St. Louis theatres rebuild from canceled, delayed seasons – St. Louis Business Journal

Jun 11, 2020

by Diana Barr – Associate Editor, St. Louis Business Journal

Read the original story here: https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/news/2020/06/11/theaters-rebuild-from-canceled-delayed-seasons.html

SHOW STOPPER

“It was shaping up to be a great year.”

That’s how Kwofe Coleman, managing director of The Muny, summed up what the outdoor theater’s 2020 season looked like before the pandemic shut down operations in mid-March.

Season ticket renewals had wrapped up and new subscriptions had gone on sale March 9, but a week later the city of St. Louis’ stay-at-home order took effect due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Renewals were 81% at that point, a very good number, and we still had a little time,” Denny Reagan, president and CEO of the historic outdoor theater said. That compared with about 78% a year ago. “New sales looked like they were in good shape. For season tickets at least, it looked like we were going to hit that at $8.9 million,” up a bit from last year’s budget.

The first few days of new season ticket sales, sales to lapsed subscribers and gift card sales “were definitely trending in the right direction,” Coleman said, two months before single-ticket sales would begin for the 11,000-seat theater.

However, The Muny, operated by the nonprofit Municipal Theatre Association of St. Louis, now is facing a nearly $4.5 million deficit after earlier this week announcing the postponement of its seven-show season until summer 2021.

As of late April, The Muny had only planned to delay the start of the 2020 season to July, moving two shows into 2021. But after analyzing a variety of scenarios to accommodate social distancing and health concerns for performers, crew and audience, the theater’s executive committee decided last week not to proceed with the season.

The pandemic shutdown and resulting loss of performance and other operating revenue has strong and long-lasting financial implications for nonprofit theater groups locally and nationwide. That will likely force theater groups such as The Muny and The Repertory Theatre St. Louis to turn even more to members and subscribers, as well as donors with deeper pockets, for increased support.

“I think you’ll continue to see these reschedules or postponements throughout the summer, and into the fall,” said Chris Hansen, executive director of the Kranzberg Arts Foundation, a St. Louis-based arts-focused nonprofit that’s playing a leading role in reopening arts venues in the region. “Not only because there are safety issues, but also financially, it’s very, very challenged to be viable.”

PRESERVING A SEASON

Before the pandemic completely shut down operations at The Repertory Theatre St. Louis, it had completed five of six Mainstage productions in its ’19-’20 season, and two of three Studio Series plays. Ticket sales so far were down 4.5% from the prior year, but still on pace to be considered a success.

“Had we completed the last two shows of the season, it would have been our third highest-selling season in the theater’s history, just behind the 50th anniversary season and (former artistic director) Steve Woolf’s farewell season,” according to Hana Sharif.

Sharif is in the midst of reorganizing her second season as The Rep’s artistic director. Before the shutdown, she had launched an ambitious ’20-’21 schedule, adding “A Christmas Carol” as an annual holiday offering, and splitting six Mainstage shows between The Rep’s home on Webster University’s campus and COCA’s new Berges Theatre to extend technical rehearsals and previews.

The theater had also just ended its renewal campaign for the coming season at 55% of renewals, faring better than many of its colleagues that hovered between 30% and 50%, Sharif said.

But it announced to subscribers June 5 that it is pushing the ’20-’21 season back from its usual September start to December with “A Christmas Carol.” The Rep plans to announce Sept. 1 an extended winter-spring season to run into 2021.

“Our goal is to preserve as much of the previously announced 2021 season as possible,” she said.

That isn’t easy. Any planning, she said, is dependent upon whether the region is hit by a second wave of Covid-19 infections. And patrons are in wait-and-see mode, expressing trepidation over returning to live theater too soon.

“We’re hearing from a lot of patrons that they’re just a little nervous, understandably, about what reopening will look like, what will be happening in terms of Covid-19 in our communities,” she said. “They are waiting until the season launches to really make final decisions around renewals.”

TOUGH DECISIONS

In planning for a theater’s reopening, not only are social distancing requirements to be considered, but also how attendees enter and exit, sanitizing high-touch surfaces, and the safety of cast and crew. The Muny works with nine labor unions and The Rep with five, each of which is still researching guidance for theaters where its members will eventually go back to work.

“Until we hear from the unions what those regulations are going to be, it’s impossible for us to reopen,” Sharif said. “It’s really hard to tell at this point whether there is a sense of synergy between what each of the labor unions will require for each of their members.”

The Rep operated at its normal $8.5 million budget for its fiscal year ended May 31, and being at the end of its season when the pandemic hit, it was unable to make any cuts, Sharif said. For the new fiscal year, the theater is still developing budget scenarios, including possible expense cuts, depending on how many shows it’s able to include in the season and at a reduced capacity, Sharif said. “We’re looking at social distancing within the theater, anywhere between 28% and 35% maximum capacity,” she said.

The theater employs 30 full-time workers year round, which jumps to 80 employees when seasonal contract workers come on board. Add in actors, directors and producers and The Rep’s employee count can jump to 400. The theater decided to pay the artists’ contracts for shows that were canceled in the spring. “It felt really important that the freelance artists not be the ones to bear the burden of this pandemic,” she said. The Rep’s full-time seasonal staff “roll off” their contracts the opening night of the last show, she said, but the organization also kept them on through the end of the contract even though the final shows were canceled.

The Rep didn’t have to furlough anyone for the ’19-’20 season, Sharif said, but because the ’20-’21 season has been pushed back to December, seasonal contracts will be delayed, and there will be some level of furlough for everyone in the company this summer. “My partner, (managing director) Mark Bernstein, and I talk a lot about spending many sleepless nights working on how to preserve the long-term employment of our people,” she said.

Sharif said that while the ’20-’21 season is still in the works, her team really is thinking about the 2022 season and the next 24 months. “We’re kind of building them together because the reality is, it’s very hard to look at this season, which is complicated and truncated. It’s hard to look at that in a vacuum.”

The Rep received a federal Paycheck Protection Program loan of “more than $500,000,” Sharif said, “which has been really beneficial.”

The Muny also received a PPP loan, however Reagan declined to give the amount. He said two-thirds of it likely would have to be paid back, subject to the changing nature of the program’s rules.

The Muny was anticipating total ticket revenue of $14 million from this season, but “along with the loss of revenue comes a considerable decrease in expenses because we’re not doing the shows anymore,” Reagan said. The organization also will look for expenditures it can defer, such as maintenance items, to further cut expenses, he said.

Reagan said the theater plans to retain its year-round 35-member staff, but only a few of the nearly 800 seasonal workers will be employed this year to square the facility away for this year. This summer, the theater will provide a schedule of alternative virtual programming, and its staff are involved in producing the virtual content as well as making preparations to move productions into the 2021 season.

TURNING TO SUPPORTERS

To make up its multimillion-dollar shortfall, Muny officials are looking to their diehard fans – like the 24,000 season ticket subscribers in 2019. This year’s season ticket holders are being asked to become “Muny Visionaries” by donating to the organization some or all of the funds from this year’s purchase, rather than requesting a refund.

Even before soliciting season subscribers for those donations, the nonprofit had received a “good response” from subscribers who donated their ticket purchase for the two shows that were being cut from what was to be the shortened 2020 season.

For The Rep’s canceled performances this spring, 40-42% of ticket holders donated the money back to The Rep rather than taking refunds, and another 10-12% opted to take a credit to their next subscription or a gift card for use at the theater, Sharif said. Facing a deficit after the cancellations, The Rep added $500,000 to its fundraising campaign to help bridge some of that gap. “We’ve seen great generosity from the city of St. Louis around this moment and our work,” she said.

The Rep has been able to adapt to its financial situation, in part, due to the flexibility of major funders, two of which have kept new grants at the same level and others who will discuss changes in required reporting and fund usage, Sharif said. The Rep will continue to look to its corporate funders and individual donors to maintain their giving levels, especially as state arts funding could fall to budget cuts as Missouri’s tax revenue takes a hit from the pandemic.

At The Muny, Reagan is personally contacting all sponsors to gauge their continued financial support during the postponed season. “All the conversations have been extremely positive,” he said.

The pandemic’s broader impact on the economy also causes concern for future fundraising and revenue prospects, Reagan said. “There’s some concern that our revenue could be impacted from a donation standpoint, from investment portfolios having grown less, and even from a ticket-buying standpoint, resulting from a loss of income by a lot of people,” he said.

While The Muny enjoyed a “theater boom” that began in the ‘90s through 2007, it took “a huge hit” during the recession in 2008-2009 as far as ticket sales, requiring a “multiyear recovery,” Reagan said.

Local, regional and statewide work groups have formed to pool resources to help theaters and other arts groups prepare for the future. The Kranzberg Arts Foundation, which had about $15.2 million in assets as of December 2018, according to its most recent available IRS filing, developed and operates performing arts venues, galleries, workspaces for nonprofits, and other arts infrastructure. It joined with the Missouri Arts Council and other funders to form a statewide task force on reopening the arts.

The foundation has deployed roughly $200,000 in direct resources to arts organizations, artists, gig workers and its clients, since the Covid-19 shutdown, Hansen said.

It’s likely that will only be the beginning.

“We expect the fallout (from the pandemic) to be many years,” Hansen said. “We expect that our infrastructure of support is going to be relied upon even more. And that we’re going to have to reach further to meet the need; we’re prepared to do that.”

FROM STAGE TO STREAMING

Artists and art groups nationwide have taken to the web and social media to stream live and recorded performances, to continue to reach audiences and other benefactors.

“We plan a virtual season full of content for audiences to stay connected with us,” Muny Managing Director Kwofe Coleman said. The Muny content planned for 2020 kicks off June 15 with “Muny Magic at the Sheldon,” five cabaret-style shows recorded from past live performances, as well as additional video segments on different aspects of The Muny, such as interviews or performances. Possible larger virtual productions also are being explored, Coleman said.

The Rep had “an excellent trial run” for possible streamed content in the future, according to Artistic Director Hana Sharif. Before the Studio Series production of “The Cake” shut down, the organization was able to get permissions from rights holders and unions to film the final matinée and make it available online to ticket holders for a limited time.

Before recording and streaming can become commonplace, however, questions over which union has jurisdiction over livestreaming and recorded streams have to be settled. “In truth, much of it is outside the hands of our institutions,” Sharif said of theaters. “If it were up to me, we would be recording every show, so that our patrons who are in the most vulnerable population, who don’t yet feel comfortable coming to the theater once we reopen, will still have access to that work.”

Categories: Muny News