Triumph of Courage: Repertory director lives her dreams

When Gerry Patton was living in New York City, she became an avid theater fan.

She religiously attended the Apollo Theater's amateur nights on Wednesdays and its new-show openings on Fridays. She also took in several other productions around New York. She wanted to perform herself, but couldn't bring herself to do it.

"I always had the desire -- but not the courage," she said.

Patton, 63, still loves theater with a passion. But she has transformed herself from an observer into a participant working behind the scenes. She has a job that requires not only desire and courage but also patience and the kind of people skills that keep volunteers happy and motivated to get things done. She is the executive director of the N.C. Black Repertory Company, which will present the biennial National Black Theatre Festival beginning Aug. 3.

"With time … you learn that not trying things is more to your detriment," she said, explaining a philosophy she developed over time. "Who knows what could happen if you try it? But if you don't try it, nothing is going to happen."

Patton became executive director in 2007, overseeing N.C. Black Rep's business affairs while Mabel Robinson runs the artistic side of things. The dual-leadership model was adopted in 2007 after the death of Larry Leon Hamlin, who founded and served as the sole director of both the N.C. Black Repertory Company and the festival.

"I'm not surprised (Patton) became executive

director," said Sylvia Sprinkle-Hamlin, Hamlin's widow, who serves N.C. Black Rep as a board member. "She's a person that, if she believes in something, she works really hard to accomplish it…. She's a strong individual. She doesn't let little things bother her."

After serving several years as one of N.C. Black Rep's many volunteers, Patton now oversees what they do, helps raise money (the budget for his year's festival is $1.1 million) and monitors the progress of festival "consultants." The consultants are located around the country; each takes on one of several duties, which range from lining up celebrities for the festival to ironing out important technical aspects of each production.

Inevitably, cost-cutting has become necessary, especially in these financially challenging times. But Patton said she tries to work with Robinson and other artists to find ways to maintain excellence despite economizing.

Purposeful path

Patton's path to N.C. Black Rep took a while to materialize. In the late 1970s, after living in New York for 14 years, she got married, started a family and moved back to her native Winston-Salem to find greater support among family and friends. She also began working in the corporate world, becoming adept at working with all kinds of people, from executive bankers to secretaries, a skill that's invaluable in her current job. (She has since divorced, has two grown children and one grandchild.)

Patton held many jobs at Wachovia, including that of trainer, the skills of which can be applied to working with volunteers. After her stint at Wachovia, Patton worked more than 10 years for both Segmented Marketing Services, Inc., and for Urban Call, a company publication.

"She learned and honed her marketing skills she (uses) at the festival," said Lafayette Jones, Patton's boss at Segmented Marketing.

Patton resumed her old habit of attending plays, becoming a patron of N.C. Black Rep and the festival. She might have stayed in her seat, both literally and figuratively, had it not been for the fact that she befriended John Poindexter, an actor very close to Hamlin. Poindexter, after learning of Patton's love of theater, urged her to become a volunteer for N.C. Black Rep. She did.

In the 1990s, just before a festival, Sprinkle-Hamlin was giving volunteers various assignments. Patton got an intriguing one, namely providing transportation to celebrities, who needed to be picked up at airports and/or driven around Winston-Salem, and for production companies, which needed to be moved from hotels to performance venues.

"I didn't run into any of the ego-tripping celebrities," Patton said. "I would have thought that some of them would have been. They're really basically down-to-earth people. They just happen to be actors."

Patton recalls that two actors, Ted Lange and Vanessa Bell Calloway, were talking about some projects as she drove them to dinner and, seeking a more objective view, asked Patton how she felt about what they were planning to do.

Getting in deeper

After the transportation gig, Patton further deepened her involvement with the N.C. Black Rep. She said her "responsibilities just increased," as one well-done task inspired the Hamlins to give Patton another and another. In time, she joined N.C. Black Rep's guild, which consists of volunteers who, in return for paying to join it, get several benefits, including reduced ticket prices and acknowledgments in program books. She became the guild's president and joined N.C. Black Repertory Company's board of trustees.

Patton also became closer to Larry Leon Hamlin, even serving as his "loctician," the person who braided his hair and stylized it with dreadlocks. Such work can take hours to complete, and Patton and Hamlin would spend the time talking about the festival and where he wanted to take it.

"They'd be up late at night," Sprinkle-Hamlin said. "That's how Larry was. He liked to surround himself with people who worked hard and who believed in his cause. Gerry was one of those people."

■ The National Black Theatre Festival will be presented Aug. 3-8 in Winston-Salem. See the Winston-Salem Journal for continuing coverage.

■ Ken Keuffel can be reached at 727-7337 or at kkeuffel@wsjournal.com