American Stage: Demens Park show may be a thing of the past
How do you dramatize the bottom line?
American Stage’s springtime show in Demens Landing Park is in jeopardy, according to the theater company’s producing artistic director.
In a letter to the community emailed Friday morning, Helen R. Murray acknowledged the success of April’s outdoor “Park” production of Beauty and the Beast, but said it was not enough to cover costs.
The family-friendly musicals – some of American Stage’s best-attended shows – have never paid for themselves.
“The annual cost of the park show now hovers at approximately $600,000-$650,000,” Murray wrote. “The most we have ever earned from Park has been $445,000. In a bad year we lose about $350,000. In a good year, like we had with Beauty and the Beast, we lost about $160,000.”
A single rainy night, she pointed out, could mean the loss of thousands of dollars.
The Park shows began with free Shakespeare productions in the 1980s, and as the years went on, and the costs went up, American Stage began charging admission.
The company, Murray said, is in a “precarious position” financially. The reduction in audience attendance, grants, donors and sponsorships, at the same time production costs started to spiral, began with the pandemic in 2020.
“And we do not want to increase ticket prices to a place that would make our community struggle to attend. We weigh all of these realities with the most glaring truth – the constant cash burn has put American Stage into a critical moment. Something has to give.”
Murray’s letter is the opening volley of the 47-year-old nonprofit’s “Save the Park” fundraising campaign, which will begin, in earnest, in July.
Already announced for next April is the iconic rock musical Hair. In her letter, Murray direly predicts that it might have to come off the schedule.
“We know how much the park show means to our community,” Murray wrote. “We feel the same way. We know that our show in the park is at the heart of what we do at American Stage.”
RELATED: Arts Alive! podcast: Helen R. Murray, American Stage
Hugh Hazeltine
June 4, 2024at3:28 pm
There was a modest band shell in Demen’s Landing where Shakespeare in the park was once staged with one act plays. This years production of Beauty & the Beast with a large stage, professional lighting and costumes , a live orchestra, backstage dressings rooms, and great actors. Everything about it was excellent. So it is not surprising costs have risen. The production used to be so modest they would break it down after two weeks and take it to Tampa. Maybe something with smaller production costs could sustain it.
Michele Kosmitis
June 1, 2024at2:39 pm
Oh no that would be horrible! The arts need more money…there’s no doubt about it. Maybe an art tax for the condo developers because with each condo I feel our community feeling being stripped away. The Municipal Marina is the backyard of Shakespeare in the Park. Before the historic gas plant area gets all the money how about fixing what the city already owns instead of privatizing it to corporate america. What’s next to go…the Jingle Bell Run?
Karen Raihill
May 31, 2024at6:36 pm
I wish local, state, and federal funding for the arts could be increased. It seems to me that other countries value the arts and subsidize them to a higher degree than we do in the US. Culture and the arts should be at a much greater priority.
Elizabeth Morse
May 31, 2024at4:45 pm
These outdoor productions are my favorite part of American Stage. I still call it Shakespeare in the Park, that’s how long we have been attending. I will do my part to support the July funding campaign.