Hartford Business Journal

8 Hartford Business Journal • July 13, 2020 • www.HartfordBusiness.com By Sean Teehan steehan@hartfordbusiness.com I t could have been worse for Playhouse on Park. The West Hartford theater nonprofit whose performance space holds 163 seats had just finished its production of "Pride and Prejudice" in mid-March, when the COVID-19 pandemic suddenly shut down plays, concerts and all other performances in front of tightly packed crowds When the theater closed, Execu- tive Director Tracy Flater said she was thankful Playhouse didn't have a show in mid-run, and figured it'd be for only two weeks or so. That wasn't the case. Playhouse has now gone dark for four months and has canceled more than 100 individual performances, losing at least $378,000 in revenue from ticket sales, summer programs and other factors, Flater said. Playhouse's an- nual budget is about $1.3 million. "We're only 11 years old, so we don't have all these amazing endow- ments and reserves as the bigger [theater nonprofits]," Flater said. But the small nonprofit is trying. Playhouse has been running con- tent online for free to remain relevant, and last month held its first online fundraiser, Flater said. It also runs summer education programs for children online and outdoors in parks, and has enlisted the services of Indian IT company Digital Stead to increase the volume and quality of Playhouse's online streaming content. "We've remained pretty stable," said Flater, whose theater received just over $98,000 through the federal government's Paycheck Protection Program, and about $150,000 through the Small Business Administra- tion's Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, but has still had to furlough about three-quarters of its 24-person staff. "Our biggest hurdle now is not knowing the future." The pandemic has hit pretty much all nonprofits in the state, but arts organizations are in a particularly precarious position, said Gian-Carl Casa, president and CEO of the CT Community Nonprofit Alliance. That's because in addition to not being able to hold — or sell tickets for — in-person events, state fund- ing for many of these groups comes from hotel tax revenue, which is likely to shrink significantly as hotels are on pace to lose more than 57% of revenue per room in 2020, according to STE and Tourism Eco- nomics, which track the industry. A Greater Hartford Arts Council survey taken in March found that Hartford's "Big Four" arts groups — The Bushnell, Hartford Stage, The- aterWorks and Hartford Symphony Orchestra — stood to lose a combined $6.6 million if the coronavirus shut down production for three months. We are in month four. For now, Greater Hartford theater nonprofits are leaning on donors, pumping up their online content and waiting on solid reopening guidelines. Some indoor businesses, including movie theaters, have been allowed to reopen but it's not clear yet when performance houses will be given a greenlight, and what restrictions they may need to enforce. Gov. Ned Lamont recently said he is pulling back on a planned phase three reopening in mid-July — which would have expanded indoor gather- ings and allowed bars to reopen — because of the spike in coronavirus cases being seen around the country. Meantime, many arts venues like Playhouse on Park have stayed afloat by getting money through the federal government's Paycheck Protection Program. New data issued by the U.S. Small Business Administration shows major Hartford arts venues took advantage of the program, which provided potentially forgiv- able loans to cover payroll and other costs, including The Bushnell (it received between $1 million and $2 million), Hartford Stage ($350,000 to $1 million) TheaterWorks ($150,000 to $350,000) and Hartford Symphony Orchestra ($350,000 to $1 million). Donor support Donors and patrons at Hartford Stage, which has a nearly 500-seat performance space, have been generous through the shutdown, said Cynthia Rider, the nonprofit's managing director. Hartford Stage had to cancel an ongoing production of "Jane Eyre" when the pandemic hit, and canceled scheduled runs of "The King's Speech" and "Ah Wilder- ness!," but most patrons didn't seek refunds, allowing the organization to keep money as donations. "What's been interesting, I would say, is that donations have been steady," Rider said. However, there's no telling how long donations will remain largely unaffected, Rider said, and while such gifts make up between $3 million and $4 million of Hartford Stage's approximately $9-million annual budget, revenue from ticket sales and season subscriptions usually account for about $4.5 million per year. Hartford Stage is doing as much as it can online, like an internet version of summer education programs, Rider said. But while everyone is searching for possible new revenue streams that could offset lost ticket sales, Rider said theatre nonprofits will likely have Hanging On Nonprofit theaters see revenues evaporate as they wait for reopening guidance West Hartford's Playhouse on Park was co- founded by (from left to right) Sean Harris, Tracy Flater and Darlene Zoller. The nonprofit theater has received federal stimulus loans and is producing digital content to stay afloat and remain relevant during the pandemic. FOCUS: NONPROFITS PHOTOS | HBJ FILE Playhouse on Park in West Hartford has been dark since mid-March.

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