Rick Bumgardner resigned from his position as artistic director of Roxy’s Downtown Theatre, Inc. yesterday morning, five days after the State of Kansas charged Cody Lacrone with child sex crimes.

After actors complained about Lacrone’s “predatory” behavior, Bumgardner hired him to work on the theater's production of “Company” in April. Lacrone also appeared on the Roxy's stage in “Urinetown: The Musical” in June.

Lacrone’s alleged crimes took place between February 27 and May 31 of this year, according to court documents. The 32-year-old was charged last Friday with one count of sexual exploitation of a child and three counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child. The indecent liberties charges concern alleged sexual intercourse with a child between the age of 14 and 16.

“I gave an actor a second chance in one of our productions about six months ago after being made aware that several other actors had expressed concerns about his behavior being predatory,” Bumgardner said in a statement that was posted to the Roxy’s Facebook page. “This past weekend that actor was arrested on charges that indeed support those concerns … It has caused a deep distrust of my leadership, Roxy's practices, and our overall safety.”

Bumgardner has worked at the downtown Wichita theater for about a decade. Earlier this year, he oversaw the organization’s transition to nonprofit status. Members of the board are not listed on the theater's website and could not be reached for comment.

The Sedgwick County District Court set Lacrone’s bond at $250,000 and imposed requirements of pre-trial release that include wearing an electronic monitoring device and no contact with anyone under the age of 18. Lacrone will next appear in court at 1:30 p.m. December 8.  

The charges set off a firestorm within the Wichita theater community. An administrator of Wichita Theatre Page, a Facebook group with more than 5,000 members, deleted posts about the topic after allowing some discussion over the past few days. 

Many Wichita-area actors made social media posts about their experiences with Lacrone and called for local theaters to change their procedures. Kinsey McDaniel is one. In an interview with The SHOUT, she said Lacrone harassed her, sending incessant and sometimes angry text messages, during and after they worked together for a Wichita-based touring company in 2022-23.

McDaniel said she has had a lot of experiences dealing with “difficult personalities and differences of opinion” in her work as a performer, director, producer, and stage manager. “This was not what that was,” she said. 

She hopes this case will lead to procedural changes in Wichita theaters. “I would love to see more transparency, more checks and balances.”

McDaniel has some experience in this area. She is the co-producer of Experimental Theatre Co., which has adopted aspects of the Chicago Theatre Standards, a model that “seeks to nurture communication, safety, respect, and accountability in all participants at all levels of theatrical production,” according to the University of Chicago’s University Theater, which follows the standards.

"The thing we currently make the biggest point to utilize is a NED (Non-Equity Deputy)," McDaniel explained in a follow-up email. "The NED is an elected cast member who acts as an anonymous reporter in case any cast member wants to bring up an issue to leadership but doesn’t want their name attached for any reason."

Sheldon Mba, a professor of theater at Wichita State, started a new Facebook group where local “artists, educators, technicians, students, and supporters” can discuss issues around safety in the theater community.

“I'm really excited about all the conversations that are taking place, because I think it's needed to happen for a long time,” McDaniel said. She hopes the local theater community will be able to move forward after the initial social media outrage has subsided.

Bumgardner’s statement also called for change. 

“It is my hope that through this action, the theatre community will come together, make a standardized safety principles package, and heal,” he wrote.

Emily Christensen is one of the co-founders of The SHOUT. She is a past fellow of the National Critics Institute at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center and a recipient of an Arts Writing Grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation. Send her a message: emily@shoutwichita.com.

Support Kansas arts writing

The SHOUT is a Wichita-based independent newsroom focused on artists living and working in Kansas. We're partly supported by the generosity of our readers, and every dollar we receive goes directly into the pocket of a contributing writer, editor, or photographer. Click here to support our work with a tax-deductible donation.