Interview: Susan Mattingly, Lyric Theater

Since 1930 the Lyric has been a part of Blacksburg, and for the last seven of those years Susan Mattingly has been at the reins of the popular local spot. As executive director she oversees all the facets of the community’s second run theater.

A Virginia Tech alumnus, Mattingly enjoys giving back to the community, which she does on a daily basis by keeping The Lyric up and running. She took time out of her busy schedule to talk to Planet Blacksburg about how she got started at The Lyric and about “the heart of Blacksburg” itself.

What follows is a selection of questions and answers from a 20- minute interview.

Q: Where are you originally from?
Mattingly: I was born and spent my early childhood in Albuquerque.

Q: What brought you to Blacksburg?
Mattingly: Well, I went to high school in Northern Virginia and came to Virginia Tech for college. After completing my degree I went back to D.C. and worked for 7 years before returning to Blacksburg with my family.

Q: What did you major in at Virginia Tech?
Mattingly: Nutrition and Food Chemistry.

Q: That’s quite a departure from what you do now. Why didn't you continue in the field that you studied?
Mattingly: When I got to Northern Virginia, got to D.C., I began looking for a job and I found a job in a law library. I had worked at the Newman Library as an undergraduate and getting that first job can always be tough… a lot of people have trouble getting jobs in their field and I didn't have any offers I wanted to take. I was working at the law library and just became a paralegal administrator and had supervisory experience. I worked in the legal industry in D.C. for 7 years, and then when I came back to Blacksburg, I started my own business and got involved in a lot of community organizations and that’s how I sort of came to connect to The Lyric.

Q: As executive director what does your job entail?
Mattingly: Well, I pretty much have to oversea all facets of the theater, anything from our book keeping and financial management, to programming, to personnel administration, to facilities maintenance, anything that has to be done; I am the person that has to oversea all facet of the theatre.

Q: What’s the toughest part of your job?
Mattingly: I think the toughest part is finding the balance in programming… so that everybody in the community can feel like they have ownership and they are a stakeholder in the theater.

Q: Why did you decide to work for a not-for-profit theatre?
Mattingly: Well, I think that The Lyric is the heart of Blacksburg and its really its place in the community that drew me to The Lyric. I think that it is our community gathering place and it’s really fulfilling work.

Q: What are the added difficulties in running a not-for-profit theater?
Mattingly: Generally, independent movie houses are primarily run as not-for-profit anymore; they really can't compete with the corporate model... So the financial piece is a challenge. Finding underwriting for the types of programs that don't pay for themselves, like live performances generally don't pay for themselves just on ticket sales, so finding the underwriting to help make those programs possible is a challenge.

Q: How do you feel about The Lyric being a second run theater?
Mattingly: Its a business model that has worked very well for us but we'll have to keep an eye on industry developments as that window from feature release to video release narrows. It does put a squeeze on second run theaters because generally once you can get it on video people don't want to pay to go see it in the theater. So it is a model that has worked for us, and continues to work for us but it is also something we will constantly have to re-evaluate to see if it will continue to be the model we follow.

Q: How do you go about picking the movies that are shown?
Mattingly: Well, I read a lot of reviews and I try to look in balance on having some artful films that you really can’t see anywhere else, to having some things that are family friendly and having some mainstream movies that will bring a lot of people in to the theater because that does help us pay our bills and it also helps us stay connected to the rest of the community.

Q:  How many volunteers does The Lyric have?
Mattingly: We have about a 150 active volunteers, that means people who are volunteering on a pretty regular basis. We have a larger list of people who are very occasional volunteers, but most of the volunteers work at movie times as box office ticket sellers and concession stand people or they work at live events as ushers, and ticket sellers, and concession stand. We also have office volunteers who come in and help us label all those newsletters that people get in their mailboxes. The benefits are you get to see the movies for free and you get popcorn for free, which is a pretty good benefit, plus you get to see your friends and neighbors and it’s a real fun way to spend an evening and most people volunteer because they have a lot of fun and make a lot of friends.

Q: How can you become one?
Mattingly: Just contact our volunteer coordinator, Ray York, and he will get you signed up and its on an as add needed basis. We are looking as part of the VT engage initiative to expand some of our volunteer opportunities to include some marketing and promotional pieces. People can help us by doing some simple graphic design help us distribute posters, and help us do some web based marketing.

Q: What is the difference between a member of The Lyric and a volunteer?
Mattingly: A member is a person that makes a financial contribution to The Lyric. There are levels; we have a $10 for a year to become a student member all the way up to a $100 membership.

Q: After working at The Lyric for seven years, what has been your favorite moment?
Mattingly: My favorite moment, it’s really hard to narrow down, I would say the 75th anniversary year long celebration was one of my favorite moments, we showed ten different movies, we had ten different events. We picked a film from each decade that The Lyric had been open and then we had an event and a film surrounding it and we did anything from King Kong, the original, to Dr.Strangelove, Casablanca, it was just a lot of fun to see such a diversity. We had a fun run, we had Chariots of Fire; We had just a huge diversity of programs and to see the different segments of the population come out for the fun. So it wasn’t one event but it was that whole year of events and it was a comity that put it together and they carefully selected different films that would entertain different people from our community and it was seen as a way to give back to the community for bringing back The Lyric. It was a great year.

Q: Why do you think that The Lyric is important to Blacksburg?
Mattingly: I think Blacksburg is so closely associated with the university that The Lyric becomes sort of a bridge between the community, the permanent residents, the people [that] aren’t associated with the university, and the university. We’re independent completely, yet we are shoulder to shoulder here in downtown Blacksburg; I think we are the community-gathering place.