There are fewer theaters in America these days. Fewer venues. less production. There are fewer performances.
Produced by Bay Area star Cal Shakes, who performed Shakespeare in an outdoor amphitheater No show this year. Chicago’s Looking Glass Theater, where Mary Zimmerman’s The Metamorphosis premiered before it came to Broadway Stop programming Until next spring. Known for its star-studded summer shows, the Williamstown Theater Festival No work has been fully performed This season will be held at home in Western Massachusetts.
The COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath have put the industry in crisis. Interviews with 72 top-tier regional theaters outside New York City revealed that they collectively expect 20 percent fewer productions next season than they did in their last full season before the pandemic, which shut theaters across the country for more than 18 months. And many of their shows will have shorter run times, smaller casts, and simpler sets.
Seattle’s ACT theaters have shortened the duration of each show by one week. The Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles no longer has performances scheduled for Tuesday, the latest night. Philadelphia’s Arden Theater Company is expected to play 363 performances next season, down from 503 performances in the pre-pandemic season.
why did this happen? Costs are rising, the government aid that kept many theaters alive in the midst of the pandemic has all but been used up, audience numbers are lower than they were pre-pandemic as a by-product of lifestyle changes (less commuting, more streaming), concerns about downtown areas where many of the larger non-profit theaters are located (security concerns), and broken habits (many former patrons, especially the elderly, have not returned).
“It’s hard not to be shaken by the situation on the ground,” said Christopher Moses, artistic director of the Alliance Theater in Atlanta. “It is clear that this is perhaps the most difficult time in the history of the non-profit movement to produce non-profit theater.”
The number of non-profit theaters in America had grown significantly in the two decades before the pandemic, but many small businesses are now closed. just last month, Book-It Repertory Theater in Seattle, triad stage Greensboro, North Carolina, and Unexpected stage company In Maryland, the company announced it was closing. The city of Chicago, which boasts a vibrant storefront theater scene, has lost at least six businesses.
“We are currently seeing two or three groups closing each month,” said Greg Reiner, director of theater and musical theater at the National Endowment for the Arts.
Some of the largest agencies in the field are undergoing major layoffs or layoffs. This month, New York’s prestigious Public Theater cut 19 percent of its jobs. Just before that, powerhouse Brooklyn Academy of Music cut 13% and sprawling Los Angeles Center Theater Group cut 10%. The Dallas Theater Center has nearly halved its full-time staff from 70 to 38 since last fall.
The pandemic has exacerbated many trends that have long challenged nonprofit theaters, including a steady decline in subscribers (loyal spectators who pre-register to see most or all of the season’s shows). The Hartford Stage and Kansas City Repertory Theater have each lost half their subscribers since the pandemic and are much more dependent on ticket buyers, with unpredictable buying patterns and less interest in unfamiliar productions.
A new survey conducted by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Census Bureau found that 10.3% of American adults saw a musical last year, down from 16.5% in 2017. Only 4.5% went to a play, down from 9.4%.
At the same time, inflation, labor market problems (both recruitment and retention costs rose, as mass retirements resulted in significant staff turnover), and social justice concerns (many theater workers successfully claim they were underpaid) caused the production costs of plays to rise significantly. “As we strive for a more equitable workforce, production costs for plays will rise,” said Ross Egan, managing director of the Asolo Repertory Theater in Sarasota, Florida.
Despite cutting staff positions and hiring less actors and freelance artists, many theaters are running at a loss after running out of government aid that helped them sustain themselves in the midst of the pandemic. “I’ve been here 20 years, and at some point in the spring I started realizing that this was going to be the biggest, biggest deficit in my history,” said Paul R. Tetlow, director of the Ford Theater Society in Washington, D.C.
why cut the show? “We don’t have that demand, so why would we behave like that?” said Kenmat Martin, interim artistic director of the Baltimore Center Stage and Arkansas Repertory Theatre. And many nonprofits are running shows at a loss, unable to cover production costs despite strong ticket sales, and relying on philanthropy to make up the difference. “We all lose money doing shows,” said Angel Isagirre, executive director of Chicago’s Court Theater. “By reducing production by one he loses less.”
The crisis has brought with it a new ethos of collaboration, with a significant increase in co-productions where multiple theaters work together to produce a show and share the cost of sets, costumes and creative teams. In the pre-pandemic season, only one of the six shows at Washington, D.C.’s Shakespeare Theater Company was co-produced. At least five of the six shows next season will be co-produced.
“This is a big change,” said Simon Godwin, the theater’s artistic director. “There is an economic necessity, but there is also a sense of sharing the challenges of making theater now.”
Theaters are looking for other ways to share costs. Several groups in Connecticut are considering consolidating set-building operations, and a group in Chicago is discussing the feasibility of sharing back-office functions such as human resources, finance and marketing.
Many theaters try to make money by renting out their buildings. Some are finding other ways to raise money. Northern Stage, located in White River Junction, Vermont, decided to obtain a liquor license. The theater’s managing director, Jason Smaller, said: “While this certainly supports our mission, it will also generate considerable revenue and will undoubtedly enhance the experience for our patrons.”
Reports vary on how well the charity is holding up, but many theater leaders have expressed concern over donor fatigue post-pandemic, and some say the foundation is shifting from supporting the arts to supporting health, welfare and social justice. “What we’re seeing right now in the last few months is that very large and robust institutional investors are shifting their priorities and moving away from arts funding,” said Nora DeVoe Rosen, managing director of Two River Theater in Red Bank, N.J.
Many non-profit theaters strive to produce new and artistically adventurous productions, but they perform far worse than the touring Broadway productions, which often feature blockbusters and jukebox musicals. Nonprofit theaters have also lagged behind Broadway itself, with Broadway attendance at 91 percent of its pre-pandemic pre-pandemic period.
Some nonprofits claim to be doing well, but there are many theories as to why. Some nonprofits have minimized their shutdowns during the pandemic. Others cite populist programming choices. There are also cities in medium-sized cities where the performing arts market is less competitive and the public is more supportive.
But far more say they face serious challenges. “It’s clear that most regional theater financial models are in serious trouble,” said Stuart Carden, artistic director of the Kansas City Repertory Theater.
Some artistic directors believe that the program is partially to blame, such as some theaters alienating audiences by choosing overly brooding or preachy-political productions. “Some theaters forget what the audience wants: they want to laugh, they want to be happy, they want to cry. But sometimes we push it too far,” said Timothy J. Evans, executive director of the Northlight Theater in Skokie, Illinois. But many theaters still find at least occasional success with edgy or challenging titles, he said.
Carden said in Kansas City that crowd behavior was erratic. Holmes and Watson — Apt. 2B far exceeded expectations, but the production of Marco Ramirez’s critically acclaimed play The Royal, about a champion boxer who confronts racism, “barely sold.”
“There has been so much heartache and pain that so many people want a fun experience and a guaranteed good time,” Carden said.
In California, demand was high for a series of Sondheim-related shows at the Pasadena Playhouse, but Martina Majok’s immigration-themed “Sanctuary City” struggled. Danny Feldman, the theater’s Producing Artistic Director, said, “It was an artistic pinnacle in every way, but it failed to grab people’s attention.”
Meanwhile, the theater leaders have a glimmer of hope, or at least a glimpse of faith.
“I’ve had many dark nights of the soul. Who will survive, and how will the scene survive?” says Tybe Magar, one of the Philadelphia Theater Company’s two artistic directors. “But one day you will wake up and remember that this art form has been around for thousands of years and has survived many terrible moments.
