After 16 years of working for The Grand in Wilmington, Executive Director Mark Fields will sing his swan song on Wednesday.
This curtain call comes after The Grand — a nonprofit that includes The Grand Opera House, Playhouse on Rodney Square and baby grand — reopened after going dark for more than 600 days due to the pandemic.
Fields fought to keep The Grand relevant in this altered COVID world. He said he’s proud to have raised over $5 million dollars for the organization through its capital fund campaign named RISE (Rebuild, Invest, Strengthen, Empower).
Instead of stressing over how to keep The Grand competitive in the tristate arts scene, Fields said he’s looking forward to traveling and spending time with his partner, which will allow him to clear his mind and decide how he’ll want to spend the next chapter of his life.
Meanwhile, he said, the esteemed performance arts theaters in Wilmington he’s overseen will be in good hands with his successor, Pamelyn Manocchio, who’s currently managing director for The Grand.
Manocchio also spent the last decade-plus in the role of director of community engagement; and she was hired at The Grand the same year as Fields.
Fields expects Manocchio, who is a few years younger than he is, to bring a fresher perspective to this prestigious post.
“It’s a different era at The Grand. It’s a different era in Wilmington and Delaware. It’s a different era in the performing arts industry, and I think new eras call for new ideas and new energy and new leadership,” Fields said.
He added, “Pam is in a great position to work more closely with local artists and with artists of color and smaller organizations within the cultural community here on deeper partnerships and other collaborations that we just haven’t gotten around to.”
‘I want some funk,’ says incoming director
It’s no secret that the population in Wilmington is predominantly Black, yet The Grand has struggled to attract a more diverse audience.
In an effort to connect more with the community, The Grand launched the Summer in the Parks program over a decade ago.
The way the grassroots program worked: The Grand partnered with city staff (in whatever city they’re in) and volunteers at local parks, who were giving free meals to residents in the area.
During a lunch hour or late in the morning, The Grand would add an arts experience that might include a dance troupe offering performance instructions to the public, or a local musician giving a concert for children.
Manocchio said she’s worked with local artists through that program, including singer Jea Street and rapper Richard Raw. She said her goal is to take things to the next level with the community they’ve interacted with at area parks, and bring that audience into the building.
“I want to see some really fabulous Black artists come through. I want to see some funk and some R&B, somebody who’s really exciting in that area. And we get those artists once in a while,” she said. “But I want to see even more of it and I want to make it the place to go for funk and R&B.”
At the same time, Manocchio isn’t interested in overhauling their entertainment program to suit one audience. Rather, she intends for The Grand to serve a diverse audience of arts lovers.
Pandemic has changed how venues book acts
One thing Fields has learned from working at The Grand is it’s not true that if you build it, an audience will come, regardless of what audience you’re trying to reach.
“It’s only true that if you build it and you tell them about it, in a way that they that they can receive the information, then they’ll come,” he explained.
Working with community ambassadors is helpful, he said, because they’ll help arts venues form a bridge with the audiences they’re trying to reach — whether it’s younger people, folks interested in a certain genre or different demographics.
Fields said part of the reason he’s stepping down is because he’s drained.
A new way of booking shows has gotten ramped up over the pandemic.
Nearly 20 years ago when Field joined The Grand, musical artists would get booked at a venue about a year in advance. Before the pandemic, however, that window started to shrink. But it really got aggressive during the pandemic, Fields explained.
These days, artists are committing to shows about three to six months in advance.
Fields thinks most of that was driven by COVID, because artists figured, “Why go through all of the expense and the effort of planning a tour, if you’re going to have to cancel it?”
But this shorter window hasn’t widened and Fields suspects it now has more to do with performers wanting to keep their schedules open to do things like appear on a podcast, or take advantage of other opportunities that might be good for their career in the moment if they have a viral moment or make a viral song.
“Careers sometimes go off like a rocket. And it’s not like it’s unprecedented,” Fields said. “But it certainly happens with greater frequency now than it ever has before.”
Manocchio isn’t sure if this shorter booking trend is here to stay. But if it is, she said, “It’s definitely something we can adjust to.”
The incoming director also mentioned that patrons aren’t buying tickets six months in advance either, but rather they’re becoming more last-minute with their purchasing habits.
Fields’ successor didn’t go into specifics about how they’re going to make things work in this new era. But her confidence isn’t shaken.
“We can still anticipate the number of shows that are coming out and we can still anticipate what our ticket sales are going to be,” she said. “It’s more about planning around the flow of all of that. And I think the plan can adjust.”
Proud of The Grand’s COVID victories
As Fields looks back on his career, he said he’s most proud of keeping The Grand relevant when it was closed during the pandemic.
He accomplished this in a variety of ways that include the Concerts By Car series, a parking lot concert which attracted around 200 cars outside Frawley Stadium.
There also was The Grand’s Drive-In Cinema where folks watched classic films from their ride at Bellevue State Park.
But Fields said their biggest accomplishment when The Grand went dark was what they did at the end of 2020.
“The most distinctive and impactful thing that we did was the holiday lights show, down at the Riverfront,” he explained. “We sent more than 10,000 cars through to that light show. We estimate we served more than 35,000 people.”
‘I’m a little envious’
In one way or another, Fields has been working since he was 10. Now the 62-year-old feels a little funny that he’s going to be out of work for the first time in his life.
But he’s not complaining, because his partner, who has been retired for almost two years, inspired him to catch up with her. He was jealous of her last year.
“I’m a little envious, to be truthful,” Fields confided.
But envy has virtually faded, because the theater lover will bow out on Wednesday.
Fields’ future plans including going to a family wedding and visiting national parks with his partner – just to name a few.
“We have lots of interests. We like to bicycle. We like to garden. We like to be with family and do puzzles,” he said.
“I’m not worried at all about finding something to do.”
More Delaware arts stories
Firefly icon Sobear: A rave-happy teddy bear and a symbol of hope
PnB Rock’s Firefly pics go viral: Delaware made him smile
Firefly 2022 adds set times: Fans must flip coins over schedule conflicts with headliners
Eminem and Straight No Chaser: They both have ties to Delaware TikTok star
Longwood Gardens travel guide: What you need to know if you go
