After 26 years, Chip Decker bids goodbye to Actor’s Theatre and talks about next steps

For Chip Decker, it’s almost time to call it a career with Actor’s Theatre of Charlotte.

In March, the company’s executive director announced he was stepping down at the end of June after 26 years with ATC.

But before that happens, the 56-year-old had one last job to do. Decker was directing “Becoming Dr. Ruth,” the company’s last show of its 33rd season. The one-woman show was running through Saturday, June 25.

We talked to Decker recently about his career and what comes next; the conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity.

What did you do before Actors Theatre?

I went into the Air Force in 1985. Our first day of basic training, this guy yells, “Who plays the trumpet or drum?” I said I did. If you want to go through basic training as a cakewalk, do it in the Drum and Bugle Corps.

My first and only assignment was in Minot, North Dakota. There was a theater group in town, where I learned everything I could. I met Taffy (his wife) there. She was originally from Charlotte and was working backstage in wardrobe.

Next, I took a job in the old Mercy Hospital pharmacy. Immediately upon arriving in Charlotte, I checked out the theater scene. Actors Theatre was doing really cutting-edge stuff, and I was like, these are stories I want to hear and tell.

So, you started working with Dan Shoemaker?

Yes, one of ATC’s co-founders. I auditioned for (ATC), but couldn’t get my foot in the door. Finally, I got a call from Dan: “We’re doing this film noir type show, and I think you’d be great. Are you interested?” Of course, I was. I loved it, and I was getting paid. That was new.

When we were loading into Spirit Square, we had a very difficult day. Everything went poorly. And I thought: I can fix this. I told Dan I had some ideas. After that, they offered me a position as technical director. Not full-time, not even part-time. It was all a stipend per show.

In about ‘99, I said to Dan: “We’ve got decent ticket sales; our audiences are building. But a large portion of what we earn is paying for storage units. We need to try it on our own.”

We didn’t really have the cash. I was just dumb enough and stubborn enough to think: This town’s booming. We should be able to do this. I got the ear of one of my board members whose husband was a developer. They said: Find a building, develop a business plan and we’ll talk about how we make this happen.

Also, I play bass. I would go down to a wonderful, old music store – Reliable Music (on Stonewall Street). They had this really cool stage setup. I walked in one day, and there’s a “Going out of business” sign. I freak. I bought Dan in, and he loved it. It’s uptown. There’s parking. When our board saw the space, they loved it. The developer bought it.

That’s about 2004, and by then, I had become artistic director. Dan and I were making a salary as the company’s two full-time employees...

And our bar? It made beaucoup bucks. When you’re in control of your own facility, you can start reinvesting your money.

By 2016, we had an operating budget of $1.1 million, which was pretty darn impressive given the size of the company.

Your Stonewall space became an apartment building. When was that?

The end of 2016. My biggest takeaway: A theater company operating its own space is a terrible business model. You’re dark most of the year. You’ve got to find a space you can operate with other arts groups so the space is programmed all the time.

Are you interested in making that happen?

That’s part of what I want to work on next. I love the idea of a theater company sharing space with, say, the local violin teacher and everything in between.

But your current space at Queens University can’t support that?

It’s not the right space for this. But the payback (for this model) is that these groups might be self-sustaining in five years. It’s a little bit of a pipe dream, but that’s one of the things post-ATC that myself and former board chair Rob Swaringen have been talking about.

What’s your proudest moment at ATC?

It sounds corny, but it was the day I was able to tell my staff: “You have health insurance. Go see the frickin’ doctor.” This was pre-Obamacare.

What about a favorite moment in a show?

We were doing “Kindertransport,” (in the late ‘90s) and had about 10 minutes left in the production. It’s coming up to that wonderful denouement and the power went out to the entire Spirit Square block. All of a sudden, the theater was pitch dark. And I yell: “Stay seated! The ushers are getting their flashlights. We’ll get you out of here.” And someone in the audience yells, “But how does it end?”

I asked, “Do you all want to see it under flashlights?” And the answer was a resounding “yes.”

So, the ushers got every flashlight they could find and gave them to audience members. And they turned them toward the stage, and that cast came out and did that final 10 minutes. And we got probably a three- or four-minute standing ovation.

How did COVID impact ATC?

You’d make a plan, and four hours later you needed to make another plan. There were opportunities through federal, local and state government for funding to help us open again. That was a huge blessing.

And then, it came time to reopen. We went outside (at the Barn at MoRa) with the first half of season 33 and that was successful, and we’ll be doing it again in 34. They’ll be doing “Evil Dead,” which should be amazing in those woods.

What I’m worried about for arts groups is the next season. The financial support the government provided is not going to be there again. This is going to be the hardest year for a lot of arts organizations.

How did you decide it was time to leave ATC?

COVID, I’m not going to lie, took its toll on me. It was about 5 in the morning, and I was at the theater loading tents into my truck for “Rock of Ages.” And one of the tents fell out of its holdings and crashed to the ground. And I looked at it and just stood there for a few minutes.

I was frozen, crippled. I wondered: What are you doing? What are you doing? And I loaded the truck up, and between the theater and the Barn on Monroe, I made the decision that it was time for me to go — for my physical and mental health.

What’s next?

There are so many things I want to do. I want to try to get an arts center going... a place to let artists create. There’s a young, vibrant energetic thing here, and for goodness’ sake, we need to embrace that. The arts can be a tourist attraction.

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This story was originally published June 22, 2022 at 6:00 AM.