Victoria Theatre Association Reveals $23.5 Million Economic Impact at Annual Meeting

Victoria Theatre Association (VTA) presented its 2016-2017 Community Report at today's annual meeting, held in the Mathile Theatre at the Benjamin & Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center.

The meeting celebrated a report revealing an estimated $23.5 million economic impact to the Miami Valley region, the completion of Victoria Theatre's 150th anniversary celebration with the ThinkTV and VTA produced documentary MAKING HISTORY: VICTORIA THEATRE 150 YEARS, narrated by Dayton's own Martin Sheen, plus VTA's many Education & Engagement programs that touched more than 81,000 lives in our community.

"The impressive financial results show VTA completed a very successful 2016-2017 Season," said VTA Board of Trustees Chair, Martha Shaker. "President and CEO Ken Neufeld, along with his talented and dedicated staff and our outstanding corps of more than 600 volunteers, led Victoria Theatre Association on a path that created more than $23 million in economic impact for our region. This impact ultimately adds to the value of living in the Miami Valley."

"2016-2017 also saw growth in The Next Stage Campaign," continues Shaker. "As a result, VTA continues to improve our facilities using the funds from the Campaign. We sincerely thank former VTA Board Chair Steve Miller for his leadership over the years, as well as Trustees Bob Duplain, Dr. Mike Ervin and Rosalie Mainous as their service to the Board has come to an end. In addition, we welcome new VTA trustees Patti Stoll (PNC Bank), David McGillivray (Brixey & Meyer), and Nick Lair (Premier Health System). We look forward to working with them throughout their terms."

Community Report Findings:

The operations of Victoria Theatre Association had a preliminary and unaudited profit from operations of $318,000 on total revenues of $14.6 million for fiscal year ending June 30, 2017

Based on a formula developed by the Americans for the Arts, the overall revenue of $14.6 million for the 2016-2017 fiscal year created an overall estimated $23.5 million economic impact for the Dayton Metro area.

The impressive sum represents the overall total dollars spent by VTA and its audiences, including event-related spending by arts audiences including, but not limited to, ticket sales, restaurants, parking, merchandise sales and other expenses that revolve around attending and producing an arts event.

"The 2016-2017 Season was highlighted by numerous magical stage moments and celebrations including the return of Jersey Boys and 42nd Street, and an amazing response to Dirty Dancing, Kinky Boots, Motown the Musical and Circus 1903, along with many more shows, concerts and presentations," said Ken Neufeld, VTA President and CEO. "Many of our Education & Engagement programs grew in attendance, especially the Broadway Intensives and camps for area students, the Teachers' Lounge, a nearly sold-out Discovery Series and a growing Bagels & Broadway program. In addition, we saw so much growth in the National Geographic Live Series that we have added an additional show, giving more of our community the opportunity to experience these amazing explorers live and in person at the Victoria Theatre."

"We were proud to offer our first sensory-friendly performance with the Morris Furniture Company Family Series show, The Cat in The Hat," continues Neufeld. "This presentation was adapted for audiences on the autism spectrum, and the audience response was incredible. We are planning two more sensory-friendly performances for the 2017-2018 season. Finally, our community of donors has expanded in both sponsorships and donations to the Annual Fund. This all had a favorable result on VTA's bottom line, resulting in an excellent year."

Highlights from the 2016-2017 Season included:

- VTA served 424,961 people in its facilities, including the Victoria Theatre, the Benjamin & Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center, Metropolitan Arts Center/Loft Theatre and Citilites at the Schuster Center, with an additional 10,000 attending events off-site.

- Ticket Center Stage, a centralized ticketing Service Managed by VTA, sold in excess of 314,000 tickets, totaling $10.5 million in sales for venues VTA manages. This number includes ticket sales of VTA presentations as well as performances by seven local arts organizations and others who rent the venues.

- VTA completed a year-long celebration around the 150th anniversary of the Victoria Theatre with a series of backstage tours, special events, and the new Universal 1 Credit Union VIC150 Music Series. The celebration culminated with special preview of the documentary, MAKING HISTORY: VICTORIA THEATRE 150 YEARS, produced by ThinkTV and narrated by Dayton native and celebrity, Martin Sheen.

Education & Engagement's programs continued to serve patrons young and old with programs including:

- Art F.O.R.C.E. -an "Arts in Healing" initiative serving military families at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Art F.O.R.C.E. partnered with the mental health unit at Wright-Patterson Medical Center in a pilot program helping patients in the Intensive Outpatient Unit learn coping mechanisms to assist with individualized treatment.

- Bagels & Broadway- a mid-morning treat for guests with a ringside seat at the load-in for several Broadway shows which included a Q&A with touring company or production mangers.

- Teachers' Lounge - held on opening nights of Premier Health Broadway Series presentations inviting local educators to enjoy a night at the theatre including a private reception before the show.

- Motown in the Gem City- a community music education project in connection with the Broadway tour of Motown The Musical, involving students and teachers from Frank Nicolas Elementary (West Carrollton), and Charity Adams Early Academy for Girls (Dayton) where students explored the significant impact of the "Motown sound" on popular culture.

The Dayton Power & Light Company Foundation Cheap Seats program continued with more than 19,000 enthusiastic members receiving monthly email updates about the latest $10 ticket offerings on this program. More than 10,000 tickets were sold through this initiative.

- VTA's army of close to 600 volunteers provided the necessary support to operations by serving primarily as ushers at all performance, but also in additional capacities, donating more than 60,000 hours of service, representing approximately $675,000 in donated labor.

- Now in its 10th year, the Fueling Education program offered free Regional Transit Authority (RTA) passed to more than 1,700 students and teachers. The Convenience Stores of Speedway provided additional transportation funds for schools outside of Montgomery County.

Additional information about these and other season highlights can be found in the Community Report, available for download at www.victoriatheatre.com/news or by calling 937-228-7591.

The 2016-2017 Victoria Theatre Association Board of Trustees Officers included: Chair, Martha Shaker (Concept Rehab, Inc.); Past Chair, Neil Freund (Freund, Freeze & Arnold); Treasurer, Chris Wyse (Projects Unlimited); Secretary, Wendy Lewis (Logos @ Work); The Next Stage Campaign Chair, Frank Perez (Community Volunteer).

The Board of Trustees included: Cassie B. Barlow, Ph.D. (Aerospace Professional Development Center); Dave S. Dickerson (Miller Valentine Group); Robert J. Duplain (Community Volunteer); Dr. Mike Ervin (Downtown Dayton Partnership,); John W. Ey (Radiology Business Managers, Inc.); Larry Glickler (Glickler Funeral Home); Albert W. Leland (Community Volunteer); Rosalie O. Mainous (Wright State University); Mary Kaye Manchur (Community Volunteer); Stephen M. Miller (C.H. Dean); Marla Schuster Nissan (Alan Roberts & Associates); Casey Ott (GE Aviation Systems); Jean Raga (Sibcy Cline Realtors); John Rhodes (Emerson Climate Technologies); and, Monte Salsman (Winsupply).

Victoria Theatre Association is one of Dayton's premier arts organizations, presenting the Premier Health Broadway Series, the Morris Furniture Company Family Series, the Cool Films Series, Projects Unlimited Star Attractions, National Geographic Live Series, and Discovery Series, which features curriculum-enhanced live theatre productions for school children. In addition to the performances it presents, Victoria Theatre Association also manages the historic Victoria Theatre, the Benjamin & Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center, and the Metropolitan Arts Center, which houses The Loft Theatre. Victoria Theatre Association receives funding from a variety of diverse public, corporate, individual and private sources, including the Montgomery County Arts and Cultural District and the Ohio Arts Council.

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