“”¦ By the Lord, lads, I am glad you have the money. Hostess, clap ”¦”
”” Falstaff, “King Henry IV, Part I”
Following the Shakespeare Theatre Association of America”™s annual meeting last February in Lenox, Mass., like other stage marketing managers Abigail Adams did not know what to expect for her Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival this summer.
Surprisingly, if ticket sales continue on the current pace, the professional troupe can expect to top last year”™s record-breaking total of 32,500 visitors.
“The uncertainty is still pervasive ”“ there is definitely concern,” said Adams, director of marketing for the Cold Spring-based Shakespeare company. “We know corporate funding is going to be off, although it”™s not going away completely.”
After four nights of teaser previews and dress rehearsals, the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival officially kicks off Saturday, June 20 at Boscobel House and Gardens in Garrison with the comedy “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged).” On Wednesday, June 24, “Pericles” has its opening night followed the next evening by “Much Ado About Nothing.”Â
Adams thinks even the sometimes ponderous “Pericles” will sell well.
“A lot of people don”™t realize it,” Adams said, “but Pericles is the ultimate action hero.”
The industry could use a savior. Through late May, fewer than 4.2 million people had passed through Broadway turnstiles in 2009, according to the Broadway League, a 15 percent decline from the same stretch in 2008.
In a January poll of more than 200 Theatre Communications Group members nationally, nearly four in five managers indicated they were re-projecting their expenses for this year, particularly at larger theaters with at least $5 million in annual expenses; and six in 10 said they do not expect to break even this year.
Overwhelmingly, theater managers expected to take the biggest hit from corporate contributors, with 73 percent of respondents predicting a decline in corporate giving compared with an expected 56 percent decline in overall ticket sales.
To widen its exposure, the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival is also planning a show in Ridgefield, Conn., this summer. Elsewhere in Fairfield County, Shakespeare on the Sound is putting on “A Midsummer”™s Night Dream” in Greenwich and Norwalk; while the Summer Theatre of New Canaan opens the Shakespeare comedy “The Taming of the Shrew” June 16.
The latter troupe is following the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival”™s lead this season and staging its season entirely outdoors ”“ partly out of necessity. Rich Forum, the Stamford theater where Summer Theatre of New Canaan ran “The Music Man” last summer to rave reviews, declared bankruptcy in September. The facility is now being readied as a studio for “The Jerry Springer Show” and other NBC Universal talk shows.
The Summer of Theatre of New Canaan is also offering a multiple “pay what you can” performances of “The Taming of the Shrew” and “Camelot” this summer ”“ in part to expand its audience, but also intended as a “thank you” to the county and state that have supported the startup company”™s development.
For inspiration on surviving tough economic times, theater managers need look no further than the nearby Westport Country Playhouse, which opened during the Great Depression and has continued to this day.
“Around the World in 80 Days” just wrapped up a three-week run at Westport County Playhouse, and Managing Director Michael Ross said he is hopeful for the summer season based on ticket sales for the just-completed production. Next up is the comedic family drama “Children” which opens this week, and for which advance ticket sales have been solid according to Ross.
“Opening night ”“ we”™ll know,” Ross said. “I”™m pleasantly optimistic.”
