Michael Thomas returned to his second home in Bowling Green Kentucky last year to serve as caretaker of the city’s iconic facility and cornerstone of local arts, the Capitol Arts Center. However, like his dear departed friend Rosemary Clooney, Thomas hails from Maysville Kentucky where he spent his early years dreaming the images spun by his maternal grandmother’s stories. His mother also fed his creativity taking him to see plays put on by the community theatre group and when he saw the Music Man he said to himself “I want to be up there with those people”.

From the onset he describes himself as “a regular P.T. Barnum, suckering everyone around into taking part in the arts”. Writing and adapting plays at a very young age, Thomas staged patio and backyard productions with his friends and neighbors. Though usually willing to partake, at times he had to pull out all the stops to motivate his cast and crew, once paying his brother and his brother’s best friend $1 to portray the dancing penguins in his home production of Mary Poppins.

Once in school his talent stood out and he was a shoe in for the most sought after roles – winning the part of the Stop Sign in the first grade, a duck in the second grade and the Easter bunny in the third grade. By fourth grade he was directing his own adaptation of Aesop’s Fables for his school. But in the fifth grade Thomas had his first heart break, “I could have been Abraham Lincoln” Thomas explains, “but Mark Bradley was taller… I’ve never forgiven him”.

Acting became a great escape for the bookworm that just didn’t quite fit in. From a family which he describes as “hysterical” Thomas quickly learned that humor could be a shield. When asked if he got picked on, Thomas replied “Oh yeah, all the time. Still do.”

In the sixth grade Mike won a role in the local community theatre, “Which I thought was Broadway”, he reminisces. Upon graduation he made history in his family by becoming the first to go on to college. Rather than pursue an acting career, he wanted to be a promoter of community arts and he therefore chose to stay in Kentucky and attend school in Bowling Green. Enrolled as a theatre student at Western Kentucky University from 1974-1978 Thomas says he lucked out that the program was so great and department needed him too. With a shortage of male students at the time Thomas enjoyed the best leading roles and also learned to direct. It was a time of inspiration and fun and according to Thomas “I caused a lot of trouble – what can I tell you, I was a theatre person in the 70’s!”

Mike Thomas also served his home town newspaper during this time period and when fellow Maysvillian Rosemary Clooney returned home for a performance he took the opportunity to call her for an interview, stating “We are the two most famous people to come out of this town so I thought we should finally meet”. The two became tight friends and for the next thirty years Thomas met Clooney whenever she was in the area and accompanied her to concerts, often “carrying her Bob Mackie sequin gowns and scotch”. He particularly enjoyed three stops on her tour with Tony Bennett and Buddy Rich and the opportunity for an insiders view of masters in action.

During their long friendship Thomas also became acquainted with the rest of the Clooney clan, though he already knew George from directing him as Lil Abner when young Clooney was a freshman in High School. When Ms. Clooney later passed away Mike Thomas was honored with a seat in the friends and family section of the service, sitting just in front of George Clooney, beside Al Pacino and Beverly D’Angelo.

After graduating from WKU, Thomas took a position at The Barn, a dinner theater in Nashville. He learned to sing in the production of Fiddler on the Roof but he hated it and he soon relocated to Lexington to work with the Lexington Children’s theater.

Thomas spent the next four years driving around in a van with five actors performing plays such as a Christmas Carol, Romeo & Juliet and the Jungle Book for youth groups. Their schedule consisted of early mornings, long days and late nights. During this stint in Lexington he also served as Advertising Copywriter for McAlpins, Artistic Director for Lexington Musical Theatre as well as director and actor for Actors Guild of Lexington and Lexington’s Shakespeare Festival. His voice was recognized everywhere through the mid 80’s having served also as a radio and television voice over man throughout this time.

One tour of the children’s theatre brought him to the Phoenix Theater in Bowling Green, home of the Public Theatre of Kentucky (PTK). After the performance of A Christmas Carol Thomas was able to spend some time with his former teachers Bill Leonard and Whit Combs who told him that it was looking like the theater would have to be shut down. Thomas was eager to help and took a leave of absence from the Lexington group which wound up lasting five years. According to Mike, Production Director for PTK was “a job that I loved and hated at the same time. It consisted of everything from acting and directing to scrubbing toilets. It was all consuming and took every bit of my energy and passion – and it about killed me but I loved every second.” The theater produced about six three week shows a year, meaning a new show opened about every five weeks.

During this time he also continued his voice over work which included three America’s Castles episodes for A&E produced by Peridot Pictures: Mansions of Newport, Hotel Coronado and Houses by Railroad Barrens. Years later when touring the Astor Masion in Newport, his tour group was surprised to hear his voice on the screen in the lobby which featured the America’s Castles episode.

The Lexington Children’s Theater was trying to coax Thomas back but had no position to offer that would meet Thomas’ requisites and he joked that they could kick out their Marketing Director if they really wanted him. Two weeks later he received a call that the Marketing Director had given notice. He “tearfully and regrettably left PTK” for Lexington but his stay would not last long.

After working for only a week Thomas was tracked down by the Kentucky Historic Society. He had seen an ad about a year earlier and applied for the Director of the Historic Society Museum Theatre. At the time he had called them saying “I’m your Man!” but never heard from them – until he arrived to settle in for his second stint at the Lexington Children’s Theater. The State benefits were just too good to pass up and he packed his bags and relocated to Frankfort to spend the next seven years writing, directing and producing 20 minute plays about Kentucky history for the museum. Topics varied from Civil Rights to Coal Miners to Edgar Cayce. His play about Edgar Cayce’s life “To Sleep Per Chance” was recently produced in Nova Scotia for the Atlantic Fringe Festival and was voted audience favorite. “I loved that job with a capital L” exclaims Thomas.

However Bowling Green called again when he was giving training for tour guides and spoke with Regina Newel and Bob Spiller of Riverview. They told Thomas that Rick Dubose, President of the Capitol Alliance Board, who he would later refer to as “my salvation in this job”, wanted to talk with him. Thomas met Dubose and received an offer to become the Capitol’s Executive Director. But he turned it down in favor of his 8-4:30 low stress job that he loved with the museum. Thomas explained that every time he considered it he heard his father’s voice of reason saying “What the hell are you thinking!”

Thomas was garnering great reviews and felt on top of his game but he continued to think “community arts changed my life”. According to Thomas “My roads have always converged in funny ways”, and he described how he called the wife of his former teacher Gerry Combs, who was now the Director of the Kentucky Arts Council. Combs had heard of the offer and in fact stated that she had been asked to convince him. She went on to say “Mike is it probably the most wonderful, stressful job you will ever have, but they need you and I think you need them.” He called back and excepted the job.

After a year and four months in the position Thomas recalls that he “cried the first year in both good and bad ways.” “It is a tremendous responsibility to be the Director of a nonprofit arts organization that everyone looks towards and the landlord of an iconic piece of property.” Thomas defines his overwhelming responsibility saying “It had been through some rough times. It took itself for granted and the community in turn did too. I was brought in to help reconnect and bring it back to its mission.”

He also describes the frustration of his new job saying “I could cry because I want so badly for the community to once again rediscover and care about its offerings. I’m an instant gratification guy and I get frustrated I can’t fix it today, but I celebrate what we have accomplished.”

Thomas credits his dedicated staff of seven, interns and volunteers with the successes. His coworkers include Dawn Wesley Managing Director, Kim Wagner Education Director, Lynn Roberts Gallery Director, Jeff Smith Technical Director, Christopher Cherry Children’s Theatre Director and Robin Haltsley Box Office Manger. Along with their three interns, Thomas says that his staff are proud to see the successes of all the arts. “We are very aware of our positives and negatives but I guarantee we all work hard to make sure we serve the community well.”

The 1890’s landmark is sorely in need of a face lift and additions like temperature control and a larger stage to bring it up to date. The annual cost of running the center is about $500,000 nearly $1400 a day. A season varies but is approximately 10 acts many of whom also do school day performances. It is also home to a wide variety of community events from Fountain Square Players’ productions to local dance recitals, staying occupied 247 days a year. “We have made some progress and made some mistakes. Everyone has a claim to the Capitol and an opinion and I try to honor those but I have to run a show business and it’s scary.” Thomas explains. Many people suggest larger or more popular acts, but with a seating capacity of 800 and the ability to consistently cover only half of their expenses through sponsorships they must limit their entertainment to “C level” acts in the neighborhood of $25,000. However Thomas also points out that the talent in this range is tremendous and varied and the Capitol has been able to showcase performers such as Ricky Skaggs and Ballet Folklorica.

He plans to increase programming in some creative ways, but it will take more time and more money. House cleaning and PR work have been a big part of the job, though they are far from down and out. “I know this community cares about the arts. I’ll stay until time to go to a new stage. I love the job, it’s tough but I want it to happen for the community.” But Thomas cautions that a large financial commitment is necessary to realize their goals and the Capitol needs the community as much as the community needs the Capitol.

Thomas has seen the changing arts landscape in Bowling Green since 1974. He directed the first Fountain Square Players production and has played an integral part in the revitalization of entities like the PTK and the Capitol Arts Alliance. And upon his return he was introduced to new arts organizations like the BG Chamber Orchestra. “We celebrate all those successes because the Capitol gave them their wings and is the grandfather of all of them.”

And new changes are on the horizon. Talk of Skypac leaves uncertain the future role of the Capitol. While plans on how the Capitol will fit in have been discussed no long term planning can be initiated until the future of Skypac itself is certain. Though according to Thomas, “I welcome the arrival, but I’m not totally convinced it can support events like Broadway shows without attention to the other days that keep it connected to the community. I don’t think we need 1800 seats, 1000 perhaps. That would be a more inviting space for an arts audience.”

Thomas feels a connection to the community is vital to any arts center and has seen it deteriorate nationwide. “We lost a generation of theater goers”. Regaining that audience, cultivating the next must be at all times balanced with serving the older and more conservative generations that have been the foundation of the arts and remain the biggest sponsors.

While the Capitol has introduced some more contemporary offerings such as their Side Show series which features local bands, theatre groups and poetry slams Thomas takes a realistic attitude about who pays the bills. “I can’t scare people and I wouldn’t insult them, so I must be cautious.” He believes one reason a generation of theatre goers was lost is the ability of audiences to get entertainment on their own terms through computers, video and on demand TV twenty four hours a day. In addition disposable time and money have decreased over the years.

Though his greatest love is live entertainment and Thomas has not been lured by the internet’s offerings, he does consider himself a pop culture maven. “My movie tastes are all over the board from slasher films to high brow foreign films”. “I’m amazed by art”. Thomas regularly attends as well as directs local productions and also travels to Louisville and Nashville to enjoy theatrical productions. Thomas continues his love of reading but also enjoys some surprising television selections. “As actors and directors we are observers. I know it’s manufactured but I manufacture too… I’ve lived in every real world house in my mind.” Thomas giggles as he recalls his trip to New Orleans where his two favorite stops were Anne Rice’s house and the real world house. A confessed voyeur at heart, Thomas admits a love of reality television in general, citing his favorites as The Amazing Race and Flavor of Love. “I admit it’s beer barrel taste, sometime reinforcing the most horrible stereotypes but it amazes, amuses and appalls… and I love it!”

He continues to be amazed at the opportunities he is afforded in his travels. On one recent convention trip in Baltimore Thomas had occasion to meet another artist he admires, John Waters. Surprisingly Waters had been assigned the noon spot to speak to an diverse audience, much of which was unacquainted with the director’s cult classics. “It was quite interesting, they certainly found out!” Thomas said in describing the no holds barred lecture. At the close Thomas blew him a kiss and said “thank you for shaking things up a bit” to which Water’s returned, “that’s what they put me in the midday slot for!”

When Thomas is not directing, acting or watching performances he enjoys writing. Though during his work with the museum he wrote most of the some 35 performances he produced he has not yet finished and published a full length play. It remains one of his few unfulfilled dreams and it is one which he is currently working to realize. He also feels he is ready to take on larger stages and direct a big musical. “I am confident about my work and my responsibility to artists”. In addition, though he has choreographed it twice, Thomas has yet to play the role with which he most identifies, the Music Man.

Children’s Theatre is a completely new addition to the Capitol which Thomas intends to cultivate. He describes its director Christopher Cherry as “talented and dedicated to helping add to the identity of the Capitol with a new source of energy to create new arts and audience.”

“Arts are cool. Arts are fun. Arts are vital.” Cheers Thomas. “I want everybody to have a part in the arts on any level – give $5, star in a show, paint a picture or put your butt in a chair somewhere. We all drink out of the same trough so if one does better we all do better, it’s about quality and opportunities”.

Mike Thomas has cultivated opportunities for many in the arts. He says, “I knew early on I wasn’t going to New York or LA, I was going to find where I was needed as a mentor and guide to help others find their way through this tricky business. I have touched thousands of kids through work, school, churches and community theatre and seen many of those same kids experience professional success.”

Directing is his biggest love. “I’ve learned more from people I’ve had the opportunity to direct than I have taught them.” It’s not the feeling of being in charge that draws him, “that’s a horrible feeling”, he says. “It’s the privilege of getting to work with people. It has made me old before my time and kept me young. There is nothing like watching the pieces come together and an actor’s ‘I get it moment’… And then the magic that happens when all elements line up and the audience goes into your world.”

Thomas recently directed You Can’t Take It With You for PTK’s 20th season and is going to direct Fountain Square Players’ upcoming A Taffeta Christmas. “It thrills me to know that those legacies continue for over twenty years. I feel in some small way I have contributed to their longevity.”