Metropolis gets new director
Metropolis Performing Arts Centre officials scooped their most loyal supporters Friday night when they announced a new executive director.
Less than six months after naming Matt O'Brien to the post, officials named the theater's third executive director, and this time they drew from within.
Jim Jarvis had served as the theater's communications director for the last six years, having moved into development in recent months.
"The board is confident that Jim and the staff will be able to take the theater to the next level of artistic and financial performance," said Monica McCarthy, outgoing Metropolis board president.
The move by the board to name a new executive director came so quickly that not even Jarvis' wife, Tanya, who was in the audience, knew it was coming. Jarvis himself said he had interviewed for the job and was thrilled to be named.
"I couldn't be more excited," Jarvis said. "Metropolis serves an important role in the community. We not only entertain and enlighten our patrons through our performances, but we educate tens of thousands of children, teens, adults and seniors through our School of the Performing Arts, and outreach programs."
Jarvis brings a mix of performance and marketing skills to the job. His 20-year business career varies from serving as assistant sports information director at Illinois State University to working for the management firm Smith, Bucklin & Associates, and heading the marketing department for the trade show division of the Walt Disney Co.
His performance credits include graduating from the Second City Training Center and studying at the former ImprovOlympic, before performing with the likes of Tina Fey from TV's "30 Rock" and Saturday Night Live's Amy Poehler in the cast of "Inside Vladimir."
Jarvis takes over a theater that last year drew 75,000 patrons who saw 41 different shows, and that generated $1.6 million in ticket revenue. "High School Musical" alone generated well more than any other show.
Overall, Metropolis generated $2.8 million in revenue last year, McCarthy said, doubling its revenue in four years, making it the ninth largest nonprofit theater in Chicago.