CAMILLE GAVIN: Spotlight still shining
| Wednesday, Dec 23 2009 05:09 PM
Last Updated Wednesday, Dec 23 2009 05:10 PM
Ironically, despite the loss of two entities connected with the Spotlight Theatre -- the school of arts and the lobby cafe -- the theater itself is doing quite well, says Hal Friedman, artistic director.
"We're halfway through the second season of our five-year plan and so far we've met all of our goals," he said. "I'm very happy with where we are right now artistically. But I'm not going to say we don't struggle because we do."
As for the business side of the theater, which is a nonprofit organization, the 31-year-old director pointed to three key areas that are on the upswing: attendance, season ticket sales and underwriting.
Audience attendance has increased dramatically this season, which began on Sept. 4. The first two shows, "The Grapes of Wrath," and "Evil Dead," drew full houses for nearly every performance, Friedman said. "Secret Garden," the current production, promises to be a financial success as well.
A full house means the show has made a profit, which translates into more money for salaries, operating expenses, and capital improvements for the 99-seat theater. Friedman said "Evil Dead" ended up more than $10,000 on the plus side. "Grapes" was close behind at $8,000.
Incidentally, even though the Spotlight Cafe officially closed Wednesday, Friedman said he expects to have a snack bar in operation for the remaining performances of "Secret Garden," which continue through Jan. 2. Unlike the cafe, which was a separate business, the snack bar will be owned and operated by the theater.
Another reason for optimism lies in the dramatic increase in season ticket sales. Last year only seven were sold; this season the number rose to 100. Friedman also noted that the theater has expanded its marketing efforts with the appointment of Alex Neal as business and marketing director.
However, it's a given that no theater in the country can survive on box office sales alone. Getting sponsors to provide upfront money for productions is vital. And Spotlight has been successful in that area as well.
"We were going for 30 percent over last year and I hit my goal (of) $30,000," Friedman said. "In the fifth year of the plan, we need to raise $90,000."
Underwriters for the 2009-10 season, according to Friedman, are Peggy Cole Darling, who owns the building and is also on Spotlight's board of directors; San Joaquin Community Hospital; Bakersfield Boys & Girls Club; Zane and Amy Smith; Steven and Brenda Friedman; World Records; Joshua Wilson; Big R's Carpet; Paramount Farms; and the Surber family.
Friedman, a member of Actors' Equity and a graduate of New York University's School of the Arts, has been involved with Spotlight for almost 10 years. The Washington, D.C., native has acted professionally in productions at the Kennedy Center and in theaters in Baltimore and Dallas. He came to Bakersfield as the result of a former marriage. He now is married to the former Abby Bowles, a high school teacher who has starred in several shows at Spotlight.
He was hired as artistic director in 2006, a year or so after the theater had changed its business status from a private enterprise, owned and operated by founder Emily Thiroux, to a nonprofit organization governed by a board of directors.
Friedman's salary is $2,000 a month, a figure he was reluctant to provide, but only because, as he said with a rueful smile, "I'm embarrassed to let people know how little I make."
For several months prior to Friedman's appointment, Spotlight had gone through a rough patch both managerially and financially. In an effort to better define the theater's mission and to provide a clearer direction for its future course, the board asked Friedman to develop a five-year plan.
The board embraced his plan, which has the ultimate goal of establishing Spotlight as a theater recognized by the Actors' Equity Association, a national union that represents professional actors and stage managers. To get Equity status, a theater must meet certain criteria regarding ticket sales, audience size, and the number and types of plays it presents each year.
Which brings us to other areas of Spotlight's plan, namely to have performances 50 weeks of the year. Two programs have been launched to meet this goal and each is designed to increase the audience base.
The newest is Theatre for Young Audiences, set to start in January in conjunction with the theater's performance of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet." Spotlight Series, inaugurated last year; is also relatively new.
Both programs are under the guidance of Jarred Clowes, who wears two hats: assistant artistic director and technical director. Clowes formerly taught theater arts at Bakersfield College.
Spotlight Series does four plays each year that are presented weekends when the theater is dark -- that is, in between performances of the nine shows that make up the regular season. It tends to deal with edgier themes.
Up next in the series is Sam Shepard's "True West," opening Jan. 8. It stars Jon Sampson, who played the role of an American Express clerk in "Revolutionary Road," a 2008 film starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.
The Young Audiences component is meant to teach children what theater is all about, including how to watch a play, Clowes said.
It will be done in gradual steps, starting with rhythmical phrases like those in the Dr. Seuss books and evolving into a 45-minute performance of a scene from "Romeo and Juliet" done by adult actors.
Meanwhile, Friedman says he's pleased with the makeup of the current board as well as the active interest in the theater's success shown by its 11 members. Anne Marie O'Reilly, an actress and vocal instructor who has had professional experience in New York and Los Angeles, serves as president.
"I have tried my best to increase board cooperation and it's much better now," Friedman said. "I have an open-door policy with the board -- they can come in and talk to me anytime and they do -- and we meet weekly. We're partners in this, we're a family now."
