Paul Pierce’s onstage exit interview. And meet the new leaders at Springer Opera House

It was a few hours after Thursday’s announcement of his pending retirement. Flanked by his two successors, Springer Opera House producing artistic director Paul Pierce sat onstage at the historic State Theater of Georgia in downtown Columbus amid the set for the show opening that night.

As the news spread through the community, the Springer legend took time to reflect on his more than three decades leading this 152-year-old institution, and his successors expressed their gratitude his impact.

Effective on Oct. 1, Danielle Varner, currently the managing director, will take on Pierce’s CEO duties in the role of executive producer; Keith McCoy, currently the associate artistic director, will become the artistic director.

Pierce put in perspective why the Springer matters.

“People come to the theater with a yearning,” he told the Ledger-Enquirer. “They’re not coming just to be entertained. There is a hole in our lives. Every person who sits in this theater has a hole in their life, and they’re looking to fill that hole any way they can. They wouldn’t describe it that way, but when they sit in the theater and they scan the stage, they’re scanning the stage for meaning. And when you are performing in little towns and big towns and you’re meeting the people afterwards, … you realize this is essential to these people’s lives. This is not just amusement.”

McCoy and Varner told the L-E that Pierce’s leadership style can be summed up in one word: kindness.

“He gets whatever he needs out of them,” McCoy said, “but never losing his cool, never losing his temper, constantly encouraging, nurturing.”

Varner appreciates Pierce for demonstrating the power of his kindness.

“I got to do a show for him, then I became box office manager, and his energy is so infectious, and he’s always positive and has a positive outlook, and that feeds into our staff,” she said.

The Springer has the financial health as evidence that Pierce’s leadership also benefited the bottom line:

• The Springer ended its first season under Pierce’s leadership 35 years ago with approximately 10,000 admissions. Now, the Springer has the second-largest theater audience in Georgia — second only to the Alliance Theater in Atlanta — with more than 112,000 admissions during the past year.

• While the COVID pandemic devastated many regional theaters, the Springer not only survived but now thrives with a strong balance sheet and no debt.

• And for the first time in his Springer tenure, a show has generated 100% of its ticket-sales goal before opening night.

So, although the title of this comedy is “The Play that Goes Wrong,” and he’s the director, it’s clear so much has gone right at the Springer under Pierce’s leadership — and he’s going out on a high note, leaving a lasting legacy and setting up his successors for even more success.

Why now and what next

Last year, the Springer board established a succession committee. A consultant for nonprofit organizations assessed the Springer and recommended dividing its lead position into two roles, one focusing on the artistic side and the other focusing on the business side. The consultant also recommended promoting qualified staffers to fill those new positions.

“I supported that fully and helped write their job descriptions,” Pierce said.

In a 2014 interview with the L-E, Pierce said, “I’m going to be the director of the Springer Opera House until I croak — or as long as I keep doing a good job. The board of directors does have something to say about that.”

Thursday, asked why he decided nine years later to retire, the 70-year-old Pierce, noted the Springer’s deep competency among its staff.

“One of the things that I’m most proud about is the development of the Springer and the young, smart, creative cadre of people who’ve risen up right here on the soil,” Pierce said. “I looked around at one point and realized these people and others like them were ready to run, and I didn’t feel like I needed to be standing in their way.

“ They have energy. They have motivation. They have momentum,” he continued. “And the Springer needs that, and so does the community.”

Pierce plans to stay in this community and continue to support the Springer however he can.

“As long as I’m alive I’m going to be fighting for the Springer and trying to enhance its resources in any way,” he said. “. . . I love the Springer. The Springer has given me a creative life, and I need the Springer in my life.”

In retirement, he plans to pursue playwrighting. Among his ideas for “stories that need to be told,” Pierce said, are topics such as the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, a Native American tribe indigenous to the Columbus area, and the cleanup of organized crime and corruption during the 1950s across the Chattahoochee River in Phenix City.

Asked about regrets during his Springer tenure, Pierce mentioned one.

“I regret that we were not able to pay our people, including artists, what they deserve to be paid,” he said. “… Columbus has been incredibly generous to the Springer Opera House, and we wouldn’t be where we are today without it, but we need the national brands. We need Coca-Cola. We need Delta. We need the big brands to support the big idea which is the Springer Opera House.”

Pierce wants that big idea to reach more folks.

“I feel like we’ve created a platform upon which these young, smart, creative people can then do the thing that we’ve talked about behind the scenes for some years, and it’s to be … America’s best regional theater company,” he said.“ You look at our audience growth, you look at our program, how rich it is, the education programs, our new works, really everything we’ve been doing, if we were in a big city … we would be that city’s best theater. It’s time that the rest of the world knows that.”

Coming to Columbus

A native of Rome, Georgia, Pierce started his 46-year theater career, which includes more than 500 productions, as associate artistic director of the Texas-based Repertory Theatre of America, a national touring company. He then was producing artistic director of the Harbor Playhouse in Corpus Christi, Texas, and managing director of the Wayside Theatre in Middletown, Virginia, before he joined the Springer in 1988.

When he arrived in Columbus, Pierce considered the city to still be mostly a mill town. Since then, the growth of major employers such as Aflac, Synovus and TSYS and the elevation of Columbus College into Columbus State University, helped list the education and income levels of residents. They sought theater as one of their lifestyle enjoyments, and they wanted that experience for their children.

Pierce recruited the late Ron Anderson, a University of Georgia classmate, to develop in Columbus the “life skills through stage skills” teaching philosophy that Anderson established at the First Stage Theater Academy in Milwaukee. In 1996, Anderson and his wife, Debbie, now the Springer’s music director, moved to Columbus, and the Springer Theatre Academy was born. More than 600 students are expected to attend this summer.

Sally Baker succeeded Anderson after he died from cancer in 2016, and DB Woolbright, who grew up attending the academy, became the director after Baker left last year to become STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) program specialist with the Georgia Department of Education.

Keith McCoy

Now, the academy has helped produce another Springer leader in McCoy. After he came to Columbus in 2009 as an actor in the role of Jim in “Big River,” Anderson asked him to teach at the academy, then Pierce asked him to direct and choreograph the 2017 production of “Dreamgirls.”

“I fell in love with the space,” said McCoy, who graduated from Churchland High School in Portsmouth, Virginia, and Norfolk State University. “… I fell in love with the people.”

During the past 13, McCoy has worked at the Springer as a guest director, actor, choreographer and teacher. A year ago, Pierce brought McCoy onto his team full-time as a resident artist and then promoted him to associate artistic director in November.

The leadership transition will be easier than some would think because of “the hard work” Pierce has done, McCoy said.

“Paul passing the baton on to me and Danielle, it is an honor,” McCoy said. “It is an honor to sit in this man’s presence and to just hear him talk about all the things he has accomplished through his entire career.”

Pierce described the leadership he sees in McCoy.

“To be in the rehearsal hall with him, is a life-changing experience for artists,” Pierce said. “They are inspired by his vision, and they do everything they can to rise to the occasion of his challenges to them. He has a pure heart, and he wants them to be better. There’s a lot of directors that want the show to be better, and they’ve got their way of communicating that, but Keith has a way of making the people involved, the creators involved, feel like they are better people for that.”

Hearing such praise boosts McCoy’s confidence.

“It was comforting to know that Paul believed in me and knew I could do this,” he said.

Danielle Varner

Varner grew up in the Columbus area. She graduated from Russell County High School and Southern Union State Community College.

For 21 years, Varner has worked at the Springer in various capacities, first in sales, then development and, for the past six years, as managing director, overseeing day-to-day operations, budget tracking, board relations and preservation of the historic building.

“The Springer has enriched me in so many ways,” she said. “It has made me a better leader, a better person. Getting to work under Paul Pierce has been the greatest honor. He is not only a great leader; he’s a great teacher. He has taught me so much about tickets, fundraising, donor relations, and he has been the best friend and mentor anyone could ask for.”

Pierce explained the trust he has in Varner.

“I see people, in particular the last three or four or five years, going to Danielle when they used to come to me,” he said. “… She is a natural leader, and she is part of the fabric of this institution. Everybody sees that. Whether it’s audience, whether it’s passion for the work itself or whether it’s being a steward of a great national historic landmark, Danielle is a fabulous historic preservationist.

“This is a 152-year-old institution, and one of the things Columbus demands is that this building is taken care of,” he added. “Danielle fights for this national historic landmark every single day, and everybody sees that.”