Posts Tagged Savage Umbrella

Meet Laura Leffler, the Newest Member of the Team

Park Square Theatre is excited to welcome Laura Leffler to downtown Saint Paul as she assumes the duties of the Company and Contract Manager. With a wealth of experience, she is stoked and ready to embrace all the challenges to come her way, including carving out time in her eventful day to connect with this blogger and answer a few questions!

What’s your background? What brought you to the Twin Cities and how did you get involved with Park Square?

I’m from Kansas City. I moved to the Twin Cities for an internship with Theatre de la Jeune Lune after graduating with my M.A. in Theatre History with an emphasis in Direction from the University of Kansas. I went to undergrad at a teeny tiny liberal arts college called Baker University, where I majored in English Literature and Theatre with an emphasis in performance. After moving to the Twin Cities, I co-founded the theatre company Savage Umbrella, for which I serve as the Artistic Director.

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Laura Leffler in her spiffy new office. Photo by Connie Shaver.

I met Megan West, the former Production Manager, at the Minnesota Theatre Alliance’s Performing Arts Human Resource Training series in 2015. I admired her work and tenacity for striving for diversity and inclusion, so when she went on maternity leave last fall, I covered for her while she was having a really cute baby. That time last fall allowed me to meet a lot of the staff, and get a small taste of the culture at Park Square.

What is the nature of your new role? What is your favorite part about it and what can be a challenge?

As the Company and Contract Manager, I feel a little like I’m learning to drive the car while I’m actually driving the car (which is a fun metaphor that helps me feel less overwhelmed). It’s a slightly different job than I had while I was covering for Megan, as some staffing changes and responsibilities shifted around. My favorite part is to get to be in the room where it happens (thanks, Hamilton) and have big picture conversations with Artistic Director Richard Cook and Executive Director Michael-jon Pease. Also, having a hand in casting is great. I think I’m good at putting together a team to work together in the room, and I’m excited that gets to be a part of my every day work. Everything that involves spreadsheets is a challenge, because I’m “Queen of the Right Brains”. But, every challenge is an opportunity, and I’m always excited to jump at an opportunity for growth.

Have you always done theatre-related work?

What theatre artist ever does all theatre-related work? No, most recently I was covering a few shifts at a local co-op deli. Love me some organic veggies, but they put an inordinate amount of lettuce on their sandwiches, so I’m glad to be back in a theatre setting!

What do you like to do when you’re not working hard?

I have wanderlust like nobody’s business, so I’m always looking forward to the next trip. Camping and tromping around Europe are my favorites. I have a goal to visit all of the national parks, and I’m about 40 short still, so I gotta get moving on that. I’m an avid cook and foodie, so if you ever want to talk Michael Pollan or the latest season of Top Chef, I’m your gal. I like high-brow theatre and dumb movies, rooting for Minnesota United and the Kansas City Royals (sorry, Twins, I bleed blue), and making my 4-year old daughter laugh.

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Now that you know all about Laura, it won’t be awkward to randomly talk to her about your favorite episode of Top Chef or your last trip to a national park. As for that Royals and Twins rivalry… well… we’ll just let that play out on the field.

Welcome to our team at Park Square!

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