We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Michael Bouson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Michael below.

Hi Michael, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

After 40 years of toggling back and forth between the entertainment business and the foodservice business, my partner, Joe Correll and I took a leap of faith, left Los Angeles, sold our investment property that was intended to fund our retirement some day, and purchased the derelict Ohio Theatre in Lima, Ohio. I did have a couple of Ohio connections, I graduated with a Theatre Degree from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio many many years ago, and my 89 year old father lives in Akron, Ohio. I love being closer to my dad but to be honest, I knew nothing about Lima, Ohio except for the fictional details I gleaned from watching “Glee!”

Fortunately, we were pleasantly surprised with what we discovered in Lima; a robust Arts Scene, a community of forward thinking and compassionate intellectuals, a number of really great Fine Dining Restaurants and a Downtown that was on the verge of revitalization.

Sadly, we were less than pleased with the surprises the 95 year old Theatre had in store for us – A roof beyond repair, faulty plumbing, failing electrical, crumbling walls and lots of mold. It took us 2.5 years and of the money we had to get the building to the point where we could actually open our first business in the property – The Stage Door Canteen, a restaurant/bar and cabaret theatre.

A few months later, in spite of lackluster sales and a constant negative cash flow, we started our Dinner Theatre operations with a Christmas Show called “Seasoned Greetings.” Sales started out slow for our first performances but steadily grew and we ended up selling out a number of performances. This gave us the encouragement to stage two more shows “Lee Harvey and the Oswalds” and “One Night in Fantasia!” both of which have done well for us. Sadly, our normal nightly operations continue to operate in the red as we slowly creep towards a point of no return. But we still have faith. We are already in rehearsals for our next Dinner Theatre production “Fatal Follies of ’27!” a hilarious whodunnit audience participation murder mystery. We have high hopes for this one and for our future here at The Ohio Theatre Lima.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Michael Bouson is a graduate of the esteemed Theatre Program at Miami University of Ohio. Multi-hyphenate Bouson has either Written, Designed, Directed, Produced, Acted (or all of the above at the same time) in nearly 80 Professional Productions since spectacularly failing Carnegie Mellon’s acclaimed Pre-College Actor Training Program while still in High School! He is the founder of The Avante Garage! and Co-founder of Rave Revues! Michael is a winner of Three First Night Awards (Special Award for Continued Excellence in Original Theatre, Best Director of a Musical for “McBeth the Musical!” Best Actor in a Musical for “The Melancholy Dane – Hamlet the Musical!” as well as a First Night Honor that he shares with Joe Correll. As a songwriter, Michael has had his work performed on Stage in various musicals, plays and concerts, in Cabarets/Clubs in Nashville and New York, and on National Television (ABC). Also a Reality Television Producer, audiences are probably more familiar with some of the indelible characters he’s been associated with (Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, Flipping Out, Ace of Cakes) than they are with him and that’s just fine with him!! He is currently the co-owner of The Ohio Theatre Lima and co-Artistic Director of The Avante Garage Theatre Company – a professional theatre company dedicated to producing solely original works written by Bouson and Correll. www.michaelbouson.com, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1847802/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

For me, the most rewarding aspect of being a creative artist is knowing that at the end of the day, I have created something that didn’t exist before. It may be temporal and/or ethereal, but it exists in the now and in that moment, anything is possible. I love changing people with my work making them think or feel strongly about something or someone they hadn’t considered before. It is all about pushing ideas forward with a unique aesthetic and authentic compassion towards the human condition.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

My partner and I are committed to contributing to the economic growth of our adopted city of Lima, Ohio by pushing the creative economy. Furthermore, we are working with the city schools to provide enhanced arts eduction through hands on experiences as an attempt to retain the talent here in Lima. Heretofore too many of Lima’s brightest and best graduates leave for college and never come back. We are attempting to provide opportunities for these young artists to put down roots here in Lima, and help us continue to build our creative community as a regional draw and economic engine for revitalization of our once vibrant city.     

Contact Info:

• Website: www.michaelbouson.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michael.bouson
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-bouson-720397128/