The Business of Theater

There's no business like show business.

While that old song was meant to illustrate the joys of theater from an actor's point of view, the refrain holds equally true for those who labor behind the scenes, in the business part of show business. What the audience sees on stage may look like fun and games. But the truth is, without a solid business background, no theater can exist for long.

"Every theater has to find a way to integrate the fact that we are a business with the fact that we're not like any other business," says Steven Leon, managing director for the Pirate Playhouse on Sanibel.

Adds Joyce Heptner, executive director of The Naples Players, "People tend to view theater as playtime, but it's very much a business. And it is unique."

That uniqueness stems from the very nature of theater. Like retail, the "business" involves selling a product. But unlike any store product, theater is a continually changing, less-than-tangible thing, born of the talents of numerous creative -- and sometimes idiosyncratic -- individuals. And, like the shape-shifting product itself, the equation for success here in Southwest Florida can be figured any number of ways.

From Grassroots to Limelights

On the surface, The Naples Players may seem the simplest formula for a theater. Formed in 1952, the Players is a community theater primarily driven by a group of energetic and dedicated volunteers.

The group formalized its structure in 1956, incorporating as a not-for-profit organization governed by a volunteer board. The not-for-profit status grants tax benefits and also clarifies the mission of the group.

"In a profit organization, the reason for being is to make money from the activities of the business," says Heptner. "A non-profit's purpose is to provide for a community need. This is not any one person's business. It's a service to the community and to our members."

The primary service the Players provides is the presentation of eight shows a year, all produced and presented by volunteers, augmented by three paid staff (the executive director, a box office manager and a part-time box office assistant).

That simple structure has served the Players well but now is undergoing great change. The Players is currently fulfilling a long-time dream -- the building of its own theater, a $5.3 million structure rising from what used to be a block of 7th Street, off 5th Avenue South in Naples.

The realization of this dream has meant significant changes in the nature of the organization, as well as in how it does business. At the location the group has used for the past 10 years, the 176 seats were typically 80 percent subscription-sold, and little print advertising was needed to sell most of the remaining seats.

Come next October/November, however, the picture will be vastly different. The new theater will employ a paid staff of nine, seat 324 and, unless the Players raise an additional $800,000 or so before then, entail a hefty mortgage payment.

"The biggest challenge will be in adjusting to the change," says Heptner. "We're going from a $250,000-a-year operation to a $500,000-a-year business. We are also going to be out of business this summer. That's something that hasn't happened since 1985, and we want to make sure we don't lose our presence in the community."

To that end, and to help sell more tickets, the Players has hired a marketing firm and allocated a much larger chunk of the annual budget for advertising. But there will be other challenges besides filling more seats. For the first time, the group's productions will be under the watchful eyes of paid artistic and technical directors.

"It's been said that it takes 21 days to get used to anything new," says Heptner. "I just hope ours happens that quickly."

An Equity House -- and Changing Times

Like the Players, the Pirate Playhouse is at a point of evolution. There are similarities here but also significant differences. The Pirate, too, is a not-for-profit organization governed by a volunteer board. But where the Players' membership is comprised of those who work to put on the shows, the Pirate's membership consists of financial supporters.

The shows themselves are performed primarily by equity actors, all of whom are paid union scale and, when necessary, provided with housing and transportation. Those expenses coupled with a full time paid staff of seven pushes the Pirate's annual budget into the neighborhood of $830,000 a year.

"For the past 10 years, we've been able to bring things in within one percent of budget, and I'm proud of that," says Leon. "But it's because of careful planning. I know from week to week what my costs are."

The current upheaval at the Pirate was prompted by Leon's announcement last fall that he would leave when his contract expired in May 1998 (for personal reasons unrelated to the theater). As a result, the board took a look at the structure of the theater and decided that a producing artistic director could perform the duties of both the artistic and managing directors.

The decision led to a much-publicized schism on the board, as some members jumped to the defense of the in-place artistic director who would be let go in the re-organization. Leon reports that the situation has resolved itself, and he believes the change will be good in the long run.

"In spite of the troubles -- and maybe because of them -- we're going to emerge with a new strength and a new commitment to our mission," he says. "And we'll have streamlined our management and administration, which is good because you don't want the tail to wag the dog. Administration is here to enable the artists, not the other way around."

In line with that philosophy, the new producing artistic director will have full control over the shows that are selected for presentation. "He or she will consult with the board, obviously," Leon says. "But we're the arts professionals. The board is there to set the mission and policies."

Part of that mission includes seeking out and presenting works that might not otherwise be done, a focus Leon believes will help the Pirate to elevate the level of artistry in its productions.

"In the last few years," he says, "we began to do classics. And we discovered, to our joy, that there is an audience for them. We want that to be more of a main focus."

That resurrection of classics will likely fly with the theater's approximately 1,800 subscribers. The trick will be to convince the single-ticket buyers, who comprise approximately 78 percent of the audience and many of whom are tourists, that the classics can be satisfying entertainment.

A Hybrid of Profit, Non-Profit and Original Works

Just down the street from the Pirate, a crisis of place last year almost wiped out the Old Schoolhouse Theater, home of J.T. Smith's Encore Productions. Faced with the prospect of the ancient building's bein