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Monday, September 11, 2023
Bay Area Children's Theatre Owes Over 2000 Creditors as Part of its Downfall
www.broadwayworld.com: This past week, an auction was launched to sell off what was left of Bay Area Children’s Theatre (BACT). It is part of the bankruptcy proceeding—most of the theaters that folded managed to do it before the court needed to get involved, but not BACT.
3 comments:
Helen Maleeny
said...
It’s so tragic that BACT is closing! It’s unfortunate when theaters run into trouble with money, and I wish the management was able to tackle that before ending up in the situation they’re in now. However it doesn’t explain into detail exactly what happened in terms of their rising debt. I agree with the author however that though an upsetting situation, as we don’t know all the details we shouldn’t judge them too harshly, especially as (as he mentioned), “children BACT introduced to theater at no cost to them” thus making revenue off ticket sales harder. After being hit hard by COVID theaters aren’t all in the best of positions, though I hope this one could eventually come back, or a new theater foundation could rise eventually in it’s place. It is amazing the fact that they were able to introduce the wonders of theater to so many children. Seeing theater is always a magical experience, but the imagination of children can make it truly incredible, so I’m glad that at least many kids were given that experience before BACT closed.
One section of this article I found particularly interesting was the description of ticket sales. As written by David, “Fundamentally, our non-profits were never established to subsist on ticket sales. It is well known that the regional theater system we know now expanded because of support from foundations.” When explaining to non theater people how our industry works, it can be disheartening to share how our industry will always be reliant on foundation grants. This is especially true for non-profit theaters who put a focus on community engagement over profit. One connection I made to this article was a theater in Virginia I used to volunteer at, Synetic Theater. Having been in Arlington for over twenty years, they finally got priced out this year by urban developers looking to transform the neighborhood into a luxury business hub. While I don’t believe theaters should get inherent protection from the competitive economy just because we produce art, it is just near impossible to compete with businesses that focus solely on profit. Similarly to Synetic and all other theaters that close their doors, I hope Bay Area Children’s Theatre’s legacy of community engagement continues despite its closing.
I think this is really interesting, because oftentimes we ignore the financial needs of theaters, especially those that aren’t our own. When you see a place that is struggling to give money to people who deserve it you tend to get mad. I went into the article expecting that the Bay Area Children’s Theater was withholding things from creators who have worked with them, and I was going to get annoyed with them. However the article focuses upon how this theater functions almost like a charity and should be treated as one. This peace is meant to encourage people to donate to theaters all around the world and in their community. You should encourage and help the local communities around you and that includes the arts. They are dwindling and there are too many “starving artists”. As someone moving into this field, I want to be able to support myself and have a decent lifestyle, so I can only hope that I am able to do that, while creating impactful art.
3 comments:
It’s so tragic that BACT is closing! It’s unfortunate when theaters run into trouble with money, and I wish the management was able to tackle that before ending up in the situation they’re in now. However it doesn’t explain into detail exactly what happened in terms of their rising debt. I agree with the author however that though an upsetting situation, as we don’t know all the details we shouldn’t judge them too harshly, especially as (as he mentioned), “children BACT introduced to theater at no cost to them” thus making revenue off ticket sales harder. After being hit hard by COVID theaters aren’t all in the best of positions, though I hope this one could eventually come back, or a new theater foundation could rise eventually in it’s place. It is amazing the fact that they were able to introduce the wonders of theater to so many children. Seeing theater is always a magical experience, but the imagination of children can make it truly incredible, so I’m glad that at least many kids were given that experience before BACT closed.
One section of this article I found particularly interesting was the description of ticket sales. As written by David, “Fundamentally, our non-profits were never established to subsist on ticket sales. It is well known that the regional theater system we know now expanded because of support from foundations.” When explaining to non theater people how our industry works, it can be disheartening to share how our industry will always be reliant on foundation grants. This is especially true for non-profit theaters who put a focus on community engagement over profit. One connection I made to this article was a theater in Virginia I used to volunteer at, Synetic Theater. Having been in Arlington for over twenty years, they finally got priced out this year by urban developers looking to transform the neighborhood into a luxury business hub. While I don’t believe theaters should get inherent protection from the competitive economy just because we produce art, it is just near impossible to compete with businesses that focus solely on profit. Similarly to Synetic and all other theaters that close their doors, I hope Bay Area Children’s Theatre’s legacy of community engagement continues despite its closing.
I think this is really interesting, because oftentimes we ignore the financial needs of theaters, especially those that aren’t our own. When you see a place that is struggling to give money to people who deserve it you tend to get mad. I went into the article expecting that the Bay Area Children’s Theater was withholding things from creators who have worked with them, and I was going to get annoyed with them. However the article focuses upon how this theater functions almost like a charity and should be treated as one. This peace is meant to encourage people to donate to theaters all around the world and in their community. You should encourage and help the local communities around you and that includes the arts. They are dwindling and there are too many “starving artists”. As someone moving into this field, I want to be able to support myself and have a decent lifestyle, so I can only hope that I am able to do that, while creating impactful art.
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