Posted 11/06/2001
The Bronx is Up and the Battery's Down
"Wonderful Town" exposes some interesting contrasts
By Chad Fasca
In the opening moments of "Wonderful Town," the National Arts Journalism Program (NAJP) and Columbia School of the Arts conference on the future of theatre, NAJP Director Michael Janeway asked the audience if they knew the line that followed: "New York, New York, it's a helluva town." The audience responded without hesitation: "the Bronx is up and the Battery's down."
Whether intentional or not, the reference had an eerie ring to it.
With the Yankees celebrating another trip to the World Series while downtown New York remained neck deep in rubble, the exchange of lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green had an unintended, chilling quality that suggested a city of contrasts as well as unifying characteristics. The lyrics also underscored the contrasts discussed during the conference, such as the proliferation of sports pages vs the dearth of theatre coverage or the remarkable rebound of Broadway vs the ongoing struggles of non-profit theatre, or the unchanged attitude of Hollywood vs. the transformed views of New York artists.
Broadway Bounces Back
In the week after September 11, five Broadway shows closed early and ticket sales plummeted. Ticket sales for that week fell 65 percent below the same week's total in the 2000, according to Bernstein. Seven weeks later, however, ticket sales have made a remarkable turnaround, climbing back near figures for the same week last year. Bernstein cautioned that advanced sales are down, meaning winter could be quite cold for Broadway. He praised the mayor for plugging Broadway and the concessions made by unions, guilds and individual artists as keys to the recovery.
"If commercial theatre behaved all the time as it has the past three weeks, we'd have no need for this conference," Bernstein said.
Of course, those comments did not sit well with Actors' Equity Executive Director Alan Eisenberg, who was not scheduled to speak until Tuesday. During the call-for-questions period, Eisenberg countered Bernstein by asking rhetorically about why the actors and other artists had to make concessions for shows that had already made a handsome profit for their producers.
Bleak But Hopeful
Contrasting Bernstein's glowing remarks, Virginia Louloudes, executive director of the Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York (A.R.T/NY), offered a bleak but hopeful account of her constituents. Ten theatres, dubbed the Ground Zero theatres, suffered greatly. One theatre in particular, Three-Legged Dog, "lost everything but their lives," she said. The rest have encountered subscription cancellations, fewer ticket sales and lost theatre space rentals. The anthrax scares have exacerbated this problem because people were coming out to the theatre after the attack to experience the comfort of community. But anthrax has kept people home with their kids. Louloudes cited an example of one theatre receiving 40 cancellations after news broke that NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw's assistant had become infected.
She added that those theatre companies with children's programs have been further struck by the city's travel restriction on schoolchildren. Consequently all arts-in-education programs are at risk because children are not allowed to go outside of their borough for field trips, Louloudes said.
Louloudes backed up her descriptions with some solid numbers. Several weeks ago A.R.T./New York surveyed its members to gauge how much they lost. Louloudes said the direct losses to her members stood at $4.7 million. With the help of an accounting firm, A.R.T./NY has projected that the total loss to its members, both direct and indirect, would be $16 million over the next several years. For a community that often exists on budgets under $100,000, the figure is substantial. Alan Eisenberg added that work weeks for actors in non-profit theatre were down 50 percent in recent months.
Louloudes rattled off a list of needs: cash reserves, access to affordable loans, funders to stay the course, straight talk from funders now about whether or not they will be committing funds later this year, and an economic stimulus package from the city.
"What we need is the same, we just need it sooner," Louloudes said.
Point Spreads and News Pages
Why does there seem to be an overabundance of sports pages in newspapers while theatre coverage remains scant? According to Frank Deford, well-known sports commentator and writer, it's because theatre has no point spread. Basically, if you could bet on theatre--for instance, the morning line on "Macbeth" starring Kelsey Grammar closing in under two weeks is two to one--Deford believes that theatre's coverage worries would disappear. Why are high school and college sports covered, while high school drama groups are not? Barry Grove, executive producer at Manhattan Theatre Club, said this gap stems from the elimination of arts-in-education classes from school curricula. Participation in sports is integrated into the lives of nearly every grade school and high school student. Meanwhile, the arts often looks from the outside in. Young students are either introduced to the arts outside of school, or are not introduced at all.
Hypothetically Speaking:
New Media Coverage in the 21st Century
MODERATOR:
John D. Callaway
PANELISTS:
Chris Boneau, Boneau/Bryan-Brown, PR
John Darnton, New York Times culture editor
Frank Deford, author, sports commentator
Jeff Folmsbee, producer, "Egg," PBS
Elizabeth I. McCann, producer
Michel Riedel, New York Post, Theatre Talk
Gerald Shoenfeld, chairman, The Shubert Organization
Robert Viagas, editor, BroadwayOnline.com
Linda Winer, Newsday writer
Shift of Focus
September 11 has pushed New York and Los Angeles further apart artistically, according to Fisher Stevens, well-known actor, founder of Naked Angels, and creative director of GreeneStreet Films.
Stevens, who travels back and forth between New York and L.A., offered his views on the split between West and East coasts in the conference's new media panel, "Brave New World: Imagining Theater in New York in a New Arts and Entertainment Environment." While the two cities have long harbored different artistic goals, the aftermath of September 11 has added immensely to the divide. Stevens said that he expects to see a "much different product" out of the two spheres in the coming years.
The terror attack made little lasting impression on Hollywood, which has returned to the pyrotechnic and violent content it championed before the attack. Meanwhile, New York is undergoing an intense soul searching as New York artists find themselves compelled to answer September 11 with their own response.
Brave New World:
Imagining Theater in New York in a New Arts and Entertainment Environment
MODERATOR:
Evangeline Morphos
PANELISTS:
John F. Breglio, Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison
Barbara Hauptmann, executive director, Society of Stage Directors & Choreographers
Margo Jefferson, culture writer, The New York Times
Frank Pugliese, adjunct assistant professor, film division, Columbia University School of the Arts
Theresa Rebeck, playwright
Fisher Stevens, partner, creative director, GreeneStreet Films
Leslie Urdang, founder of New York Stage and Film
Jack Viertel, producer
His comments fell into a conversation within the panel's conversation about what differentiates New York art from that of other cities. Margo Jefferson, cultural critic for the New York Times, said that risk taking, grit and diversity were hallmarks of New York art. The panel agreed that there was a New York perspective that could be applied to other places, but was especially rooted in the five boroughs of New York. September 11 only has added multiple layers to this New York state of mind.
"At the end of the day it is all about telling New York stories," said playwright Frank Pugliese.
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