Javier ‘Javi’ Dubon leads with collaborative approach, bent toward understanding audiences — ‘what makes them tick, what ticks them off’

By Holly Dillemuth, Ashland.news

For Javier “Javi” Dubon, there’s no fulfilling theater experience without an engaged audience.

Ever since he discovered the behind-the-scenes world of live theater, Dubon has been intrigued by what makes audiences tick. He’s made a career of honing audience development for theaters all over the country. 

After fulfilling a long-held dream of leading sales and marketing reins at a regional theater by serving in upper sales and marketing management at Oregon Shakespeare Festival for the past three years, his appointment by OSF’s Board of Directors to interim executive director on June 23 launched him into an expanded role and then some. Additional “hats” he now wears includes overseeing operations, finance, IT and human resources.

“I know that the festival has been through a lot over the last few years and there’s been so much turnover at the executive leader level, especially,” Dubon told Ashland.news outside the Allen Elizabethan Theatre on a recent August morning. “I’m committed to staying in this role as long as I need to to make sure they have enough runway to select that permanent leader.”

Revenue rebounding

In the meantime, Dubon has stepped in to serve in OSF’s administration at a time when the world-renowned nonprofit theater company is experiencing economic vitality in increasing measure.

“The exciting development has been a surge in ticket sales now that we’re getting to (produce) a fuller season,” Dubon said. “We ended the (10-show) 2024 season with $10.4 million in ticket sales and that was up from $7.1 (million) the year prior. This season we are up to nearly $13 million, and we still have about two months left of the season. We are projected to bring in about $15 million in total sales, so it’s about a 50% increase from the last season.”

The operating budget for the nine-show 2025 season is approximately $45 million, Dubon said, with plans to pare down the budget to $43 million in 2026.

“I feel we’re in the inflection point in the organization where we’re trying to grow our offerings to attract a larger audience, which is bringing in revenue,” Dubon said, “but we are dealing with massive amounts of inflation in all aspects of producing theater and so we’re trying to figure out what the good balance of expenses versus revenue is and, if we look at the 2019 season (the last prior to the pandemic), our budget in 2019 was about $44 million — but if we used inflation, that today would be about $53 million. 

“And so we are actually a smaller version still, even compared to where we were in 2019,” he added. “We’re constantly trying to tweak our footprint because we do need to spend money on the art, that’s the product and that’s what gets people here, but we also have to control expenses where we can, and it is theater and it takes hundreds of people to pull it off.”

The numbers are still down from 2019, when the festival staged 11 productions and brought in $20 million, he said, but he expressed optimism as the organization continues to move the needle forward.

“We have some ways to go, but going from $7 (million) to $15 (million) in two years is pretty incredible and I think that shows that we just kind of stick with the course to get back to pre-pandemic numbers,” Dubon said. 

“Theater was never designed to be a profitable venture for anyone,” Dubon added. “We do it because of the service and the love that we have for it, less so for what the profit margins are.”

Attendance improving

The month of August, typically known as “smoke season” at OSF, can present a “lull” for the festival due to smoke from nearby fires.

“There’s a natural drop in attendance, especially for this theater,” Dubon said, referencing the outdoor Elizabethan Theatre.

But numbers are looking up overall, due to a variety of factors and, so far, better conditions in August.

“Last season, we grew our August attendance by about 80% compared to the season prior,” Dubon said. “This time of the year is also a great time to engage locals who might be willing to take the risk to see an outdoor show for a lower price point.

“Knock on metal,” he said with laughter, tapping a metal railing. “The smoke season has been relatively nice to us so far.”

Going into September and October in marketing is what is called OSF’s “last chance” push for ticket sales, according to Dubon. 

“You’d be surprised how many people don’t know when the festival starts and ends, so we’re constantly trying to message, ‘Hey, we’re still happening.’”

He noted the fall is also a great time for schools locally to visit, or from elsewhere outside of Southern Oregon.

Indoor and outdoor hits

With summer plays still going strong, though, Dubon talked about the most popular plays so far this season, starting with “The Importance of Being Earnest,” a comedy that is keeping audiences laughing.

“When there’s so many things going on in the world, sometimes we just want to escape and laugh, and you don’t want something super heavy, and I think that’s part of the reason why it’s doing so well,” Dubon said.

“Into the Woods” has been a “huge, huge hit,” Dubon said. “It’s been our most popular Elizabethan (Theatre) production since we came back from the pandemic.”

In terms of ticket availability, the hardest seat to purchase has been “As You Like It,” the best selling show in Thomas Theatre since the pandemic, according to Dubon.

“We have trouble having seats available to get people to go see it,” Dubon said. “We just opened ‘Shane’ so I really want people to go see that.”

Dubon noted that while he’s the person in charge of “crunching the numbers” to determine how well a play will do with audiences, he also participates in planning sessions and play readings.

“I’ll read the plays with the artistic team and sort of give my thoughts where I think audiences really love something or where audiences are really going to struggle,” he said.

Rush tickets available again

Dubon noted playgoers might also notice the return of rush ticket availability before shows.

He said for some, especially if they’ve never been to the festival, think they have to spend more than $100 to come see a show, “which is not the case at all.”

Rush tickets are offered at a discount each evening just before the show begins and for next-day shows, but playgoers must wait in line at the box office and cannot purchase them online.

“Rush was one of the most requested things that people wanted back,” Dubon said.

“We were trying to figure out how to bring it back last season, but it’s very labor-intensive to do it, and I really want it to be in-person, versus online. We were able to pull it off this season, we’re still growing the program and so we haven’t sold a ton of tickets through it.”

In general, OSF has moved away from a lower price model overall, though, according to Dubon.

From 2022-2023, it was thought that lower pricing might entice more ticket sales, but Dubon said, “That wasn’t the case.”

“One of the projects that I led was, basically, change our pricing model to make sure that people who had the ability, especially our members, if they wanted to buy a higher priced ticket, you let them, right, and then still maintaining some level of access for people who otherwise couldn’t afford a high-level pricepoint … by also (re)introducing programs like rush (tickets) that kind of bring in more options,” Dubon said.

The festival also advertised a $19.35 ticket promotion over the July 4 holiday in celebration of the 90th anniversary season for OSF, which was founded in 1935.

“We sold over 3,000 tickets through that promotion and most of those people were locals,” Dubon said. “I recommend that people subscribe to our email list because we will send out special deals all the time … you just have to be on the lookout for them.”

Value of knowing your audience

Dubon noted it’s always interesting how the time of the year impacts sales and who comes to shows.

“That’s always a unique challenge and we use that data to also plan when should we open versus when should we close,” he said. “When should a show start, when does this one go out, so we take all that audience data into consideration when planning our seasons.”

He acknowledges that most theater executive directors don’t come into his current role from a marketing and sales background like, but he sees the skill set as a way to bring an understanding of how to fill the seats at OSF, and potential strategies to bring in audiences from a variety of perspectives, including Rogue Valley residents new or fairly new to OSF.

“Most of my posts up until this point at different regional theaters across the country have been focused in marketing and audience development, and it’s taught me a lot about the different ways audiences behave,” Dubon said.

Prior to his appointment as interim executive director, he led the organization’s brand as director of marketing and sales, public relations, ticket sales, and audience development efforts. Now he also oversees OSF’s strategy in a myriad of other areas, most notably in finances and audience development.

“People come into the business side with different specialties,” Dubon said. “I was particularly interested in audience development, how do we get more people here, how do we make this experience so magical that they want to come over and over again.”

He noted that when he arrived at OSF in 2022 as associate director of marketing and sales, it was a very different place than other theaters he’d have worked at before, with most of his experience based in major metropolitan areas. 

Dubon’s resume boasts experience working for some of the top theater companies in the nation, including Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Auditorium Theatre, and Texas Performing Arts. 

A native of Austin, Texas, Dubon earned a bachelor’s degree in music in music education from the University of Texas at Austin and a master’s of fine arts in arts leadership from The Theatre School at DePaul University in Chicago, where he is currently a faculty member, according to an OSF news release.

Accommodating theater tourists

“Most of their audiences are coming from the place where they are based … whereas (at) OSF, close to 80% of our audiences are coming from beyond Southern Oregon, and one of the reasons that I took this job is because I thought that was a very interesting challenge,” Dubon said. “This sort of combination of theater with tourism that is very rare in our space.”

Dubon likes to say that OSF is the “Big Bang of Theater,” considering how large and robust a theater company could emerge in a city with a population of 21,000 people.

“When I started at OSF, I knew that I couldn’t approach audience development in the same way that I otherwise would in a different place,” Dubon said. “I had to gather information about what our audiences are looking for.”

Theaters can tend to make audiences into a “monolith,” he said, but noted, “they all behave very differently.”

Dubon made it his goal to delve into different trends and types of patrons who fill the festival seats, including those who come back each year, and to see every single show.

Tailoring messages

Then there are locals who can be more “nimble” with their planning, according to Dubon.

“By gathering all of that information, we’re able to kind of tailor a message to each individual based on what their needs are and what they’re looking to do,” Dubon said. 

He sees a tendency for theaters also to overly focus on marketing theater in a way that always draws attention to their theater having the best art for instance.

“Those aren’t necessarily the messages that resonate with everyone,” Dubon said.

From the couple celebrating their wedding anniversary or birthday to individuals or larger groups, Dubon acknowledges that audiences come to OSF for different reasons. His job is to reach them where they are.

“Everybody has a different kind of need, so we’ve been trying to approach our marketing from … that space,” he said. 

What has emerged from advertising discussions are simple, “less is more” messages using billboards with phrases like “Ditch the screen” and “More than just Shakespeare,” referring to current advertisements for OSF. The messages speak to audiences who may not be as familiar with Shakespeare and/or have a variety of interests beyond Shakespeare.

“You have people that only come one time in their life,” Dubon said. “About 50% of our audience has only come to see one show, which is a little bit striking.

“You have people who come to see every show, but they’re from out of town, so their planning cycle might look a little bit different.

“By gathering all of that information, we’re able to kind of tailor a message to each individual based on what their needs are and what they’re looking to do.”

Dubon’s strong roots in music, theater

Dubon’s interest in theater goes back as far as elementary school, though music took precedence during his childhood and young adulthood. A classically trained saxophonist, he studied the saxophone for 15 years, starting at the age of 10.

“Music always had a special place in my heart, but theater was a little bit different,” Dubon said. 

Dubon found theater to be “a more collaborative art form” than music, and found a special fondness for musical theater. He’s looking forward to the production “Come From Away” slated for OSF’s 2026 season.

But it isn’t what’s happening on the stage that catches Dubon’s full attention, as much as what is going on behind the scenes. That’s his specialty.

He first discovered the vast behind-the-scenes world of theater when he was selected for an internship at a performing arts center during college. 

At his first job in theater, Dubon received packages and opened loading dock doors for major Broadway productions coming through on a national tour. 

“They would bring in their scenery and all their materials and that was sort of my first real introduction in terms of the business side of it, because when you are at that point early on in your career, you think all the options are either teaching or being an artist,” Dubon said.

Until that moment, Dubon’s interest in the theater was more so as a spectator. But that would soon change.

“I thought, ‘Wow,’ there’s so much that goes into this that people can’t even begin to wrap their heads around,” Dubon said. “I really became interested in the numbers of it all and the dollars and cents; how to produce theater and how do we make it sustainable and how do we attract an audience.

“Those nuances made me very interested in using data to learn more about who our audiences are, what makes them tick, what ticks them off — all of the in-between,” he added.

Engaging locals

Dubon said one of the biggest challenges from an audience development standpoint has been prompting locals from the Rogue Valley to engage with the festival. 

“Many people who have come to the festival, who live locally, likely came with their high school and didn’t come back,” Dubon said. “Some people don’t really quite know what we do and they’ve lived here their entire lives.”

During a planning session for the current season, Dubon said he pitched the concept of trying a different message.

He noted the festival competes against much cheaper entertainment, usually contained on a screen in the comfort of one’s own home.

“We started to come up with different taglines, things that we thought would maybe make people think differently about the experience,” he said, “and then we took that into different messaging campaigns and what we found, because we can track the results of some of these advertisements that we put out there, is oftentimes, the advertisements that don’t talk about the shows themselves actually do better.”

Ensuring that audiences include youth and young adults is also important for spreading theater education, and OSF has been expanding its school visit programs and educational offerings for students and adults.

Educational offerings expanded

“How do we get young people to love theater as much as we do?”

It’s a question Dubon said many theaters ask themselves when looking at their prospective audiences, he said.

“OSF is so fortunate to have an education program that other theaters would kill to have,” Dubon said. “When we think of audience development, usually what people think of is, oh, adults.

“When I started, our education programs were almost nonexistent coming out of the pandemic,” Dubon said. “When the theater was shut down, it wasn’t seen as a necessity.”

Dubon said some institutional knowledge about the programming had been lost amid the closure, but the program is experiencing revival.

“2024 was our first season having a school visit program come back and we’re doing it again in 2025 and we’re getting more interest from donors and also grants to fund the program,” Dubon said.

Dubon shared his philosophy informed by years working in theaters across the nation.

Leadership turnover

“I know that the festival has been through a lot over the last few years and there’s been so much turnover at the executive leader level especially,” Dubon said. “There are so many factors that go into that. 

Since Cynthia Rider, OSF’s third executive director, departed in 2018 after five years in the position, OSF has seen two permanent executive directors named (David Schmitz, September 2020 to January 2023, and Gabriella Calicchio, November 2024 to June 2025) and four interim executive directors (Paul Christy, 2019-2020; Nataki Garrett, January to May 2023; Tyler Hokama, June 2023 to October 2024; and Dubon, who was named to the position in June), for a total of six people in the leadership role over less than seven years.

Dubon noted the intensity of the role, which he called “an extremely hard job” and “all consuming.”

“I think it weighs very heavily on people,” Dubon said. “Sometimes when organizations are going through a period of transformation, they’re coming back from a crisis or trying to build back, what the organization needs might look slightly different in a leader than it does when the organization is more stable and I think that’s been one of the challenges with the turnover is that the festival is trying to figure out, what is the specific skill set that we’re looking for.

He noted that OSF is full of incredibly talented individuals who often have solutions to issues and simply need to be consulted, which Dubon aims to do.

“It’s very common in theaters for the figureheads to get all of the credit, but there are over 400 people who work here,” he added. “They are ultimately so much smarter than I am in their respective areas so they are actually the key to unlocking a thriving future for the festival.

“Leadership for me isn’t about coming up with big ideas … it’s about bringing people together because oftentimes they have the solution and they just need the clarity and the support and direction from a leader to make it happen.”

Dubon was candid, too, about what led to his appointment: the departure of Gabriella Calicchio, who had only been with the organization since November 2024. 

“I would argue that it’s better when something isn’t going to work out … that we find out sooner,” he said, adding the announcement may have been “jarring” for OSF playgoers. “It’s better that we just both move forward. That made sense for that individual and for the organization.”

“For every misstep we have, there’s a learning … and sometimes to come out on the other side, you have to trip and fall numerous times and I think the festival has experienced that over the last few years,” he added. “But it feels like every year gets a little bit better. It can be a little bit of a roller coaster ride.”

It is unclear when a long-term replacement for executive director will be named, but Dubon said 

the board is currently asking itself, “What kind of leader does OSF need?”

“Because we have to get it right,” Dubon said, “and we can’t afford more turnover at this level.

“That is the most important thing before even beginning a search,” he added.

It’s clear that Dubon has the trust of OSF’s board of directors and Artistic Director Tim Bond as he continues in his role.

Board Chair Rudd Johnson praised Dubon in a news release about his appointment in June.  

“We’re incredibly fortunate to have Javi stepping into this role at this moment,” Johnson said. “He brings both vision and execution. He’s a strategist who also knows how to get things done. But what makes Javi truly stand out is his ability to bring people together. His leadership is rooted in everything he does. He understands the soul of this place. He understands our work on stage, our business model and, most importantly, our people. 

“Javi leads by listening, by showing up, and by creating trust. He is a big-picture thinker who also knows how to execute with precision. His ability to blend strategy with data-driven decision making has been critical to our success.”

Jennifer Ryen, who was appointed as director of development in April, also praised Dubon, calling his appointment “a moment to reset.”

“The response to Javi’s appointment from staff, donors, and the community has been resoundingly positive,” Ryen said in a news release. “The entire OSF board stands firmly behind Javi, Tim, the staff, and we are actively engaged in helping move the organization forward. We know there is still work to do, but every day brings new signs that OSF is on a fruitful road to recovery. We are rebuilding, reimagining, and reaffirming our place as a vital force in Southern Oregon and beyond.”

Reach Ashland.news reporter Holly Dillemuth at [email protected].