The new space has hosted private events and community gatherings, and has also allowed the theater to handle all its construction and tech work in-house.Ĭlark and the rest of the Candlelight brass have also worked hard to evolve creatively. Last year, the theater unveiled additions worth $1.8 million, expansions that included a multi-tiered conference center, an expanded administration area, a new workshop space, and additions to the kitchen. It’s drawn a consistent and faithful audience it’s helped turn the theater into a community hub and a major player in the metro’s area artistic sphere. You can have a wonderful show that nobody knows, and a lot of my audience is not going to come to that.”Īs the theater preps for the launch of its 10th season on Thursday with a remount of Meredith Willson’s “The Music Man,” this populist approach to programming has done a lot more than help the Candlelight get past the bumpy and risky initial years of any fledgling arts organization. “When I look at my numbers, I see that people love to come to a show that they know,” Clark said. They wanted family-friendly stage staples that offered familiar tunes and beloved story lines. Patrons, it turned out, wanted to see the classics. “We tried to find what people wanted to see.” The first step in recalibrating the Candlelight’s approach, he added, was going directly to the audience for feedback. “I wanted to look at it from a business perspective … I wanted to preserve my investment,” Clark recalled.
As the global economy teetered on the edge of collapse in the wake of the Great Recession, the viability of a new, stand-alone dinner theater in the northern reaches of the Denver metro area suddenly seemed doubtful.Ĭlark accepted the role as executive director in 2010, and immediately drew on the shrewd, real-world business skills he’d gleaned after a long career in construction. Those plans changed two years into the life of the Candlelight. “It was never my intent to own and operate the business.” “My plan was to build the building,” said Clark, who now holds the title of executive director for the theater company. He initially came on as the contractor for the new theater southeast of Loveland once the 380-seat, $6.2 million facility was completed, Clark figured he’d move on to the next project. It was Clark’s expertise in construction, not the arts, that first connected him with the Candlelight Dinner Playhouse company nine years ago. More info: /shows/upcoming-seasonĭave Clark speaks with a gruff practicality that reflects his erstwhile career as a builder.
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