can. This is a place that he has poured his life, his heart and soul, into. No one walks away from that easily, no matter what the circumstances are."

Because of the remarkable job Speer has done in securing Actors Theatre’s future, Masterson said, "If there ever is a time for the organization to go through a leadership transition, it would be now."

Like Owen, Owsley Brown, chairman of Brown-Forman Corp. and a member of Actors’ board since 1968, has known Speer for decades. Speer "has been an invaluable and unselfish leader, critical to Actors’ success throughout its history," he said.

Spearheading growth
During Speer’s tenure, Actors Theatre grew steadily into a renowned theater best known for its commitment to high production standards and its annual new play festival, underwritten by the Humana Foundation.

In 1972, Speer guided the theater’s relocation from its home at an old railway station to its current residence in an old bank building on Main Street, a move that was a catalyst to the street’s revitalization. Speer recalls working with Brown, who was then board president, to scrape mud off the walls of the basement bar/restaurant in a frantic effort to prepare for the opening of the new theater space.

Speer led an expansion and renovation project in 1994. Over the years, he has overseen the theater’s finances as its annual budget mushroomed to $9 million f rom a modest $250,000.

Under Speer, Actors has sold more than 5 million tickets and produced more than 600 plays, including 300 premieres at the new-play festival, which has become a model for other theaters and produced three Pulitzer Prize winners.

Actor William McNulty said Speer is shy and the last person to seek attention for his contributions — but deserves it. "It’s a huge accomplishment to build a theater from the ground up … He’s an unsung hero for this theater and American regional theater."

Theater and film critic Judith Egerton can be reached at (502) 582-4503.
© The Courier-Journal