Steve Eckes (Cross Community Players)

Steve Eckes is on the board of directors for Cross Community Players, a family-friendly theater company that has been assisting local families in need since 1981. 

From Plymouth, Eckes has deep ties to the northwest suburbs.  

“I had a great childhood,” he says. 

After high school, Eckes enrolled at the University of Minnesota, majoring in political science. 

“I loved learning about the political systems of other countries,” he shares. 

“And comparative politics was my specialty. Examining the differences between American capitalism and U.K. socialism, that’s where I thrived.” 

That being said, Eckes, exhibiting a subtle humor, admits that embarking on an academic journey revolving around political machinations offered the path of least resistance.   

“It was the easiest way for me to get a degree,” he quips. 

Yet, after graduation, Eckes did not pursue a political career. 

Instead, he entered the corporate world, working in the insurance industry for nearly 40 years on the customer service side of operations. 

“My education was highly influential in my later love for insurance contracts, and helping our clients pore over the nuances in those policies,” Eckes says. 

“Being able to articulate those minute but important details to policyholders was fulfilling, and the service component of my job was what I loved the most.”

Since retiring from Corporate America, Eckes has been actively involved in the same community he grew up in. 

He currently sits on the board of directors for Cross Community Players, an organization that has been creating art and impacting local residents for over four decades. 

“We produce quality, affordable, family-friendly, live theater shows,” Eckes says of Cross Community Players, which hosts three events per year.

Of note: 

Unlike other theaters in the Twin Cities, Cross Community Players asks patrons to bring a nonperishable food item or a school supply to support the local food shelf.

This helps with their mission, which is “to weave artistic expression with charitable support.”  

Their aim is to benefit the northwest suburbs, and all their talent and organizers are volunteers. 

“We are all about encouraging volunteers in the community to be creative with acting, singing, dancing, and playing a musical instrument,” Eckes notes. 

“In addition to giving opportunities to actors, singers, dancers, and musicians, community theater is a creative outlet for technicians, such as costume, set, light, and sound designers.” 

As a family-friendly theater, patrons of all ages attend their events. 

“Our strongest demographic is 55 and older because those folks have the time and the disposable income to come and see the shows,” Eckes says.

“But we love having younger people come with their families and their pets when we put on our summer shows.” 

For reference, if you’re a senior or a student, a ticket to one of Cross Community Players’ events is $20, and that price increases by $5 for everyone else. 

As a non-profit, Cross Community Players survives off donations from local businesses who purchase ad space in the performance programs. 

Community staples like CertaPro Painters, Bitz Exteriors, and Universal Promo are part of Maple Grove’s local BNI chapter, and they routinely pour back into the same cities that support their small businesses. 

“I wouldn’t refer to the local businesses in Maple Grove as sponsors, because then there is the implicit connotation of high-dollar amounts, and that is more typically associated with corporations,” Eckes explains, highlighting the altruistic nature of Cross Community Players.  

“Many of the small businesses that run ads in our programs believe in our mission, and they genuinely want to give back to their local communities that patronize their businesses.”  

In that sense, you will likely never see a Cross Community Players event that is inundated with shoutouts to sponsors, but that doesn’t mean that the local businesses who are kind enough to donate some of their revenue aren’t benefiting from the exposure each event offers.   

“Running ads with us is great for business recognition, because again, a lot of our businesses are in the northwest suburbs, and a lot of people that go to our shows are in that area, so there is a lot of crossover that can lead to future business,” Eckes says. 

As a non-profit, it would seemingly be difficult for Cross Community Players to routinely entice local businesses to advertise at their shows, but Eckes mentions that ever since the organization’s opening in 1981, support among businesses has never wavered.  

“When I first started working with local companies at the Maple Grove BNI, we would get maybe four businesses to participate,” Eckes recalls. 

“Now, I’m getting owners like Steve Edwards [CertaPro Painters] and Peter Will [Universal Promo], who tell me to run ads for every show that we do. That’s a testament to how well things have gone.”

Adds Eckes, lightheartedly: 

“Our graphic designer, Amanda Del Vecchio, has had to expand the size of our programs in order to meet the demand of the businesses that we are featuring.” 

For all the success that Cross Community Players has had, there still is the reality that theater is a dying, if not lost art, a victim of smartphones and dwindling attention spans.

At the same time, Eckes, while acknowledging that a theater show may not carry the same level excitement as an action movie at the nearby cinema, is unbothered. 

“I understand that live theater is not everyone’s cup of tea. However, there are still a significant number of people who enjoy live theater,” he says. 

“That’s because watching a live performance is not only memorable, but it can be transformative due to how inspirational the characters and the stories are.” 

Adds Eckes:

“I think everyone, no matter who they are, loves to be inspired, and therefore is capable of appreciating high art.”

In the coming years, Eckes and Cross Community Players appear primed to continue producing art in the northwest suburbs.

Even though they will be reliant on the support of local businesses to subsidize these endeavors, they’re also working with Avalanche Arts to ensure that community theater doesn’t just maintain, but also elevates.   

“They [Avalanche Arts] are the organization that’s planning on building a performance arts center in Maple Grove,” Eckes says. 

“It’s been so much fun to be part of Cross Community Players, and to impact this part of the Twin Cities. Of course, we have goals for the future, but if I can continue to help the people of this community through art, and giving people opportunities, then I can confidently say that I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing at this stage of my life.” QS

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