A Day With Chris Hamby

Chris Hamby is the C.W. McMillin executive director of TheaterWorks

7 A.M. >> SWEETNESS INSIDE & OUT
My day usually starts with a big kiss from one of my Siberian Huskies. The morning is precious to me because I’m not home a lot, so I take it slowly and spend time with my dogs, Asha and Sedna. My first stop after leaving the house is to pick up an iced black coffee with two Splendas at Dunkin’ Donuts. It’s the one thing I do for myself every day.

9:30 A.M. >> MORNING WALKABOUT
I have a ritual of walking around the building when I get to the office and checking in with my 12-person team. It’s essential to me that I assess the day and make sure everyone knows I’m here and available. I then dive into emails. My first course of action is to read the daily rehearsal or performance report to see if there are any action items that need to be addressed before the next performance.

We have a leadership meeting over coffee once a week. It’s important we get out of the office when we can, so we meet at a great coffee shop next door. The department heads touch base on what’s going on and catch everybody up during the meeting.

11 A.M. >> FOUR DECADES IN THE MAKING
This is TheaterWorks’ 40th anniversary season, so there’s exciting stuff happening. We’re in the process of planning celebrations and deciding how we’re going to honor the institution by revisiting our morals and values. We are connecting with past leaders and planning an alumni concert.

Whether you are 3 or 103, there’s a place for you in community theater. TheaterWorks is proud of its roots and has no goal to become a professional theater. We want to be the best community theater and change your mind about what you think community theater is.

12:15 P.M. >> HOME IS WHERE THE ART IS
I grew up in the West Valley and came to TheaterWorks as a kid. When I was 16, I was pretty untamed and didn’t have much oversight, and considered dropping out of high school. I was a good student, but felt school was more work than my life was allowing me to put in at the time. I couldn’t sleep the night before I was going to make my decision about whether to leave school, so I turned on my little black-and-white TV. There, a PBS special about Jim Henson changed my life.

What stuck with me was that he wanted to change the world through his art. It was the first time it had ever been put into a context for me — making art isn’t a selfish thing, and what you’re doing has benefits and ramifications beyond you. I didn’t drop out of high school; instead, I decided I wanted to make theater for young people. My professional path and journey with puppetry germinated from this documentary in the middle of the night.

2 P.M. >> AFTERNOON CHECK-INS
I meet with the board chair every month and am involved with several board committees. TheaterWorks has an intimate relationship with the City of Peoria, so we make sure our relationship is healthy and we’re supporting the city’s programs. I have an open-door policy, so there are a lot of “Got a sec?” moments that happen as well.

Right now, TheaterWorks is really blessed. We have an incredible board of directors and team. It feels like the organization is on the cusp of something great. Everything feels poised for us to take the next step as an organization.

3:30 P.M. >> A LEADER’S JOURNEY
I’ve always been fascinated by Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust’s Piper Fellows program and have seen what it has done for several colleagues and their organizations. Last year, I felt I could take this journey myself. The focus of my fellowship is expanding education at TheaterWorks, because it is our greatest opportunity. Our shows are selling well, but we can’t meet the demand of the kids, young people and adults who want to do things here. I’m interested in what other organizations are doing, so I’ve made site visits to theaters around the country that are doing awesome stuff to learn what the secret sauce is and what isn’t working.

I have attended the Institute for Charitable Giving and the Disney Institute to support my professional development. Both experiences were profound. My team and I recently returned from the Community Theatre Management Conference, where we participated in training with the Universal Studios team.

Strengthening employee engagement is a new pillar for us — it keeps our team connected to our mission and reminds us that our work truly makes the world a better place. We sometimes forget that this work is greater than us and we are now the caretakers and stewards of this organization.

6 P.M. >> THE DAY’S SECOND ACT
After I grab a quick bite to eat, the second part of my job begins. I am directing three plays this season, which results in long days. I meet with my stage manager to talk about what’s going to happen that night. Once the actors arrive, we get right to the work of the evening, whether that’s me staging a scene, choreography or music rehearsal. We wrap up the day by closing out our notes so the rehearsal report can be created.

I head home about 11 p.m. and spend time with my dogs, do a load of laundry and then go to bed before starting all over again the next day.

To learn more, go to theaterworks.org.