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Economy Tightens Grip
Over the past month the economy has tightened its grip on
theatres across the country. Madison Rep in Madison, Wisc., closed
its doors in early March, after a failed donation drive. The Wisconsin
State Journal reported that the theatre was at least $500k in debt
to subscribers and vendors. Calls to the Rep went unanswered.
Meanwhile, the Foothills Theatre Company in Worcester, Mass.,
raised close to $100k in a few days in March in order to present
their next show, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.
“We made some cutbacks in the theatre and we scaled the
show back a little bit, which helped,” said Foothills Marketing
Director Kristen Fischer. “But we’ve honestly just received
donations from individuals. The outpouring of support was
fantastic.”
But they’re not out of the woods yet. They’re approaching
the remainder of their season on a show-by-show basis, and
holding a fundraising gala on April 11 to raise more money.
They’ve even pushed back accepting early-bird subscriptions
for next season, pending the results of the gala. If successful
they plan to develop new ways to raise money for the theatre
besides ticket sales, but for now it’s all about how well their
shows do.
“We’re very grateful for the people who have helped us,”
said Fischer. “But we still need help and we’re not out of the
woods yet. Just come out to the show and support us!”
Also in the Northeast, Shakespeare & Company had mixed
news. Despite being able to expand its Shakespeare in the
Courts program thanks to a large donation from the Jay
Polonsky Fund as well as a $300k line item in the 2009 Federal
budget, they still had to restructure in order to cut costs and
increase income. S & Co. trimmed $900k from their annual
budget and laid off seven employees. Others were shifted
to part-time or consulting roles, while still others saw their
duties expand. Furthermore, a 10% across-the-board pay cut
took place for year-round employees. The three Founders
of Shakespeare & Company—Artistic Director Tina Packer,
Director of Education Kevin G. Coleman and Director of
Training Dennis Krausnick—will forgo pay entirely for two
months.
“We felt it was the least we could do so that the cutbacks
did not have to be more severe” said Coleman. To help boost
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revenue streams, the Company created a single to team to
handle sales for all of the company’s services, including tickets
to performances and workshops as well as space, gear and
costume rentals
In Chicago, the About Face Theatre launched a campaign to
raise $300k to pay off old debt and be able to finish out the season.
The new leadership at About Face had already been working to
clear the institution’s debt when the credit crisis hit in October.
The theatre didn’t have any operating reserves, and About Face
found themselves in a cash flow crisis. They reduced their budget
by over 30%, implementing staff and production cuts while also
postponing their third show of the season, but still more action
was needed. So they began the Face the Future campaign. The
first $100k raised will allow them to finish their current season and
meet payroll and other current expenses. The second $100k will
go to service their old debt. The last $100k will be put into cash
reserves to stabilize the theatre for the future.
“We didn’t want to do a fundraiser that is just going to stop the
bleeding,” said Managing Director Rick Dildine. “We want to have
an organization that’s going to keep going and keep getting better,
not to put it into a place where the cycle can happen again. We
want to stop the cycle.” So far they have raised just over $100k.
Individual artists are also having a tough time of it. The NEA
performed a study on how the current recession has affected
working artists. Their report, Artists in a Year of Recession: Impact on
Jobs in 2008, finds that artists are unemployed at twice the rate of
professional workers.
The NEA study also paints a bleak picture for the recovery of
the arts, predicting that the “job market for artists is unlikely to
improve until long after the U.S. economy starts to recover,” noting
that unemployment for artists because of the 2001 recession
didn’t peak until 2003, two years after the recession had ended for
the rest of the workforce.
Amidst all this there was one bright spot. In Miami, the Adrienne
Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County was
able to pay off a $14 million bank loan seven years early. M. John
Richard, president and CEO of the Adrienne Arsht Center, made
the announcement on Feb. 17, thanking the Center’s fundraising
support organization, the Performing Arts Center Foundation of
Greater Miami.
2009 Olivier Awards presented
Black Watch and Jersey Boys received Best New Play and Best New Musical awards, respectively, at the 2009 Laurence
Olivier Awards. Black Watch director John Tiffany won the Best Director award, while Sir Alan Ayckbourn received the
Society’s Special Award. The Oliviers are Britain’s top theatre award, roughly analogous to the Tony’s.
Other winners include: Paule Constable for Best Lighting Design for her work on The Chalk Garden at the Donmar
Warehouse; Gareth Fry, Best Sound Design for Black Watch; Tom Piper and Emma Williams won Best Costume Design for
their work on The Histories; Todd Rosenthal took home Best Set Design honors for August: Osage County; Margaret Tyzack
won Best Actress; Derek Jacobi won Best Actor; Elena Roger took home the award for Best Actress in a Musical and Douglas
Hodge for Best Actor in a Musical.
6 April 2009 • www.stage-directions.com