Astor Theatre director brings passion and paws to new role
Jerri Southcott took over this week as executive director of the Astor Theatre in Liverpool. (Rick Conrad photo)
By Rick Conrad
The Astor Theatre in Liverpool got more than a new executive director this week. It also got a new dog.
Jerri Southcott took over on Feb. 5 from interim executive director Jean Robinson.
And she’s already made one big change.
Macduff, her laidback nine-year-old Nova Scotia duck tolling retriever, will be keeping her company as she leads the Astor.
Southcott isn’t worried about the old W.C. Fields warning against working with children or animals.
“He takes that saying and spins it to the positive for sure. He’ll definitely steal the show.”
Macduff and Southcott are no strangers to the stage. He made an appearance in the musical Pippin last summer at the theatre, which Southcott brought to the Astor with her own theatre company, South Shore Summer Theatre.
Macduff at the Astor Theatre. His mom, Jerri Southcott, took over as executive director. (Jerri Southcott photo)
The Astor announced in January that it had hired Southcott, who lives in Mahone Bay with Macduff and her husband Dave Stephens.
In her first week on the job, she says she’s been busy getting to know the theatre, its staff members Ashley-Rose Goodwin, Katy Hopkins and Malcolm Freeman and the community.
She’s already impressed.
“We’re really blessed to have Ashley and Malcolm and Katy here who are so incredibly skilled,” she said in an interview.
“I just observed over the past few days how wonderful the people are in this community and how much they adore this theatre and so I feel very fortunate.”
She says she doesn’t plan any big changes, because she knows what it’s like to balance a tight budget for a charitable organization like the Astor.
“I learned a lot when I started South Shore Summer Theatre. But it really helped me especially with this job understand the accountability you need as a non-profit, understanding the balance of providing an opportunity for professional training at no cost to the community, especially youth, and how you balance that cheque book.”
She says the key will be continuing the work the Astor has done in the past couple of years to bring people back to the theatre after the pandemic.
With homegrown productions like the musical Follies, opening Feb. 22, she says it’s an exciting time to be here.
“I’m coming at a really great time because we have Follies opening on Feb. 22 and it’s going to be a great show. But it’s also given me an opportunity to meet some really interesting characters who come through the doors and really take ownership of the building adn the theater. They are so giving and generous with their time, often their money. We’re very blessed to have such a great hub of the community here with this theatre.”
Southcott says it’s her priority to get to know the community and what they want from the Astor. It’s important to keep people coming back to the theatre, she says, whether that’s for great entertainment or by offering more training and workshops for youth, regardless of their financial background.
“This has always been a really strong passion of mine to make theatre, dance, music accessible to families who don’t have the money to pay for expensive music lessons … or private dance classes.”
With her background in government communications, Southcott says she is optimistic that the Astor can become the theatre destination for the whole South Shore.
“How do we get that message out there and how do we continue to let people know we’re here? When you look at the big picture, on the South Shore we are the biggest theatre. We have the potential for Bridgewater, Mahone Bay, Lunenburg to take ownership of this as their theatre on the South Shore because there isn’t a venue as big anywhere in the area. So I think that the future looks really bright.”
Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com