Hartford Business Journal

6 Hartford Business Journal • November 25, 2019 • www.HartfordBusiness.com By Frank Rizzo Special to the Hartford Business Journal A s thousands of the- atergoers take in hol- iday entertainment, few realize how these perennial shows have become the financial lifeblood of Hartford's performance venues. In the world of theater — hardly known for sure financial out- comes — plays like "A Christ- mas Carol" and "Christmas on the Rocks" have become a few of the predictable successes that also help underwrite other programming. " 'A Christmas Carol' has become an economic staple for us," says Cynthia Rider, the new managing director of Hartford Stage. She compares it to how the holiday perennial "The Nut- cracker," supports ballet companies' repertoire for the rest of the year. Entering its 22nd holiday season, Hartford Stage's "A Christmas Carol" has remained a cash cow for the theater, bringing in nearly 20 percent of its annual ticket revenue in a season that includes six other full productions. "That's a big chunk," says Rider, referring to the roughly more than $650,000 it grosses every year at its 500-seat theater. The play debuted at Hartford Stage in 1998 when then-incoming- artistic director Michael Wilson wrote a stage adaptation of the Charles Dickens novella. The initial investment was much larger than a typical production costs, but was amortized over several years with the hope that the show would run five, or perhaps even 10 years. The play has far exceeded those expectations and now attracts more than 20,000 theatergoers each holiday season; nearly 410,000 visitors have seen it since its debut. It will celebrate its 1,000th perfor- mance Dec. 17, easily making it the most produced on-going theatrical show in Connecticut. Rider says the holiday season is when people make traditions "and one of them is to come to see this show. It's also the show that has multi-generational appeal so people come with their children, aunts, uncles and grandparents. It's something they do as a family." From an economic point of view, says Rider, "we're selling multiple numbers of tickets, even groups of tickets, year after year. That's not true to this extent of any of our other shows." The show's costs have also declined. After the initial set and costumes were paid for, there has only been an occasional design-ele- ments "brightening" or new touch, such as "flying" ghosts or the cast- ing of a new Scrooge (Michael Pres- ton succeeded Bill Raymond who played the role for many years.) It's a community-centric show, too, so many of the actors are local and annually return to their roles, allowing rehearsals to be done in a matter of days, not weeks, which is a huge cost savings. (Hartt School's Alan Rust is now the actor who's been in the most performances, ap- pearing in 21 of its 22 go-rounds.) The theater's new Artistic Director Melia Bensussen says she wants to add multilingual aspects to the show to attract a more diverse audience. So far, there have been no signs of audience fatigue. "We don't see any signs of dete- riorating audience enthusiasm for 'A Christmas Carol' right now," says Rider. "It's holding very steady in terms of the number of people and there's an increase in the number of students attending." Its financial and social effect also extends beyond Hartford Stage. "Hartford itself would look dif- ferent without 'A Christmas Carol' during the holidays," says Rider. "It brings people out and allows them to enjoy one of the great cultural resources of the city, enhancing their holiday experience. It's an economic driver for us — but for downtown Hartford as well." 'Rocks' solid TheaterWorks' "Christmas on the Rocks," which is entering its sev- enth season starting Dec. 1, helped save the theater. Seasonal Cheer Holiday perennial shows give Hartford theaters a financial gift ARTS BIZ Frank Rizzo The Hartford Stage's "A Christmas Carol" (shown above and below) brings in nearly 20 percent of the theater's annual revenue. PHOTOS | CONTRIBUTED

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