He was an actor in New York. Now he’s the new face of the Macon Little Theatre.

When J.P. Haynie was 4 months old, he was in a real estate commercial with his family.

Sylvia Haynie, J.P.’s mother, said J.P. was happy the entire shoot and kept reaching for the camera.

Although J.P. does not claim the commercial as the start of his acting career, Sylvia said the commercial was his first time on stage.

“He probably couldn’t have escaped it even if he wanted to,” she said with a laugh.

After working as an actor in New York City for the past 10 years, J.P. returned to Macon and is the new producing director and theater manager for Macon Little Theatre, which claims to be the oldest, continuously ran community theater under the same name in the southeast.

“I think this theater is in good shape, but I plan on adding some polish to our products that I think will really help us stand out as a real special place to see theater,” J.P. said.

His plans for the theater

J.P. officially took over as producing director and theater manager Dec. 16, and he said his main focus is to increase the theater’s social media and online presence to make the theater more accessible.

“We’ve just finished revamping our website. We’re about to make some transitions with our ticketing software to hopefully make it all more user friendly and easy for customers to buy tickets online, and also hopefully offer some more packages for people who want some flexibility as far as the season membership goes,” he said.

Although J.P. still wants to perform as an actor, he said his transition into the new role has been easy.

“It’s been very easy transitioning, especially here in Middle Georgia because I think for a town this size we do have a very strong arts community,” he said. “We have two very successful community theaters right here in town between Theatre Macon and here at Macon Little Theatre. We both have very successful groups of actors that go back and forth between the two theaters to work on different projects, and we have a lot of talent amongst them, so that makes our job easy as directors and leaders.”

J.P. would like to offer more internships at the theater because his experience doing lighting design work at the theater as a Mercer University student opened doors to his first professional job, he said.

Why was J.P. chosen?

Joseph Whidby, the guest director for “Steel Magnolias,” said it has been great to work with J.P. because he has a professional theater background.

As part of J.P.’s job, he oversees Macon Little Theatre productions, but the theater has guest directors come in to direct the plays and musical.

“It’s really cool to pick his brain on some things. He and I have a very similar directing style, so I’ve really appreciated his eyes a couple of times, just a fresh set of eyes on the show that I’m directing,” Whidby said.

“Steel Magnolias” opens Friday and runs through Feb. 16, according to Macon Little Theatre’s website.

J.P. has a classical directing style in which he encourages actors to have meaningful connections on-stage, but he is also open to non-traditional stage movements, Whidby said.

Whidby said Macon Little Theatre is lucky to have someone who is passionate about uplifting the theater and also committed to seeing the arts grow in Middle Georgia.

J.P. wants to help every production by being a resource to the actors and directors, J.P. said.

“I want to have a hand in every production because I want to make sure that the polish, the finish is up to standards that we really want to present here, but in the end, it’s a collaboration between me and the artistic director of a particular show,” he said. “I think that that’s a really important thing for theater is just that collaboration between the actors, the production team the directing team, and that really leads to the best polished experience.”

The creation of the position

Before J.P’s position was created at the Macon Little Theatre, the theatre was operated by two people: Sylvia supervised the theatre productions, and Janet Carter was the theater manager.

In addition to managing the theater, Sylvia is the theater director at Stratford Academy, and Carter had her own photography business, Sylvia said.

Whidby, also on the board of directors, said having two people manage the theater’s operations worked well for some time, and the board decided it needed someone to be the face of the theater.

“As a board member and as someone who grew up at Macon Little Theatre, I’m loving what he has brought and what I think he’s going to continue to bring in the next several years to come,” Whidby said.

Sylvia said the theater needed someone who could work full-time at the theater and put the theater’s needs first.

“It’s amazing for the theater to have a dedicated person who has the interest of the theater at the forefront of everyday that he gets up and goes to work,” Sylvia said.