Here’s how this executive director is creating a safe and influential space for the LGBTQIA+ community (and beyond) in Pensacola.
Theater and the arts have always been drive strength for societal progress , diversity , and inclusion — and not only on the stages of Broadway . In the Floridian city ofPensacola , a panhandle town that ’s emerging as a hotbed of nontextual matter and culture all its own , progress is being paved thanks to the leadership and imagination of community - minded individuals like Sid Williams - Heath , the executive director of the nonprofitPensacola Little Theatreand thePensacola Cultural Centerin which it resides . The historic business district building has been an anchor for artistic expression for decades — a sentiment that ’s only strengthened in late years with Williams - Heath creating a space of inclusion and endue diverse voices .
Thrillist : Can you tell us about yourself and your background?Sid Williams - Heath : I ’m from a very button-down town in Mississippi . I learn public relations and journalism , and worked at the Savannah College of Art and Design ( SCAD ) for almost six years . midway through , I got base in New York City while still working for SCAD . It was a great agency to instill being an advocate for the artistry , specially from a nonprofit perspective . New York is where I met my husband , who had gone to dental school there , and he had always had an glimmering to return home to have a practice in Pensacola . Us both being fromsmall towns , we gain that being the cheery tooth doctor in town is n’t the easiest matter , but Pensacola had a resurgence in the decennium he was gone , and it was a different city from when he provide . I did n’t really have a personal connection to Pensacola , but we gave it a fortune and it ’s been fantastic — just a mythic , unexpected city .
What made Pensacola palpate like habitation for you?Being with a homo who was born here and be intimate the chronicle , you get that account . Love brought me here , but you do n’t have to be here long to make out that you ’re part of the growth right now . There ’s such an investment in vibrancy and diversity , and get to this a really attractive place , whether that ’s people like my husband who left or people who did n’t have Pensacola on their radar . There are entity who want this to be an inclusive and all - cover position for people , and that ’s why I ’m here , and will stay here .
Sid Williams-Heath|Photo courtesy of Pensacola Little Theatre
How did you become a part of the Pensacola Little Theatre?I really wanted to set some ancestor here . I was at a cocktail party when a girl said there ’s this 110 - year - old construction that houses theater and concert dance , and , for the first time in always , they ’re charter a new executive theater director . I applied and got an automated email that they were n’t accept applications . luckily , even though I ’m not from here , my husband and his admirer connected me to a couple of people to at least weasel my way into an interview . I was able to take over the dramatic art and all the things within , and we ’ve grown a short ton since then . We have to really invest in these stories and ensure multitude bed it ’s in their backyard .
Can you talk about your role with the ethnical center and your missionary station for it?I’m the executive director of the entire cultural centre . It ’s something I was afraid of admitting at one distributor point , but I dead have a gay agenda . From the control panel phallus that we have to the staff members , I have diversity at the top of my docket . It ’s easy as a theater to say “ We ’ll put onSister Actbecause that ’ll attract the Black residential area , ” but I require to ensure that all our programming is approachable to all communities all the time . It ’s less trailblazing and more normalized . Everyone feel like they can show up and not feel weird — making sure that not only the programming that we have is for a diverse crowd , but the people offer it are representative of that same various biotic community as well .
How has the Pensacola Little Theatre evolve through its long history?We as a theater bought the old county jail and courthouse , which is now the cultural nerve centre , in the late-’80s . Even with the leadership then , it ’s always been a progressive field of operations . Through renovation from 1988 to 1996 , at any given moment , we had 20 nonprofits in one building . In November of 2021 , with COVID in mind and the nature of beau monde , half the humankind thought culture was a bad parole and half thought it needed to be pushed more , so we did this rebrand that instead of the Cultural Center , we ’re just the Center . There are so many things you could find in one building : you could find your stage , your cheery celluloid fete , your biotic community at civil events . We wanted to encourage people to discover their center at the Center .
What have been your lofty accomplishments at the theater?Speaking to theLGBTQcommunity , there was this lovely and small-scale picture fete in town that was not house at the theatre — for their first six days , they would have this film fest migrating . When I got here , I ask if they ’d be interested in being at the Center full - time . We wrote grants and get under one’s skin them state - of - the - art equipment to enhance that programming . We also have children ’s days , for the young gay community or their parents . It ’s my organization that ’s been capable to open its doors to thing likeStamped(Film Festival ) to really originate their mission and programming .
What new projects do you have come up?From a field of operations standpoint , our next big yield will beA Chorus Line , which is the most Center thing I can remember of — it has terpsichore , play , women , gays , it has people in between who do n’t care what their affiliation is . And then we give next season as big and meretricious and lofty as we can withRodgers and Hammerstein’sCinderella . We ’ve been desire to do it , and it will be the biggest thing in every way that we ’ve ever done . One of my best-loved things that we do every class is promise Cabaret . It ’s a solemnisation of artwork : It ’s gotdrag queensand sketch artist , we ’ve got culinary and cocktail art , all this art in one plaza . We had a vacation - themed nightclub this yr to celebrate all the holidays we miss during COVID , so we had a 12 - foot birthday cake for America with a Hamilton retarding force queen popping out , a sultry Valentine ’s room , a Christmas and Kwanzaa and Hanukkah room , a New Year ’s globe cliff every hour , a Halloween glow stick party , and everywhere that you turned there was art .
As a member of the LGBTQIA+ community , can you sing about how that plays a theatrical role in your vision for the Center?I had a family who , even though it was n’t easy , they ’ve received me and my husband very well . But had I had this character of safe haven , lord know what I could have done , or other kids who were having it much harder than me could have done . There ’s a huge homo community , former and vernal , with very different stories . But there ’s this one blank , because of thousands of people who make that distance with their story , return this safe surround to everyone . People come and have that comfort and ease , and I did n’t have that place growing up . If there ’s a driving force for me , it ’s that people palpate comfortable there .
Pensacola Little Theatre and the Pensacola Cultural Center|Photo courtesy of Pensacola Little Theatre
What are your hope and goals for the future tense , at the field or beyond?As part of this big renovation , we ’re putting in a fine artistic production heading that ’s completely consecrated to showcasing minority kit and caboodle . We ’re also adding a rooftop carrying into action space and bar , right on the weewee ; it ’s a great outer space for artists of all different kinds to come out and have cultural computer programing while making sustainable revenue . The whole refurbishment is taking it from a historic building to an iconic staple of the community .
Photo courtesy of Pensacola Little Theatre
Photo courtesy of Pensacola Little Theatre
Sid Williams-Heath|Photo courtesy of Pensacola Little Theatre
