August 2008 Field Letter
Written on August 4, 2008
Dear Friends,
The Facts Are In
Happy Dog
Days! We’ve just released Theatre
Facts 2007, and it is ready for your review on TCG’s
website. TCG member theatres that completed the Fiscal Survey are
able to access the full range of online reporting tools for analysis
and comparison with other theatres or groups of theatres. Theatre
Facts is one of the TCG tools that our members find most valuable
in understanding business cycles in the industry and at their own
theatres. Personally, I am interested in, and hoping to be able
to explore further, a few developments that have gotten my attention.
For instance, while both single and subscription tickets are dipping,
income from these line items is increasing beyond inflation. Is
this because the magnitude of price increases is exceeding inflation?
And are price increases causing dips in attendance? Or, is it that,
while the actual number of tickets is down, theatres are realizing
a higher per ticket value through fewer comps and discounts? Within
the attendance categories, main stage attendance is down, but the
continuing trend of increased attendance at family programming is
notable, as well as for booked-in shows. Are theatres planning more
of such programming? More theatres ended the year in the black in
2007, but how much of the collective surplus is related to capital
campaigns, endowment earnings and/or capital gains, which can mask
operating deficits? And while the majority of theatres still have
negative working capital (the most troubling issue for me), the
overall working capital situation has improved slightly. In early
fall, we plan to host a Leadership
Teleconference with researcher and Theatre Facts
author, Zannie Voss, to discuss Theatre Facts and engage some discussion
around these trends. Stay tuned for details.
And More Surveys Coming Up
We’re always conscious of the need to not “survey you
to death.” That said, we have a number of important surveys
coming up that we hope you will complete; we hope that you will
find ultimately useful; and we hope won’t leave you gasping
for air!
1) We are launching a survey regarding the effectiveness of TCG
programs and services. We need your input so we can be sure we serve
you as best we can and get your thinking on additional programs
we might want to explore.
2) We will also be circulating a very simple mini-fiscal survey
(non-verified) to find out how you’re doing right now—for
instance, FY08 year-end (surplus or deficit), subscriptions for
FY09 (up or down etc.). This is to complement the regular Fiscal
Survey, and supply you with more immediate information on key indicators
than the current survey allows us to provide;
3) We are helping the Andrew
W. Mellon Foundation circulate a survey regarding technology
and strategic technology planning in arts organizations;
4) And of course, in the fall, we will launch our regular surveys
including Salary Survey 2009 and Fiscal Survey 2008.
We know that these take time and attention from you and your staff,
but we also believe that the findings in these surveys will be helpful
to you in your work. So we ask you to participate and thank you
in advance for participating.
O’Neill Summer Programs
I spent a weekend at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center speaking
with trustees who participated in the week-long Trustee
Residency. This is an excellent, all-access opportunity
for trustees to get inside the process of developing new plays.
The O’Neill also assembled a great group of speakers during
the week, including Joan Channick, who gave a seminar on intellectual
property, and Michael Ross, who talked about governance. I recommend
it for your trustees who are interested in building their knowledge
around play development, while also learning a few new things about
governance, while surrounded by the beauty of the grounds and the
Long Island Sound. While there, I attended readings, visited with
executive director Preston Whiteway and Wendy Goldberg, and as a
special treat, I spent time with O’Neill founder—and
one of my former teachers—George C. White.
My stay took place at the same time as the National
Critics Institute. A panel of critics, moderated by institute
director Dan Sullivan, included Frank Rizzo of the Hartford
Courant, who talked about the massive changes that are
taking place in the world of theatre reporting with so many arts
reporters being cut from newspaper staffs and more theatre journalism
taking place in the form of blogs; Jack Viertel, a former critic
and current Broadway producer, who talked about how blogs are not
yet proving to have an impact on attendance; Andy Propst from AmericanTheaterWeb,
who reported that they’d noticed that people were using the
site’s theatre listings to decide what to see when they’re
visiting American cities other than their own, as well as for shows
in their own backyard. (Since being hacked pre-Memorial Day, the
site no longer has the theatre listings, but their news and reviews
are generating enormous traffic and he suspects it’s helping
people make decisions about theatre-going); and the ever eloquent
Leonard Jacobs of Back
Stage, who also writes a blog, the Clyde
Fitch Report. TCG hopes to develop opportunities for the
field to better understand shifts in theatre coverage that have
occurred and will continue to occur and how best to seize the moment.
White Spaces Issue
I have written in the past about White Spaces, a hot issue at the
federal level that could have serious consequences for theatres.
If you haven’t read up on this issue yet or taken action,
please do so. The Performing
Arts Alliance, formerly known as the American Arts Alliance,
describes the issue in the following way.
Over the past 35 years, wireless microphones, such as those used
by performing arts venues, have operated on radio frequencies between
the television broadcast channels, on the so-called “White
Spaces” in the TV band (from 54 MHz to 698 MHz). In an effort
to more efficiently manage the remaining “White Spaces,”
the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has initiated proceedings
to consider how, and under what circumstances, to authorize millions
of new electronic gadgets (referred to as “unlicensed devices”)
to operate simultaneously on these very same frequencies. The interference
from these devices would be devastating to the quality of production
the performing arts community strives toward.
The Broadway
League and TCG—through the Performing Arts Alliance—are
working hard on this issue, attempting to convince the FCC that
any action leading to interference with theatres’ equipment
is unacceptable. Other sectors, such as the major U.S. professional
and collegiate sports leagues and organizations, major national
sports programming distributors and mega churches are also active
on this issue. The FCC is now accepting public comment on White
Spaces. It is extremely important for the FCC to hear from our
field. Please urge the FCC to conduct adequate testing of new
devices, and to guarantee that there will be no interference with
wireless microphones, before they permit new devices to operate
in the White Spaces. Please click here,
as soon as possible, to file public comment with the FCC on the
White Spaces issue:
Fall Forum
The Fall
Forum will take place November 7-9 at the new New York Times
building’s TheTimesCenter.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS! And make your travel arrangements. We are focusing
the agenda on change, or “radical shifts that can change your
(theatre’s) life.” We hope to focus on areas such as
demographics, cultural policy and arts education, which also ties
in with priorities that were discussed at the National Performing
Arts Convention in June. And of course, the Forum, which typically
has attendance of approximately 125-150 theatre leaders and trustees
is especially valuable for the networking, knowledge-building and
making new friends at an always exciting time of year in New York.
Registration materials will be sent out in mid-August. For further
information, contact Chris Shuff,
director of management programs.
Thank You Visitors
We’ve had some great visits from members, including producing
artistic director Scott R. C. Levy of Penobscot Theatre in Bangor
Maine and managing director Charles Dillingham of Center Theatre
Group in Los Angeles, both of whom met with TCG staff to talk about
their theatres and the challenges and opportunities they see for
our field. I also had nice visits with Paul Tetreault, producing
director of Ford’s Theatre in DC, and with Bill Lelbach, artistic/managing
director of Chenango River Theatre, a new theatre company in Greene,
New York. It’s nice to catch up face to face, and while that
often happens when I am on the road, it’s always great to
see members who are based in or traveling to New York as well. So
give a holler if you are in TCG’s neighborhood. We would love
to see you!
And speaking of New York members, with Free
Night of Theater launching in New York this fall, we’ve
had many wonderful opportunities to connect with our New York members.
And we thank them for their enthusiasm around this growing program!
Until next month, all the best,
Teresa Eyring
Executive Director