Al Oltmanns is primed to take over at Heartland Theatre Company, replacing artistic director Rhys Lovell after more than a decade in the position and 37 years at the organization.
This will be Oltmanns' first year working at Heartland Theatre after spending many years in the world of fine arts, most recently in the Bloomington-Normal community.
After spending a few years in the area — due to their involvement with the Illinois Shakespeare Festival starting in 2023 and at Illinois State University — Oltmanns found an environment in Bloomington-Normal that felt like home.
Although Oltmanns has been in many different locations, from Sterling to Chicago to Iowa, they discovered a new-found loyalty to the Bloomington-Normal area.
So when the position opened up, they did not hesitate to apply.
“I never have been involved at Heartland, but I've gone to their shows and really been a fan from afar and a lot of my collaborators have worked there," Oltmanns said in an interview on WGLT's Sound Ideas. "As someone who does care about this community so much, when they opened up that artistic director position I thought, 'Well, I’ll throw my name in the ring.’ I didn’t expect it to go this far, but I’m glad it did.”
Oltmanns grew up in Sterling and has since bounced all around Illinois, including working for Illinois State, Bradley University, Illinois Central College and Columbia College Chicago. They are currently a director, playwright and educator with masters degrees in theatre directing from Illinois State and creative writing from Columbia College Chicago.
Keeping what works
Oltmanns wants to focus on keeping the integrity and traditions of the company, while introducing a wider variety of actors and audiences to Heartland.
"I am very excited... to really add more variety in our season, so that various groups of people can see themselves reflected on stage as well," Oltmanns said.
The theater's commitment to doing three new play programs a year, plus six mainstage productions that focus on challenging, contemporary works will remain the same.
“I really want to keep that pulse on what are these current plays that are pushing American theater forward, and also just their commitment to new play development and playwrights,” Oltmanns said.
Oltmanns's vision to expand the groups of people the theater reaches starts with open forums to reach many groups including Black and LGBTQ+ communities.
“I really want to talk with everyone in all these little snippets and just get their feedback about perception, and hopes and goals, so that we can really tailor the future to what our community does want,” Oltmanns said.
Oltmanns will also lobby for more programming, including trivia and bingo to further explore the theater's potential reach.
"I really want to make it more of a community feel at Heartland," Oltmanns said.
Expanding audience members isn't the only thing at the forefront of Oltmanns's mind as they are hoping to add a wider variety of shows as well. Heartland has, in moments, struggled with diversifying its casting pool — something Oltmanns very much wants to change.
“I really want to be able to work with the people in our community and gain their trust and get them excited about what Heartland is doing, so that we can keep moving Heartland forward and doing shows that reflect what America looks like.”
