Industry Pro Newsletter: COVID Continues to Impact the Industry, UK Shakes Up Arts Funding

Ask anyone working in arts administration right now, and they'll tell you that the challenges they are facing are numerous and unprecedented. For many regional theaters, audiences are slow to return - but is that individual ticket buyers or season subscribers? Are they concerned about COVID or is it something else? In Europe, a looming energy crisis is putting the pressure on many organizations budgets, and on top of that the UK announced a major shake up of how they are funding arts organizations in London. As we start to wind down 2022, we're beginning to understand the new challenges being faced in the new normal. As we move forward from here, we'll be tracking the new solutions to these challenges right here in this newsletter.

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Industry Trends

Regional Theaters Struggle to Sell Tickets - But Not All Are Struggling in the Same Way

For many regional theatres, they're seeing their ticket sales sitting at somewhere between 75%-80% of the number of tickets sold before the pandemic. As reported by Marketplace, however, while the overall fill numbers are similar across regions, who is filling the seats is different. At La Jolla Playhouse, it is single ticket sales that have plummeted. In Atlanta at Alliance, it's subscribers. Click here to read more...

Women Playwrights Speak Out on Life in the Theater: Part 1 by Cara Joy David

It's 2022. In the theater, the number of productions of plays by female playwrights is well above where it was at the start of the 21st century. Female playwrights have not reached parity with male playwrights, and post-pandemic detailed information is not yet available, but for the few seasons leading up to the pandemic, plays by women playwrights represented just under 40% of new plays produced in a large sampling of non-profits across the country. But it is not all sunshine and rainbows. For this three-part series, BroadwayWorld spoke to over 20 female playwrights who have been produced in major NY theaters about what life in the theater is really like for them -- and what can be done to make it better. Click here to read more...

Broadway/New York

Stage Dooring (Re)Halted on Broadway; When Might It Be Back?

Stage dooring. Fans love it. Actors are split, and were even before the pandemic. And then the pandemic hit. When Broadway returned, stage dooring did not. It was seen as too big a risk. But when New York County had a low community level of COVID-19 transmission, it was back. At the start of last week, hundreds gathered outside various stage doors. A Yahya Abdul- Mateen II fan quoted dialogue from WATCHMEN (which Abdul-Mateen won an Emmy for) to the TOPDOG/UNDERDOG star. Fans of star Lea Michele were lined up even before FUNNY GIRL let out hoping she would sign their memorabilia before departing. But that has all come to an end for now -- New York is now at a medium, or yellow, risk level, meaning stage dooring is prohibited.

The safety protocols currently in place between Actors' Equity Association and The Broadway League state: "Autograph signings, meet-and-greets and backstage tours are prohibited when the Community Risk Level is Red or Yellow." (Oddly, the protocols in place between IATSE and The Broadway League permit autographs unless the Community Risk Level is red, seeming to create a situation where one union would allow autographs but the other would not. However, given that it seems unlikely any IATSE member would be signing autographs, in practice, yellow or medium risk is the relevant "stop signing" guidepost.)

As with everything, each production is allowed to go stricter than the guidelines. In other words, a production could mandate no one from the production signs autographs even in times of low risk countywide. This is similar to how productions can require more testing if they desire.

But right now, productions have no choice -- actors cannot sign autographs at the stage door under the relevant agreement. The CDC calculates COVID-19 Community Levels each week and releases that information every Thursday by 8pm. This week, New York County moved from green to yellow, based on case rates per 100,000 people, new COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100,000 people and the percentage of staffed inpatient hospital beds used by patients with confirmed COVID-19. According to an Equity spokesperson, it is up to the individual producers to check the weekly data and make sure they are following the safety protocols in place. (It is possible, however, a show's Equity Deputy may chime in if a notification from the production has yet to be disseminated.)

Stay tuned. If COVID-19 levels fall this week, stage dooring could be back as soon as Thursday.

Local 802 and Fiddler Reach an Agreement

The musicians union were able to reach an agreement with the producers of Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish coming back to the New York stage, and as such, Local 802 announced that the production was no longer under a Do Not Work order. Click here to read more...

Wendy Goldberg Departs National Playwrights Conference

Goldberg was the first female Artistic Director of the NPC. According to a press release, Goldberg said, "The National Playwrights Conference plays such a special role in American theater, as well as my life, and it has been an honor to work with the O'Neill leadership, staff, and particularly the hundreds of talented playwrights over the last 18 years. To come in during such a moment of change and re-establish the company as a national leader will remain a highlight of my career. After nearly two decades, it's time for me to turn my attention toward many other artistic endeavors." Click here to read more...

Regional

COVID-19 Concerns Keep DC Audiences Away

A recent survey from Theatre Washington and Limelight Insights by Shugoll showed a drop in attendance from the audience members surveyed - where the survey respondents had been seeing slightly more than 7 shows per season pre pandemic, that number was down to a little less than 5 following the pandemic. One of the main reason audience members cited staying away was concern over COVID-19. Click here to read more...

Luis Alfaro Departs Center Theatre Group

Appointed an Associate Artistic Director in July 2021, Alfaro's departure came abruptly in the midst of the current season. In his letter, which he shared via social media, Alfaro calls on the company to keep pushing forward with making change in this industry. Click here to read more...

A World Series Bet Between Philadelphia's Walnut Street and Houston's Alley Theater

If Houston wins the World Series, the Walnut will display in its lobby a production photo of Alley Theatre's sea creatures and a head piece of one of the costumes from their current production of Edward Albee's Seascape, performing now through November 13. If Philadelphia wins, the Alley will display in their lobby the championship belt from the Walnut's current production of ROCKY, the Musical, which is on stage now through November 6. Over the weekend, Houston won the World Series, so it looks like the Seascape costumes will be on their way to Philly. Click here to read more...

International

The UK Government Shakes Up Arts Funding

Arts Council England, announced a change in spending on Friday. The funding for groups with headquarters in London has been redistributed to those in less affluent areas of Britain. In the most extreme example of the shift, The Arts Council will no longer provide regular support to the English National Opera. It received around £12.4 million, or about $14 million, per year for the previous four years. Over a third of the company's budget was made up of the yearly grant. A one-time payment of £17 million will be made to The Opera to aid in "developing a new business model," which may include moving the company to Manchester. Click here to read more...

Germany Earmarks Funds For Cultural Institutions Dealing With Rising Energy Prices

Claudia Roth, Germany's Minister of State for Culture, announced the recently enacted Economic Stabilization Fund would include €1 billion ($977 million) for cultural institutions. In an effort to lessen the effects of the ongoing energy crisis that has wracked much of Europe since the start of the Russo-Ukrainian War, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced in September that his administration would repurpose the Economic Stabilization Fund, a reserve established in 2020 amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. Click here to read more...

Creatives Need More Support in Securing Housing and Space to Work Report Recommends

A new report from Queen Mary University of London notes that artists need more support in securing affordable housing and space in which to practice their art in order to further foster diversity in the creative sector, especially as the sector works to recover from the pandemic. Click here to read more...

Missed our last few newsletters?

October 31, 2022 - Quiet Quitting in the Arts and Supply Chain Woes Hit the Theater

For many working in the entertainment industry, it can often feel like we're living in a different economy than everyone else - the hours maintained have long been different from the rest of the working world, the day to day tasks, the workplace cultures. Some of these things are baked into the nature of the industry - if we're entertaining everyone after their work days, then we need to work at different times than they do - but others are part of the bigger shift towards a better working environment that many creatives and entertainment industry workers are trying to change. This week, a few different stories about how broader economic trends - quiet quitting and the supply chain - are showing up in the arts. Click here to read more...

October 24, 2022 - A Casino in Times Square? Drabinsky Sues Equity

Actors Equity featured prominently in industry news last week - voicing support for a potential casino project in Times Square (in opposition to the Broadway League), as the subject of a defamation suit from Paradise Square producer Garth Drabinsky, and in their continued efforts to organize the dancers at Star Garden Topless Bar - which Industry Editor Cara Joy David provides great in-depth coverage of. All of this comes as the industry continues to work towards a new normal, while facing tremendous challenges on all fronts. Click here to read more...

October 17, 2022 - Unionization Takes a Step Forward at Star Gardens

Questions of access continue to be discussed after an incident at Hadestown last week, ultimately highlighting that there is a deep need for more education around the topic for everyone involved. In the UK, educational access for school children is becoming more challenging than ever before with cuts to funding for those trips. But we lead off this week's Industry Trends section with a great update from Cara Joy David on the unionization effort of the Star Gardens Topless Dive Bar and how that push factors into the wider plans for unionization pushes from Actors Equity Association. Click here to read more...

BroadwayWorld Resources

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As audiences get set to return to in-person performances, and as your company works to market your own return to the stage, make sure you've got your upcoming shows in our regional events calendars. Listings are free of charge, with boosting options available. Get your show listed now

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