North Shore Music Theatre was disaster waiting to happen and the fall-out gives a bad name to theater everywhere.

June 21, 2009 • No Comments

 

If anyone ever wonders why theatre leaders have a bad reputation or why nonprofits are treated like the step-children of business, just look to the mess that is North Shore Music Theatre and you can easily see where the misconceptions and stereo-types come from.

 

North Shore is the perfect example of a bloated organization that had poor leadership and made the wrong decision with every step they took.  Hopefully the story will be a lesson for theatres who are facing difficult financial and artistic decisions.  They say hindsight is 20/20, but the signs of trouble seemed to have been evident for quite some time.

Theater fell to a medley of misfortune By Geoff Edgers, Globe Staff  |  June 21, 2009

 

When Barry Ivan took charge of North Shore Music Theatre, he thought he knew what to expect. For 12 years, he had been a steady guest director at the 54-year-old Beverly institution, marshaling dozens of dancers and scores of singers in eye-popping musicals like “West Side Story’’ and “Les Miserables.’’ Just before taking the top spot in 2008, he had directed the biggest-grossing show in the 1,750-seat venue’s history, “High School Musical.’’

 

All that turned out to be the easy part.

 

Less than a year after Ivan became artistic director and executive producer, the theater postponed its 2009 season, leaving thousands of loyal subscribers in the lurch. Last week, North Shore announced it was $10 million in debt and would close for good….

 

At its peak, the theater drew more than 27,500 subscribers and some 300,000 people a year, making it the largest regional theater in New England.

 

The closing has led to finger-pointing and recriminations, with those loyal to former theater head Jon Kimbell accusing Ivan of poor management and blasting his decision to abandon the organization’s proven holiday-season winner, “A Christmas Carol.’’ But a closer look at the theater’s financial health in its tumultuous final years, which included a devastating 2005 fire and a staff revolt under Ivan, reveals that myriad factors played into the collapse….

 

It was after 11 p.m. on a summer night in 2005 that the electrical fire started. Lights and sound gear melted; the stage and orchestra pit turned into a soggy, charred mess. The run of “Cinderella’’ was cancelled. The year looked lost.

 

But Kimbell, whose 25 years in charge saw dramatic rises in attendance and subscriptions, decided he couldn’t just cancel the season.

 

“Had I closed the place down it would have been impossible to renovate the theater and keep the staff employed,’’ he said in an interview last week from his home in New Hampshire. “I had to keep producing.’’

 

He accepted an offer to put a pair of North Shore productions into the Shubert Theatre in Boston. He also decided to make improvements to the theater’s in-the-round regular home. Insurance covered some of the work, but the upgrades ran an additional $1.5 million, Kimbell estimated.

 

The theater then lost $1.5 million more as a result of shows that had to be canceled, according to board chairman David Fellows, a venture capitalist.

Some theaters could survive that. But North Shore never had an endowment to protect it during down times. When it struggled, it borrowed money.

 

An endowment is not an insurance plan.  A fire is not an excuse to drain an endowment even if you have one! Why  didn’t the theatre have a capital campaign to cover its losses and additional expenses?  If it did and couldn’t raise the money, why did they do renovations that weren’t covered by the insurance money?   The fire was in 2005.  The debt should have been retired in 3 years or less through a campaign. 

 

Still, Kimbell’s era would be marked by great growth. Since arriving in 1983, he said, he had boosted the organization’s budget from $1.3 million to more than $14.5 million, its subscriber base from 7,000 to 27,500….

 

Ivan, whom Kimbell termed a friend after working with him for 12 years, knew the theater had financial problems when he took the job, he said. But it wasn’t until he had started that he recognized their extent.

 

The information, however, was readily available in the theater’s public filings. North Shore, which had deficits in 2005 ($492,184), 2006 ($107,856), and 2007 ($621,240), had an accumulated liability of about $4.6 million in mortgages and other notes.

 

Kimbell said the debt was not his fault. His $252,473-a-year job called for him to oversee virtually everything on stage, but not the business side of the organization.

 

“I haven’t been responsible for the finances of North Shore Music Theatre since something like 1990,’’ he said.

 

Fellows, the board chairman, doesn’t necessarily blame Kimbell or his successor Ivan.

 

“No, but more to the point, I don’t hold Barry responsible for that,’’ he said.

 

Despite its existing debt, theater leaders decided that borrowing more was their only solution. The slumping real estate market foiled that idea. A bank appraiser pegged the 22-acre theater property at $4.9 million. Already owing $5 million, the theater couldn’t borrow from a bank.

 

Fellows’s wife, April, did loan the theater $400,000, using as collateral a house the theater had for actors staying in town.

 

Note the previous quote talks about boosting the budget – but from the filings it wasn’t a balanced budget!  I don’t know anyone who would have a problem with raising expenses.  And when did the audience decline begin? 

 

Also, if the title is Executive Producer or Artistic Director, you ARE responsible for the finances of the organization.  I simply can’t believe Kimbell wasn’t aware of the constant borrowing.  It had to be brought up in a board meeting or some context.  It is part of the job.

 

It’s nice that Fellow’s is so forgiving of everyone’s behavior (although note that his wife’s loan is secured by the theatre’s property, so she will be paid back when others won’t be).

 

The great plan Ivan came up with seemed to revolve around raising funds that were more than double what had been raised by the organization in previous years and High School Musical 2 selling at astronomical levels (equal to the previous production).  It’s not surprising that it didn’t work.  This wasn’t a short term issue, this was years of borrowing and poor decision-making.

When trustees sat down on Dec. 19, the day after opening night, they realized they had a budget buster on their hands, according to Fellows.

 

The theater went into survival mode. There were 57 layoffs, and the theater stopped taking subscriptions for the 2009 season, though $2.5 million in renewals had come in, much of it money that patrons are not likely to get back.

 

North Shore kept on just three staffers, plus Ivan, his salary reduced from about $240,000 to $96,000.

 

In the middle of a devastating economic downturn that shook many nonprofits, the theater tried to raise $4 million to put on another season. Then it lowered its goal to $2 million.

 

Late last week, a few days after the board announced it had given up, Fellows headed to the theater with a checkbook. He met with the three remaining staffers and wrote out checks for the electric and phone bills.

 

Looking back, did he regret anything about the way the theater operated over the last year?

 

“No,’’ Fellows said. “With the economy being what it was, this was unwinnable. I can’t think of anything – knowing what I know now, going back over it – that we would have done differently.’’

 

Laying off 57 people is not survival mode.  That is shut-down mode.    In the comments section of the article (which are well worth reading) a savvy reader noted the following: 

 

Looking at Guidestar.org, I see that for the 2006 season, NSMT had $10,446,776 in program revenue and $1,787,948 in donations

This notes that the decline in budget and sales had begun long before any action was taken.  And the $4M fundraising goal was ridiculous even if a good economy. 

 

How on earth can the board chair not regret the way the theatre operated in the last year?  What about the last 5 years?

 

North Shore’s failure is not because of the current economy its because of years of poor management and it lead to the theater not being able to withstand a slight breeze, let alone the gusts of a tough economy. 

 

It is a sad situation.  It is unfair to the community and industry that the situation was allowed to happen.  Unfortunately, it is the third example this week of bad leadership, between North Shore, BoarsHead and Skylight Opera Theater, it is a pretty embarrassing week for nonprofit theatre.

Student Matinees create opportunities for all students. They are important and have a huge impact when done well.

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Frank Rizzo (Hartford Courant, Variety) who I tend to agree with on most topics posted the a very ill-informed take on student matinees: they are done more or less for funding purposes only and not having any true impact on attendees or developing audiences.  Basically Frank suggests we give students free tickets to attend a regular performance and give up on student matinees.

Here is my the response to Frank’s post that I put in his comments section – ironically I think that my posting of the comment or trying to crashed the Courant site because I can’t get on it since – so I will check throughout the day to make sure my comment got through:

I couldn’t disagree with you more about student matinees (of which I have attended dozens).  The logistics of attending a show outside of school hour are virtually impossible to arrange in most cases.

First and the largest issue, your plan assumes that the students can find transportation to the theater. Without buses, which are expensive many students can’t even get to the theater.  You may argue that they make it to the mall or to the movies which is true, but some parents view malls as babysitting services and frankly malls are cool social settings where kids already gather – not exactly what most kids think of when they think of their local theaters.

Second, your plan also assumes that children are old enough to attend the theatre on their own.  If we wait for every students theatre-going experience to begin when they are old enough to attend on their own, we might as well write them off?  If you haven’t experienced something, you won’t miss it. The reality is that movies, sports, etc a geared towards children at a very young age.  If we aren’t providing a similar point of entry for the theatre (and all of the arts) we will become even more irrelevant.  And once again we can’t rely on parents to seek out this experience alone.

Third, the factors above and your plan would likely create an even smaller audience in that those who would choose to attend or could attend are those that could AFFORD the transportation or whose parents didn’t work at night and could take their kids to a show or didn’t have other children or can afford a babysitter.  Our ticket prices are already too high why would we want to create more barriers for attending.

This is why schools have such strict rules about what can be required as class room activities and field trips.  And I am pretty sure we aren’t going to convince the school system to provide after school buses or teacher support for theatre attendance when the arts are being cut out of many of our schools.

My childhood and formative years were filled with professional arts experiences via student matinees.  And I had a mother who firmly believed in providing these experiences outside of the school hours but as a school teacher didn’t necessarily have the time, energy or money to make it to the few arts experiences that were available in El Paso, TX.  Without those matinees, I would never have pursued a career in theater.

A well prepared audience at a student matinee (by both the school and the theatre) can be one of the best audiences around with completely honest reactions.  Certainly adults can and should be encouraged to attend with the students – at 10:30am.  It is an opportunity to give tickets to local partners or a special subscription or discount offer.  Frankly any actor or other theatre artists who wants to complain about it should take a moment and try and remember what brought them to the arts.  And then they should take some action to participate in either the preparation of the audiences or the day’s experience – it can be as simple as asking what the preparation was.  I am not suggesting more work for the actors – the theatre should be doing the heavy lifting, but we all are responsible for making sure theatre is available to audiences of all ages.  Or get used to the fact that our audience will be smaller and smaller.  You don’t miss what you never have.   I know first hand how much work the matinees are and how frustrating they can be but the alternatives are unacceptable to me.  It reminds me the stereotypical self-indulgent directors who are so concerned about their “art” that they have forgotten completely about the audience and the reasons for creating theatre in the first place.

The point of the matinees isn’t to convert everyone into as die-hard theatre attendee.  It is a chance to reach a few future theatre participants, to enhance the education curriculum and to foster an understanding of the importance of the arts.

Your suggestion for free vouchers (and a way to make sure the students actually attend)is a fine idea for summers, a one time specific project, or a way to encourage students to attend a show.  I actually have always been a proponent of all student tickets being free or at least lower than the price of a movie ticket (often free tickets remove the value of the experience completely).  But if that is the only access provided, we won’t be doing our jobs as theatre practitioners or meeting the missions of most nonprofit theatres.

Recent articles about the arts, theater, etc. from the last two weeks

June 18, 2009 • No Comments

 

A LINK TO A MUST READ POST FOR EVERYONE IN THE ARTS!!! @createequity http://tinyurl.com/mzdl62

Nonprofits gird for long battle – Crain’s New York Business – http://shar.es/Wk9N

How Twitter’s Staff Uses Twitter (And Why It Could Cause Problems) – NYTimes.com – http://shar.es/WqUN

Competitive Advantage Is Fleeting (And It’s Okay to Admit It) http://bit.ly/nsMAE

Company has employees volunteer for charities, pays them, takes tax deduction http://tr.im/nXpv

Declaration of Arts Ed Rights – http://shar.es/f39I

The evolving hybrids in corporate structure – The Artful Manager – http://shar.es/2NWv

Roundabout announces $10 Birdie tickets, sponsored by Bank of America http://bit.ly/l1IBT

The Columbus Dispatch : Cultural groups tap audiences via social networking – http://shar.es/2Uqe

Beleaguered City Opera Tries to Hold Off the Ultimate Finale – NYTimes.com – http://shar.es/29lH

Helen Mirren in "Phedre" live broadcast #fb http://shar.es/29gt

North Shore Musical Theater to Close – http://bit.ly/j3cVq

NEA reports decline in arts audiences for 2008 | Culture Monster | Los Angeles Times – http://shar.es/rtXO

Obama Plays It Safe With the Arts – WSJ.com – http://shar.es/fNth

Obama and the arts, Part 2 http://bit.ly/11njer

Obama and the arts, Part 3 | Culture Monster | Los Angeles Times – http://shar.es/fNXP

Tonys boost Broadway box office – Entertainment News, Tony Awards, Media – Variety – http://shar.es/roU7

Interesting study on gender and Twitter use: http://bit.ly/tg2XE

Making Art Pay For Art – http://shar.es/r1h4

The Revolution is Tweeted, Does it Matter?  http://shar.es/r1iu

Jonathan Demme to Direct for MCC Theater – ArtsBeat Blog – NYTimes.com – http://shar.es/rgem

Arts, Briefly: Broadway’s New Season Takes Shape http://bit.ly/12rzoO

NYT reports giving last year fell by largest percentage in five decades: http://rde.me/Y6

The Associated Press: Amid meltdown, charitable gifts in US fell in 2008 – http://shar.es/fNov

Charitable Donations Fell by Nearly 6% in 2008, the Sharpest Drop in 53 Years http://twurl.nl/ijbq6x

Shrek the Musical Comes Closest to a Perfect Social Strategy for Broadway Musicals, http://bit.ly/e0Dz3

Merce Cunningham plans his retirement – Crain’s New York Business – http://shar.es/f1hc

Laura Benanti and Steven Pasquale have found happiness on and off stage! http://bit.ly/uPGCp

Roger Freidman trying to stir it up with Michael Riedel http://bit.ly/69H5Y

Three sign on for ‘Pillars of the Earth’ http://tinyurl.com/nf5wf2

BroadwayRadio’s This Week on Broadway podcast post-Tony discussion is now available! http://tinyurl.com/ndsn83

 

The Norman Conquests – a great way to spend the day

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I have been so busy that I haven’t had time to write about the many shows I have been seeing in the last several weeks.  One MUST SEE is Alan Ayckbourn’s Norman Conquests.  I spent an entire Saturday with the most amazing ensemble of actors (again, please now that special event category is gone PLEASE Tony committee PLEASE create a best ensemble category.  It is criminal not to!). 

 

It took close to eight hours to watch all three shows beginning at 11:30 in the morning, but it was worth every single second.  Certainly you don’t have to see all three shows but if you can, don’t miss the opportunity.  As a matter of fact, since it is supposed to rain all day Saturday, why not just buy tickets now and spend the day laughing indoors instead of dodging umbrellas on the street.

 

I have worked on several Ayckbourn plays and although the mistaken identities and situations are often so specific that the plays can’t be updated to current times (the cell phone alone would crush many of Ayckbourn’s most hilarious circumstances) the plays and the characters somehow never come off as dated.  I consider one of the true signs of a great playwright. 

 

The entire cast, Amelia Bullmore, Jessica Hynes, Stephen Mangan, Ben Miles, Paul Ritter and Amanda Root, travelled with the production from the Old Vic (Kevin Spacey, Artistic Director). 

 

I feel completely in love with Stephen Mangan’s insatiable and irresistible Norman.   Despite the character’s utterly repulsive actions and behavior, I don’t think many woman could resist Norman’s and Mangan’s charms.   I will be shocked if we don’t see him with his own television series soon.  Ben Miles and Paul Ritter, as Tom (the simple suitor) and Reg (the “put-upon” brother and husband) respectively, were perfection. 

 

But it was the ladies and Ayckbourn knows how to write delicious roles for women, that you had to cheer for throughout the day. 

 

Amelia Bullmore’s Ruth is so vain she refuses to wear glasses.  She rules with an iron fist that has left her hated by the entire family, but Bullmore grows on you through out the day showing the utter vulnerability of Ruth, breaking your heart near the end as she describes why she loves and puts up with Norman – it is just because he is who he is.  Each time Amanda Root’s Sarah stepped on the stage, I could not control my laughter.  With pure comedic genius, Root has her character so wound so tight that you half expect her to spring into the rafters of the theater at any moment.  But it is Jessica Hynes’s Annie who anchors the entire ensemble.  The heroine who runs up and down a range of emotions and situations taking us with her each step of the way.  A lesser actress would not only fumble the ball in this carefully orchestrated game, but without a great talent like Hynes the play would be lost.

 

In addition to the actors, Mathew Warchus proves he is a master of the stage (I still think he should have won the Tony for Norman Conquests, not God of Carnage).  The show is staged in the round, a rare seen delight on Broadway.  Working with Rob Howell on my favorite set of the season, Warchus creates a world with minimal tools leaving us the opportunity to be pulled into the actors great performances and Ayckbourn’s brilliant puzzle of plays with out interruption or distractions.

 

For those who don’t know the plays unfold over a weekend with each play divulging different scenes from each day.  Each play going back and forth in time, but somehow you are never lost.   In writing alone the work is a true masterpiece of the theatre.  The fantastic revival reminds a new generation of this.

 

With straight plays disappearing from Broadway left and right, make sure you go see three of the best before July 26.

Here we go again…Artistic Director fired to save money ROUND TWO

• One Comment

What is up in the mid-west?  On Monday I wrote a post about BoarsHead Theater in Michigan firing their artistic director to save money.  At the end of the post I said I hoped this wouldn’t be a trend and low and behold…from today’s Playbill:

In a move that would seem to send a chill down the spine of not-for-profit artistic directors everywhere, Skylight Opera Theatre’s board and managing director eliminated the job of the artistic director on June 14.

Bill Theisen, the Milwaukee musical theatre company’s popular artistic director for the past five seasons will not hold the job for the troupe’s 50th anniversary in 2009-10. Theisen was let go “as part of an organizational restructuring in response to the economic downturn,” according to a statement from the Equity company that produces musicals and English-language versions of classic operas.

Skylight’s “artistic coordination and administration will now be part of the responsibilities of managing director, Eric Dillner, who assumed the managing director position at the Skylight in 2008.

A MUST READ POST FOR EVERYONE IN THE ARTS!!!

June 16, 2009 • No Comments

Ian David Moss over at Create Equity has always written some interesting and insightful posts, but yesterday he wrote a post that brilliantly summarizes all the key issues the arts are facing.  I have great hope that it will unify the many conversations that have been happening on these issues in many blogs (including Off-Stage Right and many of the blogs on the blog roll on the left) including discussion on “sustainability,” business models, artist compensation and equality, and power distribution.

I beg everyone to go read the post in full.

On the Arts and Sustainability

Learn your lessons well. Arts organizations should focus on the art at all times, not just in turbulent times.

June 15, 2009 • No Comments

Can we learn enough from current times to not get caught off-guard during the next downturn?  Or is the more important question, how do we learn enough from current times so that our organizations are on the right course in the future?  In other words, how do we right the ship so the next wind doesn’t blow us over?

Let’s finally be honest, many of us weren’t prepared for the economy to get this bad – personally and organizationally.  And some of us still have our heads in the sand or clouds about what is happening, how long it will last, or where we are on the spectrum of the current economy.  My personal feeling is that for the arts, the bumpy road is still ahead and we are just beginning to see some of the challenges of a new fiscal reality.

That’s right, not a downturn, a new reality.  Things will get better but they will never be the same.  Perhaps we don’t even really know what they were in the recent past.  Certainly many organizations were not on solid fiscal ground or as healthy as they could have been prior to October of last year.

But the economy’s largest effect on the cultural institutions and artists hasn’t really had much to do with money.  Instead it has simply divulged some major cracks in the foundation of the country’s arts and culture ecosystem.

I also firmly that social and economic situations ebb and flow regularly.  We live in a constantly shifting cultural landscape and always have.  Technology, science, and knowledge have a greater effect on culture than economics.  The fundamental problem we face could have been exposed in many ways, a major world war, a deadly pandemic, or natural catastrophe could have opened eyes as well.  It was just that the collapse of the world economy that struck first.

So what are we learning, what is being exposed, now that our eyes are open, what do we see?  And more importantly what do we do about it?

I think the last 30 years made us forget the roots of cultural and arts experiences.  We veered away from the true importance and fundamental need of story-telling and expression – whether we were guided to more commercial enterprises or towards building architectural castles that organizations couldn’t run, many of us are off-course and some of us are lost in the wilderness.  The basic concept of why we create art in the first place has been lost in the muckety-muck of running an organization.  We have to re-center ourselves and our organizations.  If the art is at the center of everything we do and every decision we make our organizations will flourish in our communities.  If we think of the art first we will be able to right-size our organizations.  If we put the art out in front we will know what tools and tactics we should use to communicate about the art.  If we talk about why we create art in our specific communities we will create a dialogue with our friends, neighbors, and audiences that will inform the art we do.

Yesterday, I posted about a theater that fired the artistic director because the board was going to make decisions based on finances.  The board president commented that he knew the business side of the organization and not the theater side.  I emphatically stress – the business is theater.   They are one.

Everyone in the arts needs to remember the business is the art.  We need our board members to understand this clearly or get off the board.  We need our donors to know this is our priority.  We need our communities to know this is at the heart of each and every step we take.  Most importantly we, artists and administrators, MUST get back to the art, all of our energy and decisions must come first from the art.  Of course this is eventually filtered through the mission, then through our communities needs, and then through a fiscally responsible and sustainable process of execution.

The best thing we can do to prepare the upcoming challenges, the new reality we are in, and future shifts we will face, is get back to the absolute basics.  I know this topic has come up before, but it can’t come up often enough.

Ironically, while catching up on my emails this afternoon, I stumbles upon the following Management Tip of the Day from Harvard Business Publishing.  I hope folks take a moment and think about the fact that if the leading publisher in business theories and practices is telling us to focus on “what the point of our work is” perhaps we should listen.  This is how we will flourish in the modern renaissance that has already begun.  Let’s not miss the opportunity.  In this day and age, I don’t think we can afford to blow it.

From Harvard Business Publishing Management Tip of the Day, June 9, 2009:

Leadership to Prevent the Next Recession

There is debate about whether the recession could have been prevented and what role business leaders played in creating it. However, the more important question will be: what have we learned? Here are three rules the recession has taught leaders to follow:

  1. Prevent problems. Business culture focuses on problem-solving, but true leaders need to figure out how to avoid problems in the first place.
  2. Keep two lists. One list is what motivates you and the other is what worries you. Know yourself before you tackle your business and you will be a more effective leader.
  3. Focus on the “so what?” Leaders need to know what the point of their work is. To create stakeholder value? Keep customers? Make the world a better place? Post-recession, what should the ultimate goal of your organization’s work be?

Today’s Management Tip was adapted from “Three Rules for These Times” by Alan M. Webber – Read the full post and join the discussion

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Who needs an Artistic Director? Not BoarsHead Theater or so they say…

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Times are tough and everyone is worried about what is coming next, but the board at BoarsHead Theater in Michigan has taken a step that might or might not be the start of a trend.  My thoughts on this later in the post.

I found this article through that wonderful resource American Theatre Web.  The article was from Encore Michigan website which is a new on-line publication for Michigan’s professional theater scene (bravo to them for starting the site especially since I probably never would have seen this story otherwise) BoarsHead board cites loss of donations as reason for Thatcher firing by Bridgette M. Redman:

Lansing’s BoarsHead Theater, one of three professional Michigan theaters this month to announce the termination of its top artistic executive, is restructuring its organization to proceed without an artistic director and with a more active board.

This is the opening paragraph of the above cited article.  First thought was what is more worrisome – no artistic leadership or “a more active board.”   Citing the loss of income from foundations and the ANTICIPATED loss of other contributed revenue, the board decided not to renew A.D. Kristine Thatcher’s contract. Second thought, so they haven’t lost the money yet and they think tearing the organization apart will help, hmm…  I said to myself don’t be judgmental keep reading, maybe there is some new artistic structure they are entertaining, under the leadership of the Executive Director John Dale Smith who is sticking with the organization.  So I kept reading.

The theatre’s attendance is down, a major foundation donating 50K a year has ended funding (clear reason not given but subtext is that is more about the economy than the theatre itself), subscriptions down and sponsorships down – so BoarsHead is like many if not most theatres across the country, so why the drastic restructure I wonder, hmm…

[Board Chair Larry Meyer, a former Lansing city council member and retired CEO of the Michigan Retailers Association] also pointed out that while the 2008-2009 season made money, with a projected profit of $22,488, that was due to two significant one-time gifts from Jackson National and Meijer.

According to a financial audit filed with the city, BoarsHead’s net assets grew from a deficit of $63,288 in 2007 to a surplus of $13,305 as of June 30, 2008, a trend that continues a deficit reduction that has been steady since Thatcher’s arrival in 2005. Their cash balance increased from $79,927 as of June 30, 2007 to $182,281 as of June 30, 2008.

However, ticket sales dropped from $330,731 in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2007 to $280,692 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008. While Meyer was unable to confirm whether ticket sales figures were up or down for 2008-2009, he did say they were below expectations. In 2008, the shortfall in ticket sales was made up with $116,477 in increased contributions.

Huh?  The headline seemed to imply lower donations were the issues but the above seems to conflict with that and suggests lower box office but it is difficult to use a two year comparison for a real analysis.  And “below expectations” doesn’t mean there was a drop in sales – after all what were the “expectations.”  But I will keep reading and have an open mind, because hey, new models of leadership in theater can be really good for an organization and the industry.

Faced with a projected deficit, Smith said that every decision the theater and the board makes now must be based on finances. Meyer agreed, saying that the ongoing value of BoarsHead is that arts and culture are “an integral part of a downtown fabric.”

“I certainly understand the business side very well,” said Meyer, while admitting, “I don’t understand the theater part of it. I’m just an old hockey guy.”

When asked whether the board would renew Thatcher’s contract if additional donations or sponsorships were to change the financial situation of the theater, both Meyer and Smith said that such an answer would be pure speculation.

“We have got to lower the cost of the Boarshead,” Meyer said. “We will continue to have high quality artistic presentation. We’ll get at it in a different way.”

The fiscal year 2009-2010 has $27,230 budgeted for artistic direction — a cut from the $59,135 salary that Thatcher was paid. Meyer said that number would not be used for a salaried position, but to pay for the necessary artistic direction.

“There will be artistic direction,” he said. “There will be that critical element of the artistic product that will be properly addressed. There is not currently a plan. We have discussed it in broad terms and I would hope that within a couple weeks we’ll have some announcements.”

He said the board is active, works very closely together and that they will make the future direction of BoarsHead work.

Okay, they officially lost me.  As the kids say WTF?  “Every decision must be based on finances.”  It is a theatre.  Without the artistic decisions how do you even know the finances?  I won’t even go into how can you understand the “business side very well” without understanding “the theater part of it”.”  THE BUSINESS IS THEATER.  They can’t be separated, but how about “there is not currently a plan” and “they [the board] will make the future direction of BoarsHead work.”  Remember the first quote – BoarsHead is one of three professional theaters in Michigan (sorry to my beloved home state, I think you now only have two professional theaters, thank goodness for my friend Guy Sanville, Jeff Daniels and the Purple Rose in Chelsea).

So I keep reading, but admittedly without an open mind, in fact with a bit of anger.

Complements about Thatcher from a former board member.  Complements about Thatcher from a playwright who has been produced at BoarsHead – attributes recent successes and growth to her – even suggest that the previous leadership had led the theatre to the brink of closing and Thatcher brought it back to health.  Opinions on the theater – it is a key player in Lansing arts scene, has a small staff, etc.  Complements about Thatcher from an actor who worked there – she is the heart of the theater.  Interestingly the comments all also say nice things about John Dale Smith.  Some more thoughts from a leaders of other area theaters (which include a shout-out to Purple Rose).  Info on Thatcher and awards she won.

NOTHING in the article to suggest that the work was an issue.

NOTHING to suggest why the board really thought this was the way to go (other than they want a say in the programming).

NOTHING to suggest any kind of plans.

NOTHING to suggest any logic in the decision at all.

Anyone else think there is something else going on here?

So I headed to BoarsHead Theater‘s website.  The front page touts last season’s awards and the 2009-2010 season (I assume chosen by Thatcher).  In the news section I found a statement from Meyers on the reorganization.  I thought okay the article on-line might have been bias, here we have it direct from the decision-makers.

BoarsHead Theater is a nonprofit cultural organization and, like most in this tough economy, we are dealing with extreme financial pressures. Our major sources of income are down dramatically. We have experienced losses in government and private grants, and business and individual donations.

We are not complaining. This is the reality we face, but it forces the board to take aggressive action to resize the organization. We are developing a reorganization plan with one – not two – top staff people. The business model of two people at the top developed 43 years ago by BoarsHead founders John Peakes and Richard Thomsen is not sustainable in these times. We must reduce expenses to continue to operate.

The board’s decision was a difficult one, but necessary in order to move forward and remain the anchor arts organization of downtown Lansing. BoarsHead is the largest equity (shows with professional actors) theater in mid-Michigan and we do not want to lose our value to downtown, our patrons, donors and past and future subscribers. Our reorganization plan will ensure our main stage shows continue to provide top-notch entertainment and our educational programs expand to allow exciting opportunities for the area youth.

We have announced an outstanding season of plays at affordable prices for next year. We need the support of the community to keep this theater sustained and thriving. Come see our shows, and tell your friends and neighbors to come downtown as well.

This theater has a significant impact on the economic development of downtown Lansing. We remain committed to downtown and being a vital part of its exciting renaissance.

BoarsHead Theater has a 43-year history in Lansing. Board members are unanimous in their love for this theater and its future. We are committed to our mission: “BoarsHead Theater entertains and inspires audiences through professional productions and educational outreach programs.”

NOTHING to really explain the decision or elaborate on making such a decision with no plan or who will have actual artistic input on the plan.

Goodness forbid that any board at any respectable theater read this and think this is a good course of action.  Sure there are times for changes in leadership.  There are even good reasons to play with the leadership structure of a theater.  But from the outside this doesn’t seem like a course of action, a strategy or even well-thought out.   In fact is seems ridiculous.

Unless something else is going on or a real plan is created that focuses on theater not just finances, my guess is we will soon see BoarsHead added to the growing list of theaters that have closed.

Internships paid, unpaid, in-between – trying to understand the rules.

• One Comment

One of the most worrisome topics I saw of the Twitter stream of the TCG conference was regarding the Department of Labor and internships.  This hasn’t seemed to pick up much commentary, perhaps because it is difficult to understand or perhaps there are so many other issues this one fell to the wayside.  There seemed to be some significant concern that the Department of Labor was “cracking down” on internships.

 

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) governs minimum wage and who qualifies. Of course the first question is does a particular organization fall under the governance of the FLSA.  A quick read left me with the impression that most theaters would.  So then what are the implications regarding interns.   In the article, The Cost Of Unpaid Interns, How to navigate the wage and hour law maze – the NonProfit Times explains the following guidelines:

 

In Walling v. Portland Terminal Co., 330 U.S. 148 (1947), the individuals at issue participated in a training program that was a prerequisite to employment. The Supreme Court held that employment “trainees” were not employees for purposes of the FLSA during their training period. The Court considered the “economic reality” of their training as well as the circumstances surrounding the training, and concluded that the training program did not contemplate compensation, nor did the employer derive any immediate or direct advantage from the trainees’ work.

Following Walling, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a six-part test to help determine whether an individual is a “trainee,” as opposed to an employee requiring compensation. If all of the following criteria apply, the trainees are not employees within the meaning of the FLSA and need not be paid:

  1. The training, even though it includes actual operation of the facilities of the employer, is similar to that which would be given in a vocational school;
  2. The training is for the benefit of the trainees;
  3. The trainees do no displace regular employees, but work under their close observation;
  4. The employer that provides the training derives no immediate advantage from the activities of the trainees and, on occasion, the employer’s operations might actually be impeded;
  5. The trainees are not necessarily entitled to a job at the conclusion of the training period; and
  6. The employer and the trainees understand that the trainees are not entitled to wages for the time training. (Note that as an exception to this criterion, tuition assistance and nominal stipends for students are not considered wages.

 

Some Google research finds contradictory information as to whether you must meet all 6 criteria and the interpretation of the criteria themselves (not surprising).  Other questions revolve around what is compensation (does housing count – general research seems to say yes it does), what about stipends (seem to be okay for tools, books or other education materials – not food and gas as most of us think of them), and what risk are nonprofits really facing in this supposed “crack-down” versus say law firms, financial services, and other for-profit companies.

 

Here are just a few my concerns (and opinion, standard disclaimer – I am not offering advice or any legal consultation in what ANY organization of individual should do):

 

1.  Most arts organizations probably meet numbers 1, 2, 5, and 6 with some ease. However most arts organizations I know need interns to balance out the workload and the affordable workforce (which we be in conflict with the guidelines.

 

2. Number 3 may seem more subjective in the organizations eyes than an outside evaluator.  For example in theatre many interns work backstage crew assignments.  We may not think of this as displacement of an other employee but in reality it is. Without the intern we would have to hire someone to do the job.  Now, I can easily see and make the arguments, that the fact that we have interns makes the decision to do a show with say a big set with lots of changes possible but would all of our programming stand up to exemplify that was the case?  Overall, I must guess no.  Does this mean that if an intern works in the box office as part of their internship we are in conflict with the guidelines.

 

3.  Many companies allow interns to take on responsibilities outside of the internship to make extra money (box office, house management, crew, etc.).  Is this in conflict?

 

All of this is very important to me because I a firm believer that we as artists and organizations have a moral obligation to help train future generations.   But I understand the economic challenges of this training.  It is an unfortunate reality that most organizations can’t afford to pay interns minimum wage and it is heart-breaking because it creates all sorts of issues, the most difficult to accept being that the programs are populated by interns whose families can afford to provide financial support.

So, if anyone out there has more information that would help other organizations please share!  If you were at the TCG conference and there was some insight provided please share!

 

Some other articles of interest:

 

Rites of spring: The hidden dangers of hiring unpaid interns

Small businesses hire unpaid interns this summer – Associated Press

 

FLSA and the Summer Intern

Is there gender equality in theater? Responses are coming in….

June 10, 2009 • One Comment

 

 

Yesterday, I posted here about whether there was gender equality or disparity in the theater industry.  One of my dear friends took the initiative of emailing the post around because she thought it was an important issue. 

 

I followed up with an email saying that people could email me if they preferred too.  PLEASE check out the post to see some startling and varied response and PLEASE add your comments to the post.  You can put your initials of Anonymous when commenting – your email address will not be published, it is simply to prevent spam.

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