off-stage right

William Hanney seems to be on a mission to convert failed nonprofit producing theatre companies into working ventures.

He came to my attention during the on-going negotiations in Stratford, CT regarding the old Shakespeare theatre building there.  I should note that is still a project in process and has run into some serious backlash from local officials.  Now it seems he is buying North Shore Music Theatre’s space that was foreclosed on.

I have been following the North Shore mess because its demise is a case study in how not to respond to a crisis.  My first round of frustration was expressed in my post North Shore Music Theatre was disaster waiting to happen and the fall-out gives a bad name to theater everywhere. I thought and still feel that someone should take responsibility.

According to the local paper’s (The Salem News) article:

Hanney owns Theatre by the Sea in Matunuck, R.I., as well as Entertainment Cinemas, a chain of 10 movie theaters in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Connecticut. He said he is confident he can return musical theater to the Dunham Road location by running a leaner operation than North Shore Music Theatre, which went out of business in June due to financial problems and was taken over by Citizens Bank.

The Boston Globe reports:

Hanney has made a habit of buying closed or distressed properties and quickly reviving them.

Those purchases include Theatre By the Sea, a summer-stock house in Matunuck, R.I.; Fresh Pond Cinema in Cambridge; and Falmouth Cinema Pub.

Like North Shore, Theatre By the Sea produces musicals, though on a far smaller scale and not year-round. Its upcoming season includes “A Chorus Line,’’ “Little Shop of Horrors,’’ and “Hello, Dolly!’’ There is also a restaurant on site….

He didn’t give positive reviews to the organization’s business structure.

“It was just so top-heavy,’’ he said. “It just had too many people. It was unnecessary. We do [theater] every single year at Theatre By the Sea. We get great reviews and we make money every single year. We run a very successful 200-seat restaurant, which also makes money.’’But Theatre By the Sea is a much smaller operation, with 500 seats to North Shore’s 1,500.

That doesn’t concern former artistic director Jon Kimbell, who has met with Hanney several times leading up to the sale.

I don’t know Hanney or Theatre by the Sea, so I can’t really comment on the likelihood of his success with North Shore.  Looking at Theatre by the Sea’s website I sure looks like generic “summer” theatre fare (and I mean this is that frothy musicals done not so great with a TV star from the seventies or eighties like the guy who played Carmine on Laverne and Shirley.  It seems like Hanney is lining himself up to recreate something along the old straw hat circuit that Jim Mackenzie successfully produced for years on the east coast, but Hanney seems to not have the stars that Mackenzie had instead it seems more often or not it is someone who has done a show or two in NYC and is billed as a New York actor.

My question is do we really need more theatres like this?  Are there really enough audiences over 60 to fill these theatres.  Sure most people may think there isn’t much harm in this type of producing and certainly there is a place for it, but too much of it simply dumbs down theatre and turns off future audiences.

First and foremost, Happy Thanksgiving!

It’s difficult not to think of all of the things I have to be grateful for.  They far out weigh any of the things in my life that I find challenging.

But it got me thinking.  This has been a really challenging year for the theatre industry.  We are still facing an uphill battle as we go into the new year, but we have so much as an industry to be thankful for:

1.  Several nonprofits theatres are not only thriving but producing some of the best and most ambitious work out in years.  Take Hartford Stage and Signature Theatre’s ambitious undertaking of Horton Foote’s nine play The Orphans’ Home Cycle or the Guthrie’s Kushner Festival.  Chicago’s theatre scene is thriving.  Seattle’s scene seems to be undergoing a renaissance.  From coast to coast many theatres are refocusing on mission and on creating great art.  They are facing the financial challenges, re-engaging audiences, and finding a way to continue bringing theatre to audiences of every age group and ethnicity.

2.  Rocco leading the NEA is certainly something to celebrate.  His first interview stirred up some controversy, but since then his batting average has been near perfect.  Rocco Landesman is without question the most exciting thing to ever happen to the NEA.  His recent speech at the Grantmakers for the Arts Conference outlined his initial agenda and is well worth the read.  The Arts Work  blog is also a must read.

3.  The Obama administration in particular Michelle Obama has proven to have an interest and understanding of the arts.  For the first time in a long time we have a leader who can appreciate the value of the arts.

4.  Bloggers are sparking fabulous conversations about the arts.  With newspaper coverage dwindling the real discussion about the arts is happen in the blogosphere.  Independent bloggers like Leonard Jacobs at The Clyde Fitch Report, Isaac Butler at Parabasis are delving into key issues we are facing.  One could get a graduate degree by reading Ian David Moss’ Create Equity.  There are far too many other great folks out there to list (check out the blogroll) – which is why I started posting my favorite posts each week.  I get most of my news from Broadwaystars.com (you know you do too).

5. Social Networking sites like Facebook and Twitter are changing the way we reach our audiences.  Commercial and nonprofit theatre has been embracing this new form of communication.   The arts also have a real opportunity to lead the way in utilizing social networking platforms.  Twitter has had a huge impact on my day to day work.  Art is even being created via facebook (Fatebook) and Twitter (Next to Normal’s new song).

6.  No other TV show has ever had the potential impact that Glee has.  The starts of musical theatre are front and center and gaining more and more fame.  The show celebrates show tunes, performance, all of the positive effects of the arts.  It makes being in the arts cool!

7.  This one will probably generate a bit of disagreement but we have to be thankful for stars on Broadway and off-Broadway.  Hugh Jackman, Daniel Craig, Jude Law, James Gandolfini, Marcia Gay Harden, Hope Davis and Jeff Daniels not only broke box office records, but collectively they were responsible for keeping the straight play on Broadway this fall.  Lots of folks complain producers only wanting shows with stars, but if you look at the list of producers on these shows, you will find that they are the same producers who are on shows like The Norman Conquests and Mary Stuart.  If investors weren’t making money on star vehicles they wouldn’t be as likely to take a leap of faith on more risky propositions. 

So today I got a little angry hearing for the umpteenth time about some theatre complaining about not getting the audience they wanted to get.  Okay a little angry is an understatement.

Does it really need to be said AGAIN that the first place to look if you aren’t getting the audience you want is at the work you are producing?  Why do we keep blaming the audiences first?

This particular theatre was producing a very traditional season – a classic (and old musical) that from their production history and choice of director will undoubtedly be produced at a decent level but with absolutely no surprises; three “classic” plays again no innovation expected but I am sure they will be more or less solid productions and a play that was off-Broadway recently that will be done at 100s of theatres this year.  Sadly, dear readers you can’t guess which theatre I am talking about because this describes the season of many of the professional theatres in this country.

And for some reason this theatre is surprised that they are getting the average audience – upper middle class, white, and well-educated?

How in the world can they be surprised?  Year after year their season looks the same – just the titles change.  How can you grow your audience if you don’t grow your work? 

In the last month hot topics in the blogosphere have been getting younger audiences and diversity.  Lots of folks are saying exactly what I am saying in this post – so how come it isn’t getting through to the theatre leadership?  Of course there is a lot of work to be done about getting folks to experience the arts at an earlier age and tons of work to be done relating to audiences of different ethnicities and cultures – but before you can do any of that you have to start with the work itself.

Right now Glee is probably doing more to promote theatre than most of the theatres in the country at least musical theatre but here’s hoping Rachel and Finn give a go at the school’s production of an inspired take on Romeo and Juliet or better yet a student production of some fabulous new work – if they do maybe in one episode they can save theatre for us all! 

Recently I witnessed a major CEO speaking at a relatively informal event.  This CEO had been making all the rounds trying to reposition a well-known brand.  While speaking with this small group, a compliment was paid to the CEO.  The knee-jerk response from the CEO was to blurt out the well practiced messaging that had been said over and over in the last month.

The problem was that the compliment that was paid was reflective of the actual brand not of the new planning or the marketing message.  And it ended up that that person who paid the compliment was insulted by the CEO’s response.  This resulted in a very uncomfortable situation.  I have been thinking about this a lot.  Certainly the CEO didn’t mean to insult the audience at hand?  So if it wasn’t deliberate was it simply that the CEO simply wasn’t really listening because the focus was on the message?

Now this got me thinking about messaging.  Messaging reached far beyond marketing at a nonprofit.  Our existence depends on clear consistent messaging – doesn’t it?  At nonprofits we spend a lot of time making sure everyone is on message.  There are a lot of folks who represent the organization, leadership, staff, board, and volunteers and it is vital that everyone sings from the same songbook as the saying goes.  A lot depends on our message to our communities.

But can all this messaging get in the way of listening? 

If our answers are too practiced, too canned, too automatic are we really paying attention to the people we are interacting with?  In an effort to get everyone on the same page have we lost the opportunity for dialogue? 

A central message is vital, but perhaps it is better to ask if the mission and core values are concise and clear enough that they “live” inside of each person and therefore you have time to focus on the conversation not on memorizing your message.

Rocco’s address last month at the Grantmakers in the Arts conference got a lot of attention.  Here is the entire text.  Good read.