Ordway hires 'three-headed monster' as new administrator

The Ordway Center's new producing artistic director offers an apt metaphor for a guy taking over a Minnesota job in the dead of winter: "It's like putting two gloves on my hands. It feels like a perfect fit."

Rod Kaats will begin at the Ordway Feb. 1, taking over from James Rocco, who stepped down last year. A New York resident for more than three decades, Kaats, 57, has already moved his piano into a home in St. Paul's Lowertown that will be a 10-minute walk from the Ordway, where he'll help shape both Ordway original programming, such as last month's locally produced "Annie," and performances the Ordway presents, such as the upcoming tour of "Kinky Boots."

Kaats describes himself as a "three-headed monster," with experience as a director and artistic director (of Helen Hayes Theatre Company), as well as being a former vice president of presenting organization PACE Theatricals/Broadway Across America, and a producer — including the Bob Dylan play-with-music, "Girl From the North Country," a hit in London that does not have firm U.S. plans yet.

His various skill sets are a big reason the Guam native — an Air Force brat who grew up around the country — got the gig, according to Ordway CEO Jamie Grant.

The directing monster may have to take a back seat for a while because it's the producing monster who will be on the job first, said Kaats (whose name rhymes with "gates") in a phone interview last week from New York.

Q: What's Job 1 when you arrive at the Ordway next month?

A: Thrillingly, the first moment will be to walk into auditions for our first show [a production of "Mamma Mia!" scheduled this summer]. We do a week of auditions in St. Paul, followed immediately by a week of auditions in New York. I love to be in auditions. It's so fun to watch performers, and I'm particularly thrilled by the St. Paul auditions because I was so blown away by the talent in [the Ordway productions of] "In the Heights" and "Annie."

A: Working in Minneapolis and St. Paul has always been on my bucket list. I've always thought of it as an amazing, art-centric place, especially for theater, so I was predisposed to be interested.

Q: You must be a good multitasker.

A: I don't multitask. But what I do is make hairpin turns quickly, and really focus on what I'm doing at the moment.

Q: Can you say anything about how your approach will affect the shows we see at the Ordway?

A: Rather than talking about specific choices I would make, I would talk about philosophy. Developing new work and being part of stimulating and supporting the journey of those artists is exciting. And I'm very interested in celebrating text — going back to those pieces that have found a place in the [musical theater] canon and presenting them to new, younger audiences, who don't have the associations others may have, and figuring out how to make them fresh.

A: I don't see how it couldn't be. I'm one of those people — "Girl From the North Country" being an example — who thinks musicals can be incredibly powerful. Obviously, there are certain shows you can do in the East Village in a small theater that you can't do in the same way in a 2,000-seat performing arts center.

Q: How long has the Ordway job been in the works?

A: I was in London over the summer, so I know when I started talking about this job — it was August, and a friend suggested I see this show at the Old Vic. I have to say, without hyperbole, that "Girl From the North Country" is one of the most magical evenings I've spent in the theater, and it's set in Duluth in 1934. Then, I checked my messages when I got home from the theater, and there was this message from Jamie Grant in St. Paul about this job, also in Minnesota.