In this interview, Tim Kashani asks Brian Kite to explain what it means to "run" the La Mirada Theatre. Kite clarifies his title of Producing Artistic Director, a hybrid role that combines the responsibilities of a managing director and an artistic director. He describes his day‑to‑day duties—budgeting, staff management, facility upkeep—and his broader responsibilities of shaping artistic vision, creating new programs, and energizing the staff. Kite highlights the unique partnership with producer Tom McCoy, whose experience with nationally touring productions (including a Tony‑nominated, Emmy‑winning Peter Pan) helps streamline the main season’s production. The conversation also touches on the theatre’s history: a city‑owned venue built in 1977 from a converted movie house, now a 35‑year‑old community landmark. Throughout, Kite emphasizes balancing operational logistics with creative ambition to serve diverse audiences.
Let's talk a little bit about that "run La Mirada." What does that mean both on the micro and the macro level?
So officially my title at La Mirada is the Producing Artistic Director, which basically means that title— a lot of theaters have a managing director and an artistic director. The two of them work together to run the business and make the artistic decisions. If you have the title Producing Artistic Director, it just means there's one person doing both those jobs because that's how it ended up. So I literally run La Mirada on a day-to-day basis. Everything from budgeting to managing employees to making sure that the building is not going to fall down. It's been there 35 years now. It's owned by the city of La Mirada, this beautiful theater that they built in 1977. They converted an old movie house into this beautiful theater. Now, you've performed at La Mirada Theater.
I have performed, and it is beautiful. You are correct.
I thought we were going to get to talk about your performance there. Well, you're interviewing me. It's about you. Is it? Yes, it is. I don't know. There's a camera over there that seems to be on you, so I think— We never cut to that one.
That's really just for show. It's not even running. Is that true? You're running?
So I run the day-to-day, but I also help set artistic vision for the place, come up with new programs, new ideas, hopefully get the staff excited and inspired about what we're doing next. At La Mirada, we have a unique situation. I get to work with Tom McCoy, who's a producer that we work with to produce our main season of plays there at La Mirada, and Tom is known everywhere for the work that he's done with Peter Pan starring Katharine Rigby, where they were Tony-nominated, won Emmy Awards for that production at La Mirada. And Tom does national tours all the time, as well as an incredible season with me at La Mirada, so that makes it a little bit easier to have Tom along.
Certainly, you're dealing with a number of different project types and even probably different demographics that you're looking at, too.
At La Mirada? Yeah. Yeah, that's very true. We've been trying, both Tom and I, to kind of move La Mirada in a new direction and bring in new people and new audiences, take more risks there along the way. But we have an entrenched subscriber base too, which we're grateful for. Yeah, some of them have been subscribers for 30 years.
