Penobscot Theatre faces uncertain future without more support
by themoneyoffice2.com@gmail.com April 13, 2024 · Theatre
In a survey last year on the financial health of nonprofit regional theaters, the executive director of Penobscot Theatre Company described her organization as “struggling.”
Now, in the midst of the theater’s 50th season, Jen Shepard is unsure if it will survive next season and be able to launch a 52nd in 2025 without a significant financial boost from its patrons.
The company is facing a $200,000 deficit in its $2 million budget this season.
“We knew it would be touch and go, but we thought the numbers would not come up like this,” she said
That budget puts the organization nationally in the midsize theater group, according to Theatre Communications Group, which conducted the survey.
Like other nonprofit regional theater groups around the country, the Bangor company has not seen attendance return to pre-pandemic numbers. Season subscriptions — based on households not individuals — for the 50th season were 809, close to the 1,059 sold in 2019. But individual ticket sales per show for this season so far are 20 percent short of projections. The company also did not get a $50,000 grant it had budgeted for.
As in other industries, labor and construction costs have increased for theater companies. A sheet of plywood, used to build sets, that was $32 before the pandemic now costs $57, according to Shepard.
Tickets sales account for 60 percent of the theater’s income, and the rest comes from donations and grants. Similarly sized nonprofit theater companies rely on ticket sales for 50 percent of their income.
“Healthy regional theaters operate much like public television and radio. It relies heavily on community support. I doubt even our most enthusiastic supporters understand this reality,” said Sundance Campbell, president of the theater’s board of directors.
The theater has faced financial challenges at least twice previously, in the early 1990s and in the mid-2000s. Both times the community rallied to keep the theater financially solvent, which is why Shepard and board members decided to talk publicly about the shortfall.
Campbell and Shepard both said they don’t think most theatergoers understand how much it costs to launch their favorite shows.
In a financial appeal to households on its mailing list, the theater outlined the cost of its most popular recent show, “Mary Poppins, the Broadway Musical,” which closed out the 49th season last summer.
The company spent $6,000 on costumes, $24,000 on scenic materials and construction, $65,570 for the creative team, $37,585 for royalties and $93,640 for actors and stage management.
That show sold 6,948 tickets, A post-pandemic record, but cost $226,795 to produce.
This season’s opening show, “Crimes of the Heart,” cost $57,000 and sold 1,000 tickets in a shorter run.
Due to financial concerns, Penobscot Theatre Company has cut the budget for its next show, “Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play,” by $17,000. The director, designers, actors and others agreed to take pay cuts rather than have the show canceled, Shepard said.
The company owns the Bangor Opera House, located downtown, a former fire station on the corner of Kenduskeag Avenue and Griffin Road, where the costume and set shops are based, and a house in Bangor where visiting directors, designers and actors often stay. Shepard said she would like to balance the budget without having to sell a property.
The theater will be receiving $239,000 in federal funds for capital improvements to the 104-year-old Bangor Opera House. That money will pay for the installation of an updated fire-suppression system, tuckpointing on the side of the building, a heat pump for the third floor so it can be used for rehearsal space and to refurbish the front doors to the building. But none of the federal money can be used for operating expenses.
Democratic lawmakers have introduced a bill in Congress that would help bail out regional nonprofit theaters by providing them $1 billion over five years for operating expenses, according to the New York Times. While the bill might pass in the U.S. Senate, controlled by Democrats, it is not expected to garner enough support in the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representative. Even if passed, it’s unclear the money would arrive in time to address the Bangor theater’s financial problems.
Shepard believes subscribers, theater lovers and philanthropists in the community will come forward with donations and grants to keep PTC afloat while it continues to recover from the pandemic. But next season will be leaner than the 50th was with a budget of between $1.6 million and $1.7 million.
Ticket prices next season will increase slightly. Single tickets for the upcoming shows “Mr. Burns” and the musical “Little Shop of Horrors” are $42 and $45, respectively. Next season, the cost will be $45 for the season’s four straight plays and $50 for the holiday show and the musical. Subscription packages will increase slightly. If ticket sales were to cover the cost of productions, tickets would cost $70 for each show, according to information on the theater’s website.
While none of the theater’s 17 employees are expected to be laid off, next season the organization will cut the October show and the extra Christmas show it has produced the past few years, Shepard said. Shows next season will have smaller casts and productions will feature fewer out-of-town actors, directors and designers, reducing travel expenses, but will include an original Maine-based drama and shows theatergoers have requested.
The Bangor theater is not alone in its financial troubles in Maine or the nation. Last year’s survey found that nonprofit theater companies across the country are having difficulty recovering from the pandemic after receiving federal funds during their forced closure. Nearly 28 percent of respondents said they were struggling and almost 2 percent said they weren’t sure they’d survive. More than 7 percent described themselves as thriving while 14 percent said things were improving and 40 percent said they were holding steady. The rest of the respondents describe their situations as “other.”
In Maine, other nonprofit theater companies are planning leaner seasons in 2024 and 2025. The Theater at Monmouth, Maine’s official Shakespeare theater, is doing one of The Bard’s plays this summer instead of two and ending outdoor performances at a nearby winery.
The Camden Shakespeare Festival used to produce a comedy and a history or tragedy each summer but has stuck with comedies since 2021. In 2016, the Bangor Symphony Orchestra added a sixth concert to its schedule but cut back to five concerts after it resumed in-person performances in 2021.
The theater is now rebuilding an audience, not simply recapturing it, Campbell said. “What [Artistic Director] Jonathan Berry is trying to do, and has to do, is find the right programing for this community at this time, that draws back some of our long-time patrons, but also appeals to new patrons that haven’t historically attended PTC shows,” he said.
