Blumenthal Performing Arts
IGNITING CULTURE
Winter 2021-22
Difference Maker
A Secret Plan
Dr. Michael Richardson Fosters a Love of Local Arts
Dr. Mike Richardson, left, and students from the Intro to the Arts program attend a production of The Wedding Singer at CPCC’s Halton Theater in November.
by Kitty Janvrin
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Dr. Michael “Mike” Richardson is part of a secret plan, initiated by Charlotte benefactor Leon Levine. The plan – “not so secret now, I guess” – is to make young people fall in love with Charlotte by showing them all that the city has to offer, from science to food, culture to civic engagement, and of course, the arts.
Since moving to Charlotte in 1990 following his medical training, the native North Carolinian has been intimately involved in the cultural sector. Richardson and his wife, Kelli, attended the inaugural performance at Belk Theater and have held Blumenthal season tickets ever since they first entered the venue in 1992.
During his 25 years in primary medical care, Richardson met Leon Levine, a connection that would change not only the trajectory of Richardson’s career but also his relationship with the arts. He began work as a Leon Levine Foundation board member, and gradually the Foundation overtook the majority of his time.
Dr. Mike Richardson
“I’m a doctor on Mondays,” he jokes. But if Richardson’s jovial bedside manner and lifelong desire to help people are any indication, he’s a perpetual healer, whether in the hospital or outside of it.
About seven years ago, Richardson transitioned from primary care to work at the Levine Cancer Institute, helping to launch new programs focused on cancer survivorship and clinical genetics. This role as the associate medical director for genetics complemented the work he began when Levine invited him to join the Foundation.
It’s always a pleasure to find students who are already kind of immersed in the art world and let them leverage that up and see what Charlotte has to offer. But the fun part is finding students who are from a rural community or have a science background and have no idea of what’s out there and open their eyes to that world.
— Dr. Mike Richardson, Leon Levine Foundation board member
“We get over 3,000 applications a year for 20 spots from all across the nation. It’s a hugely competitive program,” Richardson says. “Everybody’s a star from an academic and a brilliance standpoint. But (with) the selection process, the university has really figured out the secret sauce to finding folks who are committed to community service, community building and nonprofit work. It’s kind of a unique scholarship from that standpoint.”
The four-year scholarship experience, which works in tandem with UNC Charlotte, incorporates academics and service, as well as robust arts programming through Intro to the Arts. Students see performances across the city, including touring Broadway shows, Charlotte Symphony performances, Charlotte Ballet works, Theatre Charlotte plays and pieces presented by Central Piedmont Community College Theatre.
“We’ll do about 30 arts events a year, which is all of my social life,” laughs Richardson. “Who better to spend your weekends with than bright, enthusiastic young people who are out to change the world? I think Kelli and I will continue to do this as long as we are able.”
Intro to the Arts has been an integral piece of the Scholars Program since its founding, and for Richardson, it is one of the most fun to watch students experience. He especially enjoys exposing engineering minds to their first live performance.
“It’s always a pleasure to find students who are already kind of immersed in the art world and let them leverage that up and see what Charlotte has to offer. But the fun part is finding students who are from a rural community or have a science background and have no idea of what’s out there and open their eyes to that world.”
Intro to the Arts students have dinner before attending a Theater Charlotte performance in September 2019, pre-pandemic.
Even as a medical mind, Richardson found his love of the arts at a young age. He recalls his first role on stage, as The Wall in a middle school production of The Fantasticks. He followed this performance years later as gambler Sky Masterson in his high school senior class production of Guys & Dolls. Though that may have marked the end of his performance career, he nourishes his love of the performing arts by supporting art institutions across the city.
“It’s a rigorous discipline,” he says of performers, “as rigorous as some parts of the medical career I’ve had, to truly own your art and be able to convey the emotions that are there in the piece and to stick with it.”
It is no surprise, then, that when he and Kelli stumbled into the Blumey Awards in 2013, they were immediately taken with the program. When asked about the experience of watching his first Blumey Awards, he can only respond with, “Well, have you been to the Blumeys?”
His emphatic reaction led him to return home from the show and immediately become a donor. The Richardsons have supported the program both financially and as enthusiastic audience members ever since.
“It’s a high point of our year every year,” he says.
Now that live performances are retaking stages around the city following delays due to COVID-19, Richardson could not be more excited to settle into a seat at Belk Theater.
“If you ask me what I look forward to, it’s the next production. It’s whatever’s next.” ◼
