Leah Smith (she/her/hers) is the Executive Artistic Director of the Detroit Repertory Theatre.
How did you get started in the arts?
I was always in chorus and took many dance classes as a youth. Thanks to my Mom, who was a painter and pianist so the arts were always important in our house. In high school at Cass Tech, I was a first soprano (! - Not anymore) in the acclaimed Harp & Vocal, but eventually moved from song and dance to theatre. I studied theatre first at Oakland University, then Wayne State. At the age of 21 I started my own theatre company POW (Pissed Off Wimmin) with my cousin Lessa Bouchard that presented primarily at The Trumbull Theatre which is now the anarchist collective Turmbullplex. RAT Productions (Real Alternative Theatre) was the next company I formed with Bill Boyer, and meanwhile I was beginning my career as a union actor in Michigan.
If you could direct/produce one show, what would it be and why?
Any Dario Fo - provided a relevant translation was available. So anyone who can turn his Italian into language for Detroiters, come to me please.
If you could play one character in all of theatre or film, who would it be and why?
There is not one. It was Martha for some time. I have played many innocents and righteous characters. I would be interested in diving into a not so good person.
Name two artistic role models and why you look up to them.
Bruce Millan is of course a mentor. He founded the Detroit Repertory Theatre, with a small group of other artist/activists. He understood what Theatre could do -- the power it has to actively make our world a better place, whether by overtly presenting plays that address a particular social issue or injustice, or by simply telling stories that challenge our preconceptions about people.
It is too hard to pick a second - Dinah Lynch, my WSU acting teacher, my former partner in RAT productions, Bill Boyer, so many actors and directors and writers, and my husband who has become a skilled theatre designer. The womyn I shared the stage within my Rep debut of Jar The Floor - Sandra Love Aldridge, Sakunah Delaney, Jill Cheanult, Pasha Stanford - intimidated and inspired me. They all were powerhouse actors.
What did you want to be when you were a child? Are you fulfilling that dream?
An airplane pilot and then an actor. I have fulfilled the actor part, and am not done yet. But being an actor has led me to discover the fun and fulfillment of the other parts that make live theatre happen.
What is your artistic guilty pleasure?
Getting friends to sit around with me and have a party while reading plays aloud, food and drink nearby, reading roles that you may never play, but still just pretending and playing. It's not so guilty. Everybody should do this. Play!
What is your dream for the Michigan Arts Community?
That those entities that can start upping their game and give significant financial support to the arts, recognizing that a thriving arts scene is good for the emotional, social and economic wellbeing of our city, and our state. So that Detroit can become known as a Theatre town just as much as it has been Motown. So that artists come to and want to stay in Detroit because they can have a fulfilling career and a comfortable life here at the same time.
What Role/Show/Experience on your resume is the most memorable, and why?
They all are! Seriously, Hysterical is next up - it's crazy, it's fun, it's dark, it's thoughtful, weird and a little scary. Annabella in July just made me laugh 'til I cried. Sweat - I was so honored to be part of that truly important play, for anyone who cares about the working class. But someone recently brought up The Chairs at the Zeitgeist with the great Roy Dennison. Renaissance Festival when I was a teenager, the best training for a 16-year-old, all improv, in people's face, no lights or stage to keep you separated from your audience, and voice! You learn how to project!