Worcester Business Journal

L ater this year, e Ha- nover eatre will open 1920s-themed restaurant Josephine, part of a strategy to turn its section of downtown into a thriving eatre District. How's the fundraising coming along? We are in the middle of a $10-million capital campaign. We've raised $8.3 mil- lion, so we want to bring it home over the next year and a half. It is our eatre District campaign, so it includes the dollars that allowed us to move into the building next door and open the conser- vatory for community classes. Now the last piece is outward facing. Outward facing? It's the programming on the new plaza out front of the theater, and the black box theater at 20 Franklin St. Black box is an industry term meaning the space is flexible where you can set up the stage and the seating in different ways. e space itself is a partner- ship between the Worcester Business Development Corp. and the Worcester Cultural Coalition, but we will manage the space and keep it active. What's new about the Main & Southbridge street plaza? e existing triangle has been there for awhile, but the city's plan to reroute Southbridge Street is new. at will happen in 2019 when the city will move the actual road to create a much bigger plaza – more open and inviting. Our plan is to program it very fre- quently, so there is always something go- ing on: a performance, a class, an activity like live music at lunchtime on Fridays. If you have a Broadway show going on in the theater, maybe something related to that will go on at the plaza. Why focus on these external efforts? We underwent a strategic plan a cou- ple of years ago, and the relevant point of it was in order to be really successful inside the building, we needed to build the district outside the building. It is an Achilles' heel right now. You can go to Boston and see the same shows with the same performers we have here. It is less expensive here. It is a lot cheaper to drive in and park, but it doesn't feel like a theater district com- pared to Boston. It doesn't have the same vibe where you feel like you can go out to dinner, see a show, and then go back out for drinks and dessert. How do you keep the theater viable with all this going on? We are financially viable already as a A cultural epicenter S H O P TA L K Q & A Founded: Nonprofit founded in 2002, theater opened in 2008 Employees: 26 full-time, and 50 full-time equivalents Age: 49 Residence: Shrewsbury Education: Bachelor of fine arts in pro- duction and scene design, North Carolina School of the Arts This interview was conducted and edited for length and clarity by Brad Kane, WBJ editor. theater. We do depend on contributed revenue and earned revenue, and it will always be that way. It is an historic building, and we will rely on the contin- ued support of the community for the basic maintenance of the building. But by growing the vitality of the neighborhood, that creates stability. What are your revenues? Most or all of the ticket price goes to the artist for the show. Our revenue is the fee you pay when you buy the ticket. Plus, the drink at the bar or the membership you buy. Plus, we rely on contribu- tions and sponsorships. As the scale of the perfor- mance increases, there will be revenue. More people means more drinks sold at the bar. Can you create new revenues? e conservatory is the new piece. We thought it wouldn't be revenue positive until year three, but it turns out it is rev- enue positive in year two. And there is room to grow. We have 225 children at- tending 62 classes. e revenues comes from tuition for classes or scholarships given by corporations. is year, we have given out $20,000 in scholarships to kids to attend conservatory classes. Why has it been so popular? One thing was the merger with Ballet Arts Worcester, so we have our own dance school. When we started, we tried to not compete with any of the dance or performing arts schools in Worces- ter, but the opportunity to merge with someone already there worked well. e interest has grown for all classes. We started with 25 classes last spring, and now we have 62 classes this year. We are going to be pushing against the walls soon and looking for more space. You're going to expand out of your expansion? Yes. We would like to continue to be in the neighborhood and have time to make it happen. We don't need to ex- pand tomorrow. It is on the horizon. 36 Worcester Business Journal | April 16, 2018 | wbjournal.com VIDEO: Siebels discusses his annual efforts directing "A Chritmas Carol." Go to WBJournal.com Troy Siebels President & CEO The Hanover Theatre, Worcester W

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