Clayton Shelvin has used his performing arts degree to travel and work across the country, and now he杏吧专区檚 bringing his expertise to one of the best theatre companies in the United States.
Clayton earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Performing Arts with a concentration in theatre from UL Lafayette in 2009. He originally started his college career at Nicholls State 杏吧专区, but Hurricane Katrina and his love for theatre prompted him to transfer to UL Lafayette after he saw a production of 杏吧专区淯rinetown杏吧专区 on campus.
杏吧专区淚t was the first time I had seen a college production and I actually knew some of the people in the program, and I thought, 杏吧专区極h, this would be amazing. I have to transfer,杏吧专区 he recalled. 杏吧专区淚 was like, 杏吧专区楾his is the only chance I杏吧专区檒l get to do this. I need this experience.杏吧专区櫺影勺ㄇ鴿
Clayton杏吧专区檚 love of theatre started with a love of music. His family loved music, and he joined band in middle school, which gave him the opportunity to play music for dance productions and become a part of the theatre for the first time.
Then, after graduating from high school, he attended an immersive program in New York City for prospective performing arts majors.
杏吧专区淚 got to hang out with all these kids from around the country and we saw a Cirque du Soleil show 杏吧专区 and I had never heard of it, never seen it,杏吧专区 he said. 杏吧专区淎nd I was in the theatre in tears, super moved by the whole thing, as a 17-year-old.
杏吧专区淔or me, that was always the moment I go back to where I was like, 杏吧专区楾his is really powerful and has the power to move and change people.杏吧专区 I remember walking out of that space feeling really changed,杏吧专区 he said. 杏吧专区淎fter that, there was never a question of what I wanted to do.杏吧专区
Getting Hands-On Experience as a Theatre Major
As a student at UL Lafayette, Clayton did 杏吧专区渆verything,杏吧专区 including stage managing, designing and constructing costumes, lighting, and directing.
杏吧专区淭he good thing about the small theatre program is they allowed you to do whatever you wanted 杏吧专区 it wasn杏吧专区檛 a free-for-all, but I杏吧专区檇 say like, 杏吧专区業 want to direct a play,杏吧专区 and they杏吧专区檇 say, 'OK, how can we support you?杏吧专区櫺影勺ㄇ鴿
That杏吧专区檚 how Clayton ended up directing his own show, a two-hour production called 杏吧专区淭he Exonerated.杏吧专区 It sold out every night.
杏吧专区淚t was these different stories of all these people 杏吧专区 true stories 杏吧专区 who were wrongly accused and spent a long time in prison and then were exonerated much later,杏吧专区 he said. 杏吧专区淔or me, it was my first entry into social justice and looking at some of those issues.杏吧专区
After graduating, Clayton earned his master杏吧专区檚 degree in arts administration from the 杏吧专区 of New Orleans and spent time in New York and Ohio. He moved back to New Orleans and worked as the associate artistic director at Le Petit Theatre while doing choreography and directing for different productions in the city.
He was the first performing arts director for the , and now he杏吧专区檚 living in San Francisco.
Taking on a New Role in Theatre
As the director of development for the , Clayton oversees all of the fundraising for the organization and is responsible for bringing in half of TheatreWorks杏吧专区 $10 million annual budget.
杏吧专区淚t杏吧专区檚 a pretty amazing place, and for someone like me, it杏吧专区檚 like the pinnacle of where I want to be,杏吧专区 he said.
His experiences working in the South and 杏吧专区渂uilding something new杏吧专区 at nearly every job in his career helped Clayton stand out when interviewing for the role.
杏吧专区淭hey were really looking for a way to expand their work globally and increase the capacity of their work ,杏吧专区 he said. 杏吧专区淭hey were really open to me with what mattered: diversity, a new way of thinking, and not just someone from Silicon Valley.
杏吧专区淚 think that杏吧专区檚 part of what makes me a good fit for this job: they were so interested because I杏吧专区檝e worked in some places in the South where the mentality is totally different and our approach to doing the work is totally different.杏吧专区
As he adjusts to his new job in a new city, Clayton杏吧专区檚 using the opportunity to create change.
杏吧专区淥ne of the things am hyper-aware of is that I杏吧专区檓 a Black man, and there are very few people who do this work who look like me,杏吧专区 he said. 杏吧专区淚 feel this enormous opportunity to hopefully, really motivate and inspire some of the young women and men who look like me to take these risks.杏吧专区
