As a kid, Theo Joseph learned to play the flute at a music school in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and later worked as a music teacher.
Decades later, and now a father of three, Joseph says his passion for arts education is part of why he’s so proud to work at Ruth Eckerd Hall.
“When we say we’re changing lives through the performing arts and education, it’s not just words,” said Joseph, a database and prospect manager whose work focuses on the organization’s donors and members. “I have experienced it as a kid, as a music teacher. And when I came here, what I saw was not just words. It’s action.”
Joseph isn’t the only Ruth Eckerd Hall employee with a background in the arts — it’s a thread that several said drew them to the organization.
Some grew up onstage, donning costumes for community theater productions and concert black for youth recitals. Others aren’t performers, but say they love working for a company that has played host to the likes of John Legend and Kristin Chenoweth, Robin Williams and Billy Ocean.
“This organization is well known for being the best performing arts center in this part of the country,” Joseph said. “Working here is like living the dream.”
For Emily Sinz, a career in the entertainment industry fulfills a childhood dream.
Sinz is the operations manager at the Bilheimer Capitol Theatre, the downtown Clearwater venue managed by Ruth Eckerd staff. She grew up doing dance and theater nearby, and first interned with the organization nearly a decade ago.
“I was here for six months, and I ate up every day,” Sinz said. She kept the badges from every show she worked and wrote the details of each day in a notebook, eager to share with her mom when she got home.
Sinz studied entertainment management in college and quickly returned to Ruth Eckerd Hall for a job in the member services department. Then onto a position in programming and later operations management. She now works in the same office where she interned as a high schooler.
The job can be chaotic. But backstage, Sinz said, employees foster a culture of support and respect.
“I paint it out like it’s sunshine and rainbows, and it really isn’t,” she said. “There are situations that are very high stress, and we’re all high strung. But it’s like a family, where if someone brings 30% one day, I’ll bring 70%.”
The perks are great, too, she said. Sinz has worked with a range of performers she has long admired, including Tony Award-winning actor Sutton Foster.
“All of our venues attract different acts, and I love that contrast,” she said. “You can bring in podcasters, comedians — the list is endless.” In one recent weekend, Ruth Eckerd Hall hosted the rock band Styx, the jazz fusion band Spyro Gyra, comedian Jay Leno and a Fleetwood Mac tribute show at its venues across Clearwater.
“Working in a performing arts center, you get the chance to see a lot of artists,” Joseph echoed. “You would never get that chance even if you worked at the White House.”
John Wells, a videographer and editor, said every day is different as he works to highlight slices of the organization. He edits social media videos and TV commercials, captures footage of events, and tells the stories of behind-the-scenes teams like the food and beverage staff.
Like Sinz, he grew up in the area and recalls visiting Ruth Eckerd Hall on childhood field trips. And like Joseph, he spent an earlier part of his career working as an arts educator.
“I saw the magic of arts education, how it can help people open up,” he said. “I wanted to be part of an organization that offers that, too.”
Through its Marcia P. Hoffman School of the Arts, Ruth Eckerd Hall offers musical theater camps and piano lessons, kids concerts and puppet shows. The programs serve more than 60,000 students each year.
And now, Wells said, his 5-year-old son is one of them.
“It’s been a full-circle moment, getting to take him to camps here and then work as a creative professional in the same building,” he said. “I followed my gut intuition, my creative side, to get here, and I love that I can give that to him at such an early age.”
Ruth Eckerd Hall
Location: Clearwater
Employees: 369
Website: rutheckerdhall.com/
Comments: “I’m treated as an important part of the Ruth Eckerd Hall team, and my input is sought by fellow employees.”
“Great staff and flexibility.”
