Sun 1/27 @ 6-9PM
After nearly 40 years with Near West Theatre, artistic director Bob Navis Jr. is retiring at the end of next month. It’s been quite a journey for the well-loved figure, who spent more than a half a century at the intersection of theater, music and creativity.
As you’ll learn from Navis, he started out as a music teacher, choir director and high school musical theater director at both St. Francis Community Theatre and Erieview Catholic High School before institutional intolerance unsuccessfully attempted to break his spirit.
At that time, Navis had already planted his roots at Near West Theatre where he helped founder Stephanie Morrison Hrbek create a mission of building loving relationships and engaging diverse people through transformational theatre arts experiences. Little did he know that the theater would become his new full-time home.
Near West Theatre scheduled a retirement celebration for Navis Sun 1/27 @ 6-9pm at the theater’s Gordon Square location. Admission is free. There will be performances, testimonials, and food and drink available for purchase.
CoolCleveland talked to Navis, 67, about his life, Near West Theatre and his future.
CoolCleveland: Bob, congratulations on retirement. Why was the time right?
Bob Navis Jr.: It felt like a good moment to go. It’s been on my radar a few years, actually. Ever since we moved into the new building, we kind of knew, especially because my partner, New West Theatre founder Stephanie Morrison Hrbek, retired a year ago last October. That was a really big transition. I felt like it was probably wise to hang around for another year. So it’s kind of an end of an era and it feels like my work is done here.
CC: Looking back to your initial involvement with what would become Near West Theatre, did you have any idea it would last nearly four decades?
BN: My heavens, no. It was like another lifetime ago. That’s how it feels. At that point, when I first started to work with Stephanie, I was heavily involved in St. Francis Church, which was my home parish on the east side of Cleveland. I had grown up there. It was my whole world. I was teaching music in the school. I was running the St. Francis Community Theater. I was also music director at Erieview Catholic High School, which doesn’t exist anymore. My life was really full when I met Stephanie. The interesting thing was, I didn’t have any inkling that in 1985 I would lose all of that because I was fired from the Catholic Church for being gay and in a relationship. I lost an entire community and family of people that up to that point I had dedicated my whole life to. I was 35 years old then. What I didn’t realize as that ended, I was now going to go into a complete transition and build my life kind of from scratch all over again.
CC: At the time you were fired, what had been your involvement with Near West Theatre?
BN: I was already working with Stephanie once a year doing musical direction for the shows. I may have also musically directed their first adult production because there were people from Near West Theatre’s community that came to the vigil that was held on Erieview Catholic High School. It was a very public event when I left. I didn’t realize that was going to be my new life. Then, because I was available, my work with Near West Theatre and Stephanie just grew and grew. So I started to direct and musically direct there. Finally, after a number of years, the decision was made to make me the artistic director. Overall, I feel like I’ve had two lifetimes.
CC: What has Near West Theatre meant to you?
BN: I think it’s probably the same for me as it is for the community. At that time, it was a shining light in a lot of darkness. With the mission of healing through theater, personal growth through theater and diverse people coming together and intimately becoming aware of each other: our stories, our process of doing theater is really a life-changing one. That’s always been a goal and it was for me. I had my own personal needs taken care of in a lot of ways there. Near West Theatre became art, family, friends. It’s like that for so many people who walk in the door. The typical story is once you come to Near West Theatre, you kind of never leave. The friendships that happen there and the process of doing theater there create relationships that are truly long-lasting. It’s a very unique and rather rare place.
CC: Over the decades, did Near West Theatre’s artistic vision change or evolve?
BN: I think that the artistic vision of Near West Theatre is mainly about creating shows that have a real vital pull for the actors and for the audience alike. There is a fierceness of honesty and authenticity. That we are not duplicating how these shows have ever been done before, which many theaters actually do. Of course, part of it is encouraging the actors to fully digest that story and include their own stories in how they process these characters and their motivations. So the artistic vision really is theater that has something to say for today and to be relevant in our times.
CC: Why are you confident Near West Theatre is in good hands going forward?
BN: There are a lot of good people. Our managing director, Michael Obertacz, is a multiskilled person with a lot of energy and vitality and a lot of business know-how, which is the thing we were needing the most because to keep a nonprofit afloat in this culture — especially now, we have a more than $1 million annual budget — is a constant struggle. We also have a very strong staff. So between the actors, the volunteers, families, there are a lot of folks who have been involved for many years and are very committed to Near West Theatre having a long life.
CC: Finally, what does retirement look like for Bob Navis Jr.?
BN: We’ll see. It’s kind of a blank canvas. I haven’t planned anything, but I’m really open. Of course, theater and music have been one of the main joys of my life, so I’m looking forward to maybe finding new ways to play piano. That’s sort of how I got into everything. I was a piano player at the beginning. It’s one of my favorite things to do.
[Written by John Benson]
Cleveland, OH 44102