When Madison’s Repertory Theatre succumbed to financial difficulties and closed last March, the future of professional theater in the area appeared particularly bleak. Lights had already gone dark on two other theater companies, Milwaukee’s eight-year old Milwaukee Shakespeare Company and Beloit’s New Court Theatre, and the withering economy was beginning to take with it the creative dreams of performers and audiences alike.
Luckily for area theater-goers, the local artistic community was not quite ready to surrender. Jennifer Uphoff Gray, 38, a Fitchburg native who returned to the area in 2005 after 12 years working in New York City theater production, was one of many professionals refusing to give in. Like many area performers, she had done some work with the Madison Rep and had personal and professional interests in keeping professional theater alive.
Shortly after the demise of the Rep, Gray and a group of concerned artists met to consider their options: try to resurrect the art, or leave town. At the end of the day, the Forward Theater Company (FTC) was born. In concept, the idea was exciting, but having just witnessed the popular, 40-year-old Rep fail, could a new theater company survive in its wake? Gray, FTC’s Artistic Director, and the rest of the group identified pitfalls that often plague theater companies: an imbalance in structure between the art itself and financial realities.
To avoid the same mistakes, FTC took a three-legged stool approach: Company administration (Gray and a managing director) manage day-to-day operations. A board of directors maintains fiscal oversight, and a separate advisory board comprised of professional theater artists is responsible for artistic growth, and oversees the other two “legs.” By design, the advisory group can overrule a performance choice if it deems it would not serve the local community well.
In November, FTC sold out its inaugural one-night performance of “All About Eve” at Overture’s 327-seat Playhouse Theater. With tickets priced at $20 and $30, the Company made a small profit, though Gray said its primary purpose was to introduce the group to the local community.
Rehearsals for the company’s current show, Christopher Durang’s critically acclaimed comedy hit, “Why Torture is Wrong, And the People Who Love Them,” began in mid-December in a donated warehouse on Madison’s east side. Its three-week run opened January 2, and marks the first time the new play is being performed outside of New York City, which, Gray said, is quite a coup.
All this comes at a cost, of course. “Every time it’s produced, we pay a percentage of the box office gross,” Gray explained. “We have to commit to paying, for example, eight percent upfront to the playwrite. For us, it was $750 a week times three weeks ($2,250). Each week, we get a report from Overture, and we send a check for the difference between 8% and the $750.” While organizational and administrative work is being done pro-bono this year, everyone involved is paid a set amount for their work on the performances, and some agreed to work for less. The union rate for actors is $318 a week, plus benefits.
As a 501(c)3 nonprofit, FTC cannot survive on ticket sales alone. For that reason, a conservative $100,000 budget was created emphasizing only the things they can pay for. The company is committed to hiring local actors, for example, which saves on housing costs that “can cripple a company,” according to Gray. “The Rep had gotten away from that somewhat, but we know there are some spectacular actors here.”
FTC’s 17 performances is plenty for its first year, considering the group has to raise its $100,000 budget from scratch. “We pay everything up front,” Gray said. “Actors, designers’ fees, the costs of physical production (wood, fabric, lighting gels, etc.), 50% of the Overture rental costs, advertising, brochures, mailings. It’s all paid before we receive any income, which occurs after an entire production has closed.” So when she’s not in rehearsals, Gray is busily applying for grants, building corporate partnerships, and soliciting donations. “We’ve been humbled by the support and generosity of local donors,” she said. “It’s a labor of love.”
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