We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Dre Shapiro a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Dre thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?
My father owns his own software development company, has my entire life. He is one of four, and all of his siblings also own their own companies or work for themselves in one way or another. “Shapiro’s don’t work well with someone else in charge” he would always tell me. I thought I was different because well, I’m an artist for starters. And working with people is my favorite part of work itself. Having connections, a sense of community, human engagement, etc. It wasn’t until I realized how much of a blessing it would be if I had even a dusting of say in the art that the world got to see. If instead of a pog in the machine, I built my own machine with my sweat, my blood, my soul. Watching my father have his own business made me realize I could have the same sort of control over my life and career that he had.
Dre, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My name is Dre Shapiro, I am the Artistic Director & Founder of Underbelly Theatre Company, as well as a performer. I founded Underbelly out of a curiosity, asking myself the question “can we continue to make high levels of art without the layers upon layers of corporate-esque approval?” Being devoted to theatre and the consumption of it, I have seen so many times the whittling down of a piece of theatre until it is no longer what it once was. The act of taking a show from a smaller venue to something like Broadway so often makes that piece of art a shell of itself, until it has literally “lost the plot.” I adore Broadway with all my heart, but what I am failing to see more and more frequently is the honoring of the story without the attempt to broaden ones audience. And sometimes your audience is meant to be specific.
The shows we produce at Underbelly are thoughtful, intelligent, and tell stories needing to be told. We adore the things that often go unsaid. The taboo, while still feeling a sense of relatability. We also deeply value diversity in every sense of the word. The diversity of people, of stories, of types of theatre, and of broadening what “theatre” can be. We want you to take a look into our darkness, and find comfort in knowing it looks a lot like yours.
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
Honestly, hiring performers who are deeply connected to the art and having them bring the people in their lives to our shows. The phrase “great minds think alike” is less true than “great hearts feel alike.” The amount of love we have felt from forming connections with friends of friends, or friends of friends of friends, has been so rewarding. And we are so thankful.
We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.
Underbelly’s Business Director Jonathan McLawhorn and I went to college together at Northern Illinois University. We had plenty of interactions during the duration of theatre school, but the one that stuck out to me was Jon directing me in zoom theatre during the pandemic. I had never done something as emotionally and physically grueling as having to act on zoom. I despised it. In an act of being fully transparent, I’ll tell you my mental health has never been to higher degrees of concerning. But then came Jon. He cast me in a scene from August Osage County, and suddenly zoom theatre wasn’t actual hell on earth. Suddenly there was someone so thoughtful and kind and understanding of how ridiculous our circumstances were, and not shying away from them. And he made more creative choices on zoom than most directors could with all the resources in the world. And that’s when I knew I had to tie him up in my basement and only let him out when he agrees to work with me. (Joking, obviously. I live in NYC, I don’t have a basement!).
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Annie Brown