Friday, April 22, 2011
Analysis: What's the next act for Intiman Theatre?
Seattle Times Newspaper: "If the Intiman Theatre saga was a play, it would be a mercurial drama plotted with booms and busts, colorful characters, anticlimaxes and reversals. And the author would have a tough time coming up with the right ending.
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5 comments:
I like the couple of suggestions which involve sharing or renting the space. It seems like a win-win situation to be able to share the overhead costs with another company, while increasing the population of audience members who will be coming into your space. More people through the doors, even if they're seeing the other company, means more opportunities for marketing your own company. It also means that your theatre won't be sitting dark, bleeding money - it will be bringing in rent. Whether such a simple move can pull Intiman out of its hole is another question altogether.
I recently got word that the Intiman Theatre has decided to close its doors. It's unfortunate that a theater that has contributed so greatly to the theater community couldn't survive. It's especially hard to not be able to close your season with fulfillment and grace but instead with a sudden cancellation of the rest of the season. It's just one more example of how event successful theaters and show still aren't raking in the dough and that it's a tough business to be in even after you've had success on a national level.
I think it's just a horrible situation for everybody who is involved. With so much debt, I don't think it'll come back for the '12 season. I read that the subscribers weren't given the option of getting refunds for the shows that weren't produced (only exchanges for shows at other theater companies who graciously offered hand to help), and that really goes to show how bad this situation is. With shows like The Light in the Piazza having its world premier (perhaps that's somewhat part of what "reflected Broadway glory" refers to?) and recently winning the regional theater Tony, it's really a shame that they had to end up like this.
This is so upsetting. I really hope that the donors pull through and save the company. If that happens, though, it seems like someone should be in charge of nothing but monitoring the budget to avoid falling into so much debt again. I agree with Sam on that sharing and renting space is a good idea. The idea that I saw on the list that seemed odd to me, though, was the one about becoming a collective with several affiliated directors. Maybe I don't fully understand this idea, but it seems to me that having multiple directors would make it even harder for everyone to be on the same page when it comes to budgeting. Either way, I hope that this isn't the end for Intiman. It's a bad sign for the industry if such a successful theater has to come to a close.
I imagine there are a lot of eyes on the Intiman Theater right now. How many companies and organizations are asking themselves, "Could this happen to us?" Yes. Yes it can. And if you believe in economic trends, it most likely will.
Intiman is in a very crucial spot right now. Not only considering it's own financial dillemas but as an example of what could happen to others in the future. While they may not be one organization & economic model that works if the Intiman bounces back based on whatever changes they make, a lot of other organizations will be carefully watching the results.
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