A couple of weeks ago, Colin Dabkowski of The Buffalo News wrote about the ongoing financial troubles of Studio Arena Theater.
Two weeks ago, in the face of an unthinkable closure, an emergency fundraising effort managed to pull in about $225,000 from a combination of foundations, theater board members and local banks, according to Studio Arena board President Daniel A. Dintino.
That money, according to Dintino and CEO and artistic director Kathleen Gaffney, will ensure that the theater produces at least its next two shows: the family-friendly Christmas play “Indian Blood,” which is scheduled to begin in previews Tuesday, and January’s “To Kill a Mockingbird.”
“This kind of operation, even with the cuts that I made throughout last year, having [only] one set designer and so forth, it’s still too expensive,” she said. “And the audience is just not, they’re not coming.”
Of course, this begs the question; Why aren’t the audiences coming? After sitting through a tedious and mediocre performance of A.R. Gurney’s “Indian Blood”, a play designed to appeal to the “Old Buffalo” set, I had my own ideas. I had intended to write about them last week, but time got away from me…
This morning, as I was flipping through my Sunday edition of The Buffalo News, I came across two letters to the editor on this issue. The first letter directly blames Ms. Gaffney for the current troubles of the theater:
Gaffney’s choices during her tenure have left my husband comatose. The beautiful and imaginative sets have been replaced with “artsy” attempts at social and emotional lectures. There’s a reason Gaffney doesn’t have a contract. There must be many others who feel as I do, and we have shown our displeasure by withholding our presence and our money.
The second letter blames the selection of plays (something for which Ms. Gaffney is also responsible):
I have been attending plays at Studio Arena since it was on Lafayette Avenue, and I cannot remember ever attending just one play in any given season, as I am doing this season — A.R. Gurney’s play. And it isn’t because of a cutback in the marketing department staff, but the lousy selection of plays that I assume Gaffney had some responsibility for. For Gaffney, the CEO and artistic director, not to realize this, and to blame it instead on the theatergoing public like myself, for “not showing up for the shows,” is ridiculous. I believe it is time for Gaffney to exit left, before it is too late.
Is it the selection of plays that is the reason for the massive drop in attendance? Is it the reduced funding from public revenue sources? After all, looking at the IRS Form 990 for Studio Arena Theater’s 2006 tax year is an education in the trouble the theater finds itself.
Might it be that the local economy is incapable of supporting a local theater company at $52 per ticket? Might it be not the play selection or the activities of the CEO/Artistic Director that have lead to the marginalization of the theater but rather the moribund local economy on the whole? There are numerous local theaters that rely on private and foundation donors and the dwindling corporate patrons pay the excessive “Buffalo Tax” of supporting hundreds of worthy non-profit corporations. Perhaps these funding sources are stretched to the limit? Has the market of supply and demand spoken and that we perhaps have one too many local and regional theaters?
A show at the Irish Classical Theater or Alleyway features many of the same local actors and actresses and a ticket can be had for much less money. Shea’s brings in the bombastic national shows that titillate the untraditional theater crowd which leaves Studio Arena outcornered on price by the lower end theaters and outclassed by its neighbor on Main Street at Shea’s.
What can be done to save the theater? Does it need to be “saved”? Is our local theater scene a reflection of the region on the whole or is it simply incompetent management that has doomed Studio Arena to begging for handouts?
8 Comments
Supply and Demand. Pretty simple. Seems like there are plenty of choices out there, and they seem to be more popular than the fare at Studio Arena. It’s a shame that what was once the big name in local theater is now going begging. My question is has it reached the point where even replacing Gaffney won’t help?
Good post.
Having served on a board of a local theatre, there are a lot of challenges to be faced by local theatre groups. I’ve also split season tickets at Studio Arena the past two years, so although I don’t have a long association, I’ve gone to some of the plays. My understanding is that Ms. Gaffney inherited last season’s plays. I wonder if in her attempt to reduce expenses, she went to a little too far when she fired/laid off so much of the staff last year. It looks like the Ujima Company closed (no plays listed for 2007-2008 season on its site) after struggling with reduced funding from the Erie County budget crisis.
Of the three Studio Arena plays I went to last year, I enjoyed one, was ambivalent to another and happily fell asleep during the third. The audience was never full and consisted largely of people who were in their lated 60s to 70s. They have a problem with their demographics just like Oldsmobile did.
This year, I went to Bat Boy, a collaboration between Studio Arena and MusicFaire. Bat Boy was probably one of the most unusual plays I’ve seen. It was entertaining but I know a couple of people who left at intermission. This play is something that would be more likely to be produced at an experimental/offbeat theatre than what you’d expect at Studio Arena. However, the audience was the largest and youngest of the 4 plays that I’ve seen (I’ve been told other performances were not as widely attended).
Comparing Sheas to Studio Arena is apples to oranges. Sheas books travelling shows while Studio Arena produces plays with local actors. Yes, they’re both theatre but come from different sources. Although I like to catch a travelling band at a big venue like HSBC or Towne Ballroom, its also nice to catch a house band that you’ve seen and grown comfortable with.
Prognosis for Studio Arena was not good among my contacts in the theatre community. Almost all expected Studio Arena to close at the end of the season since the problems go deeper than simply finding a sponsor to underwrite the balance of the season. Only question remaning to them was whether Studio Arena would close up after “To Kill a Mockingbird” or would finish the season.
While I fear that they are correct, I hope they are wrong.
BR
Let me begin by saying, I am glad to see a thought-filled and concerned exchange regarding the Nations oldest Theatre School.
I am a former employee of SAT. After 10 years of employment, I left in 2001 to continue my career in the non-profit theatre art’s in the southwest. Suffice to say, the news of Studio Arena’s financial plight saddens me beyond words. Buffalo does and always will remain close to my heart.
That being said, can Studio Arena be saved? Is it the Buffalo economy that can’t support a regional Theatre? How badly has the theatre been mismanaged and who is to blame?
One person that has not been mentioned enough in my opinion is Ken Neufeld, former Executive Director. In 2001, SAT had an operating budget of more than 6 million dollars. The 2006 Form 990 reflects a figure of 3.8 million. Where did 2.2 million dollars go and how? For a company to continue operations with accumulated rolling debt is difficult enough, let alone lose that money. I have seen critics mention Gavin Cameron-Webb as the root of the problem, but I disagree. Gavin, like most Artistic Directors, needed to “balance” a theater season in such a way that challenges and entertains the audience. I believe Gavin accomplished that until he had to succumb to pressure from administration/board members with their own agenda. He did not choose to stage “City of Light” or “Ring of Fire”, he probably just agreed. I don’t think that Kathleen Gaffney has the experience necessary to put Studio Arena back into a viable position artistically or financially. Even Buffalo Geek refers to Indian Blood by AR Gurney(the Holiday offering) as mediocre and tedious. This is a time of year, Buffalonians want to take the family out and will spend money. Unless, things have changed that much in the 5 years I’ve been gone. One thing bothered me that Ms. Gaffney said when I read one of the articles about Studio Arena’s finances. She said “I need a contract”(insert chuckle here). It enraged me to think that a Buffalo jewel is on the brink of extinction and the captain of the ship, so to speak, is concerned with getting a six-figure contract signed. I don’t believe Ken Neufeld or Gavin Cameron-Webb were hired at that level of income and their experience far outweighs Ms. Gaffney’s.
Gaffney has made bad decisions already. If she recognized the financial burden and impending tragedy, what did she do to avert it? She programmed a musical like BatBoy that is not the fare SAT subscribers expect. Have the subscribers not been through enough? Studio Arena has rescaled the pricing structure of the house 3 times, increased ticket prices, increased handling fees(of course, no need to pay royalties on this income) and have been subjected to sub-par productions(so I am told). There is the rub…you would think. Is it tickets sales SAT is suffering from or contributed income? My understanding is that it is individual and corporate giving. The county stepped up with the money(200K) alotted SAT two years ago, even after Ken Neufeld told them SAT would do fine without the support. So what does Ms. Gaffney do being posed with the problem of contributed income? She hires a consulting firm that advises, she fire the Marketing Department(the ones bringing in the revenue) and maintains her entire Development Department(the ones falling short of their goals). This is an unwise decision by the CEO of any organization. Well, that has changed slightly while she is slowly bringing back former employess to sell tickets. No news article about that “new model” of operation.
MR
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They may be closing their doors.
$52. That says everything. I live in NYC and I won’t pay $52 to see the hottest thing on Broadway. And if they’re cutting corners on design as well, why support it?
I’m not sure what theaters you are accustomed to attending, RH, but there aren’t many hot shows on Broadway selling $25 tickets any more. It is entirely possible to attend Studio Arena for far less than $52, they have previews and rush tickets that are less expensive, as are weeknight seats in the back of the house.
I also worked at Studio Arena, I was there for four years between 1998 and 2002. Large productions like “City of Light” were definitely a gamble, and one that didn’t pay off in the end. It was clearly a mistake to put Ms. Gaffney in the position of being both Artistic and Executive direction- especially considering she has never run a LORT theater before. The managerial structure was designed so that the executive and artistic directors could balance the financial and artistic needs of the organization. When one (seemingly unqualified) person is filling both roles, there is nobody to check and balance her decisions.
I hope Studio Arena finds a way to pull itself out of its current situation. It is Buffalo institution that the city can’t afford to lose.
I feel the need to clarify one point that seems to come back over and over again. Studio Arena, until after Ken Neufeld destroyed it, rarely used “local actors”. It was (and tenuously is) an Equity (union) theatre with professional union actors sourced from around the country. So in essence it cannot be compared to a theatre like Irish Classical, who uses local non-union actors in just about every production. Studio Arena is a unique institution in Buffalo. It should sit atop the theatrical landscape as the true Equity house, the national theatre that still builds, rehearses, and performs locally. Instead, through a series of bad decisions, it has fallen into the muck of semi-pro and community theatre.
It’s time for the artistic and management of the theatre to wake the heck up (if it’s not too late - one insider says it’s over already)… If you can, produce a season full of crap fare that will bring out the 30-50 set. Choose West Side Story over Bat Boy for a couple of seasons, and watch yourself crawl out of this. If not you will have killed an institution.
Just so you know, on Broadway, some productions are cheap to see. They have a liquidation ticket office downtown for last minute tickets, which are well below $52. If you can catch the train, sometimes tickets are in the $25 range.