THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
(re-posted here without permission)
FULLERTON - Facing a $400,000 budget shortfall, Fullerton Civic Light Opera will close in January unless it comes up with the cash. The closure would end the company's 40th season early and stiff thousands of season ticket holders.
"We had a record downturn in season (ticket) renewals," said Griff Duncan, FCLO's cofounder and producer. "That was not anticipated."
Adding to the company's financial difficulties was a sharp drop in rentals for its collection of costumes and sets.
"We lost $150,000 in expected rentals to schools. That had been helping to subsidize our own shows," Duncan said. "The cutback in all the public school budgets landed in the last four months, and that really hurt us."
Founded in December 1971, Fullerton Civic Light Opera presents mainstream musicals such as "Oliver!" and "Evita" using a mixture of professionals and amateurs. It is part of the dwindling civic light opera circuit, a semi-professional level of musical theater that was once popular nationwide.
Duncan is pessimistic that his company will find a quick way out of its difficulties.
"We're trying to get the funding from several sources. We've asked the city (of Fullerton) and a number of private sources to help. But I don't expect to get the money in time to save our next show."
Santa Ana's 3D Theatricals, which mounted a season at the OC Pavilion in 2009-10 but lost its venue when the building was purchased by the Orange County High School of the Arts, has expressed an interest in co-producing, but Duncan said the talks were very preliminary and that nothing was decided. "We'd cooperate with them, but we don't have any cash to give them."
T.J. Dawson of 3D Theatricals said plans to collaborate were much farther along than that.
"We are in talks about a multitude of different options. We could merge our company with theirs and more or less take over. We could just produce 'The Drowsy Chaperone.' We want to help them and serve the ticket holders."
Various collaborative options will de discussed and possibly decided upon at FCLO's Dec. 9 board meeting, Dawson said.
The Fullerton theater company's possible demise continues a downward trend for arts institutions in Orange County over the last few years.
In November the Curtain Call Dinner Theater closed after 30 years in Old Town Tustin. Opera Pacific went dark in November 2008 near the beginning of its 23rd season. And Ballet Pacifica, a local institution since 1962, was shuttered in the spring of 2007.
FCLO's production of "The Drowsy Chaperone" is scheduled to open Feb. 11. If funding isn't in place by early January, Duncan said he will be forced to pull the plug on the remainder of the company's 2010-11 season.
"We will have to suspend operations and start some fundraisers in order to continue."
His company isn't carrying a debt, "but we have a debt to our ticket holders," Duncan said. Their dwindling numbers are part of the problem – down from 9,000 season subscriptions to 4,500 in a couple of seasons, according to Duncan.
Plummer Auditorium, where FCLO stages its musicals, is owned by the Fullerton Joint Union High School District. Duncan has talked to district officials about waiving the $40,000-per-show venue rental fee for "The Drowsy Chaperone." "But that's just $40,000. I need $400,000 to produce the show."
The company requires an annual budget of $1.6 million to mount four musicals. About 95 percent of its revenue comes through ticket sales.
Duncan sent a letter on Nov. 26 to season ticket holders, appealing for help. He asked them to donate cash or consider the money already spent for tickets as a tax-deductible contribution. Duncan has also promised to refund money to those who request it – if or when the company can afford it.
In the meantime, Duncan has been talking to other performing arts organizations about honoring FCLO's tickets, allowing ticket-holders to see their productions instead.
"My wife and I are the cofounders of this company," Duncan said. "I wish there was a white knight on the horizon. But these are tough times for the arts. Everybody's suffering."
Contact the writer: 714-796-7979 or phodgins@ocregister.com
"We had a record downturn in season (ticket) renewals," said Griff Duncan, FCLO's cofounder and producer. "That was not anticipated."
Adding to the company's financial difficulties was a sharp drop in rentals for its collection of costumes and sets.
"We lost $150,000 in expected rentals to schools. That had been helping to subsidize our own shows," Duncan said. "The cutback in all the public school budgets landed in the last four months, and that really hurt us."
Founded in December 1971, Fullerton Civic Light Opera presents mainstream musicals such as "Oliver!" and "Evita" using a mixture of professionals and amateurs. It is part of the dwindling civic light opera circuit, a semi-professional level of musical theater that was once popular nationwide.
Duncan is pessimistic that his company will find a quick way out of its difficulties.
"We're trying to get the funding from several sources. We've asked the city (of Fullerton) and a number of private sources to help. But I don't expect to get the money in time to save our next show."
Santa Ana's 3D Theatricals, which mounted a season at the OC Pavilion in 2009-10 but lost its venue when the building was purchased by the Orange County High School of the Arts, has expressed an interest in co-producing, but Duncan said the talks were very preliminary and that nothing was decided. "We'd cooperate with them, but we don't have any cash to give them."
T.J. Dawson of 3D Theatricals said plans to collaborate were much farther along than that.
"We are in talks about a multitude of different options. We could merge our company with theirs and more or less take over. We could just produce 'The Drowsy Chaperone.' We want to help them and serve the ticket holders."
Various collaborative options will de discussed and possibly decided upon at FCLO's Dec. 9 board meeting, Dawson said.
The Fullerton theater company's possible demise continues a downward trend for arts institutions in Orange County over the last few years.
In November the Curtain Call Dinner Theater closed after 30 years in Old Town Tustin. Opera Pacific went dark in November 2008 near the beginning of its 23rd season. And Ballet Pacifica, a local institution since 1962, was shuttered in the spring of 2007.
FCLO's production of "The Drowsy Chaperone" is scheduled to open Feb. 11. If funding isn't in place by early January, Duncan said he will be forced to pull the plug on the remainder of the company's 2010-11 season.
"We will have to suspend operations and start some fundraisers in order to continue."
His company isn't carrying a debt, "but we have a debt to our ticket holders," Duncan said. Their dwindling numbers are part of the problem – down from 9,000 season subscriptions to 4,500 in a couple of seasons, according to Duncan.
Plummer Auditorium, where FCLO stages its musicals, is owned by the Fullerton Joint Union High School District. Duncan has talked to district officials about waiving the $40,000-per-show venue rental fee for "The Drowsy Chaperone." "But that's just $40,000. I need $400,000 to produce the show."
The company requires an annual budget of $1.6 million to mount four musicals. About 95 percent of its revenue comes through ticket sales.
Duncan sent a letter on Nov. 26 to season ticket holders, appealing for help. He asked them to donate cash or consider the money already spent for tickets as a tax-deductible contribution. Duncan has also promised to refund money to those who request it – if or when the company can afford it.
In the meantime, Duncan has been talking to other performing arts organizations about honoring FCLO's tickets, allowing ticket-holders to see their productions instead.
"My wife and I are the cofounders of this company," Duncan said. "I wish there was a white knight on the horizon. But these are tough times for the arts. Everybody's suffering."
Contact the writer: 714-796-7979 or phodgins@ocregister.com
The FCLO was managed poorly.
ReplyDelete"We had a record downturn in season (ticket) renewals," said Griff Duncan, FCLO's cofounder and producer. "That was not anticipated."
You would have to be living in fantasy land to not see this one coming for at least a few years!