off-stage right

During my years in nonprofit theatre I ventured into the commercial/for profit theatre world fairly often with successful shows that transferred into commercial runs.  However this fall I took a full leap into commercial producing and general management by working on two fantastic shows.

This new adventure began because of my cherished friendship with someone who I believe to be the best commercial producer in the business today, Daryl Roth.

Daryl and I first worked together on Maggie Edson’s Wit and then continued working together on and off in different ways for the last 10 years.  Her taste in projects is impeccable.  Her treatment of everyone on a production from the running crew to the stars to the creative team is legendary.  For years she has offered advice and guidance that is always spot on and I have always considered myself lucky to know and work with her.  Needless to say when starting a new venture there is nothing better than working with someone you trust, respect, and know you can learn from.

I have always argued that there aren’t that many differences between commercial and nonprofit theatre and the last two months have more or less proven that to be true.  Of course as I said I have dabbled in the for-profit, with several shows where the theatres I worked for were full producers, investors, or  participated as original producers of a show.  I have dealt with countless developmental projects and enhancement projects (check out this handy guide to enhancement).  So I was arguing that the two were similar from a point of knowledge and the last two months spent fully in the commercial world have just given me more ammunition for my arguments.

What I find funny is that many folks who work in nonprofit theatre see the for-profit landscape as more complicated and more challenging and many in the for-profit world often look down at the nonprofit universe as less important or less business-like or just plain less skilled.  Not surprisingly these folks (on both sides) are just plain wrong.

The line between the for-profit theatre and the nonprofit theatre has been blurred for a very long time and frankly in many ways it has almost disappeared.  This has resulted in some good things and some bad things – like any change does.  In New York folks have moved back and forth between the two for years and increasingly across the country this is becoming more common.

So what are the differences?

First and most obvious is the legal structure – and now is a good idea to note that nonprofit doesn’t actually have to do with whether a profit is made.  Simply put, a commercial production/entity has investors who put money into the project any and all profits of said venture are distributed amongst the producers and investors – and now is a good time to note that a producer doesn’t legally have to put money in a show they are responsible for raising the money although more often than not they do put some investment into a show because sharing the risk with your investors helps you raise money.  In a nonprofit corporate all profits of any venture are put back into the nonprofit corporation, again simply put, no individual benefits financially from the profits.  This means you have to deal with annual audits and different tax structures.  Of course this applies to all commercial and nonprofit businesses.

The second factor that differentiates the two and is more specific to theatre is that in a nonprofit theatre you have some sort of “institution that is governed by a board” (and I use the loosest definition of “institution” as possible here) that you have to manage and run.  Whether this involves staff, volunteers, a building or what not you have to deal with it.  The nonprofit theatre’s “institution” always comes with a Board of Directors/Trustees because the IRS requires this as part of the legal formation of a nonprofit.  A for-profit entity in the theatre world can be one person or it can be have many folks in the leadership structure (usually an Limited Liability Corporation).  There is no board although there are managing leaders for the corporation.  An “institution” also has to deal with long-term audience development and community relations because theoretically it wants to exist for a long time.  A commercial show is a one shot deal, although they cultivate audiences it isn’t on the same long-term basis.  Although I should note some producers have built up enough of a “brand” that they can and have managed to cultivate an audience following of their work.  As an institution you also tend to have more regular staff or volunteers whereas a commercial producers may have folks they regularly work with on occasion they don’t have full time marketing departments, production personnel, etc.on the payroll for multiple shows – although this is slowly evolving as well.

The third key difference is that investors in commercial productions sometimes are paid back their investment in part or in whole and share in the company’s profits (and losses).  Nonprofits can solicit tax deductible contributions from donors.

And that is about it for differences.  When it comes to getting a show up and running the process is almost exactly the same.  What I have confirmed over the last two months is that producing a show is just that.  The same concerns and problems that come up with nonprofit shows come up with commercial productions.  The same highs and lows of audience and reviewer response exist in both.  And the same love and commitment to the art-form thrives in both worlds.

So which am I going to stick with?  I think I will be right there on that blurry line as it disappears.  I love what I am doing right now.   I have two shows running and one in development.  I am still consulting with nonprofits and loving working with them.  There are even more worlds that I have dabbled in and could further explore – other art forms – dance, film, music, and – yes I am calling it an art form – television.  The greatest gift of the current times is the crisis-i-tunity we are are all in.  It is a time to explore who and what we are and what we do.  And now more than ever it is a time for art and pop culture to create work that is challenging, entertaining and thought-provoking and I don’t need a label from the IRS to do that.

Related posts:

1. Interesting theater, arts & nonprofit articles from the last 10 days