Getting to Know...AMBER BUKER of Distraction Theatre

As Nashville's role in the contemporary world of art and culture continues to grow exponentially, the local theater community seemingly grows by leaps and bounds - daily, it would oftentimes seem - and so we find ourselves lost in a sea of new faces and unfamiliar names. Therefore, what better way to get to know these new personalities than via a new BWW Nashville column in which we put them under a blinding spotlight and demand answers...

Who are they? Where are they from? And what the hell are they planning to do in Nashville? Those are among the questions we hope to get answers to in the coming weeks, months, years, decades - or however long we are, quite frankly, nosy enough to help us ferret out the stuff we all should know in order to make our queries more welcoming and hospitable and less off-putting and demanding.

First up, we're Getting To Know...Amber Buker, who with her partner Randall Tye Pike, is launching Nashville's latest theater company - Distraction Theatre - this summer at the iconic Darkhorse Theater. Even before we subjected her to a good and dramatic drilling/grilling and/or questioning, we knew her to be charming and direct, two of the attributes all theater folk should develop. But as we pummeled her with queries, we discovered something else: she once competed for the title of Miss Oklahoma, a fact that ingratiated her to us immediately.

But what you should know, in addition to her efforts to launch a new company while volunteering at other existing venues (she's helped out on numerous Street Theatre Company during her short time in Music City), she's the program director for the Arts & Business Council of Greater Nashville, where she and executive director Casey Summar make up the ABC's two-person leadership team.

Where are you from originally? Tulsa, Oklahoma. I moved to Nashville in January of 2015 from Portland, OR, where I attended law school. After a west coast detour I was ready to get back to the land of sweet tea ad honeysuckle. Nashville has been a perfect fit. It's a little bit country, a little rock n'roll.

Where did you go to school? Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma for undergrad (Go Riverhawks! Ka-Kaaw!), Lewis and Clark for law school (their mascot was a pioneer or something. I'm not entirely sure but they had these giant dogs at all of the games).

What was your first introduction to live theater? A grade school production of the nativity. I was Mary, and I was immediately hooked on the rush of having people pay focused attention to me! My family didn't have a lot of resources growing up, so all of my early arts experiences were ones that I took an active role in since we couldn't afford to go out to see shows.

What are your favorite shows? Right now my favorite show is The Shape of Things, by Neil LaBute. I am planning to direct it as the second show in our inaugural season for my new company, Distraction Theatre. I am drawn to dark, creepy shows that make people feel a little uncomfortable without necessarily knowing why, and that show hits the nail on the head.

My favorite book was also turned into one of my favorite shows: The Little Prince. The Tulsa Opera did a version of hit way back when that really brought the story to life. I was also a little biased since my little sister was in it as a part of the Tulsa Children's Opera!

What brought you to Nashville? A few things. My partner, Randall Pike, and I were in Portland for a few years and just knew it wasn't a great fit for us culturally. Both of us are from Oklahoma and we wanted to get back to some southern hospitality. I also wanted to practice entertainment law, but have absolutely no desire to be in LA or NYC. Nashville is known in the industry as "the land in between" and that sounded just right to me. Randall and I also saw some great potential in the theatre scene here. Portland was pretty saturated with theatre, but that didn't seem to be the case here. We saw a lot of growing room to start our new company, and hope to be part of a bigger movement to elevate the profile of the theatre as a whole in Nashville.

What was your first involvement in Nashville theater? This past year we have spent getting to know the lay of the land and making new friends in the theatre world. We wanted to be really intentional about building relationships before we launched our company. Randall was tapped to design and build the set for Street Theatre Company's Dogfight when we first moved to town. He has a background as a technical director so it was a great fit working for STC. He also built Heathers: The Musical, The Last Queen of Wonderland, Bat Boy: The Musical (also SM here) and In the Heights. Everything he works on I also work on by default to help out. I have become quite handy with a drill and have been lobbying for a title.

Theatrically speaking, what sets Nashville apart from other cities in which you have lived? Nashville has an incredibly welcoming theatre scene. Everyone we talked to seemed genuinely excited to have more theatre folk in town and welcomed us with open arms. I think we are all wanting to accomplish the same thing as far as making theatre a bigger part of the creative economy here, so it makes total sense to want to grow the amount of work being produced. That was pretty different than what we saw in Portland. Nashville also has a very youthful theatre scene compared to other markets. So many young people are moving here and it shows in theatre as much as it does in other sectors like music or tech. Altogether, Nashville theatre has a lot of energy around it right now. A really exciting vibe!

What do you hope to accomplish in Nashville theater? Distraction Theatre's mission is to present bold, thought-provoking theatre. We also want to feature at least one original work per season to help give new authors a voice. Down the road, we want to have an impact on the larger theatre community as well, by facilitating collaborations and conversations that allow us to truly celebrate the work of our peers.

What musical best exemplifies your life story? Ha! I can't think of anything that exemplifies my life story, but I guess the musical that feels the most like me would be Book of Mormon. Irreverent, cheeky, and unflinching.

Who would you like to play you in the onstage version of your life? Meryl Streep. We look nothing alike but she is a total badass. I would want the person portraying me to be bold, self-aware, and self-assured and that is what I think Meryl personifies.

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