A Bread and Circus Worth $60 Million

The Director's Notes Blog is back from a wonderful summer hiatus.

I love the fall. For me this period of the year marks an end one season but the beginning of another one. Arts organizations announce their upcoming programs, fans and AC are off in favor of more cooler nights for sleeping, and one of this nation's favorite past-times gets underway as the ol' pigskin is kicked-off from the tees of Pop Warner sandlot leagues to the overpaid, gladiators who don NFL licensed and Nike sponsored gear.

As strange as this may sound from a blogger who dedicates his time on writing about topics that surround arts organizations, I deeply love football. 

Seriously. 

Get me a good game of college ball or a rivalry between pee-wee leagues or high schools, and I am into it.

Indeed, football has a place in my heart...and schedule book.

 

Don't know why. I never experienced going to a large high school or grew up in a metropolitan area. Our "midget" football teams were part of small farming communities going by the names of Brocton Bulldogs, Ripley Eagles and the Sherman Cowtippers. These small towns fielded squads of 25 or 30 kids, with numerous players holding defensive and offensive positions, or scrupleously known to innocently go "both ways".

Rivalries did exists but nowhere on the magnitude of two large schools going at it over the past fifty years. No sir, these games were played under dimly lit fields or in daylight with hometown crowds topping out at 350 with packs of kids playing "kill" behind the bleachers. League champions took home $1.50 "gold" plated statues of facemaskless players in some unmovable Heisman contortion.

When I read about the recent opening of a $60 million dollar high school football stadium in Allen, Texas, a small suburb outside of Dallas, my jaw hit the floor.

 

Approved by a school board of 5,000 student in May 2008, this state-of-the-art stadium will host the Allen Eagles, a high school team noted for excellence with state championships displayed in the trophy case. This highly touted program generates 15,000 to 20,000 fans per game and filled the sprawling Jerry Jones' (owner of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys) Taj Mahal 100,000 seat stadium with 50,000 fans during championship games.

With a high school band numbering 800 there is no doubt this is big-business in Texas.

 

But is this necessary?

 

Although this was part of $120 million bond package that included a modernized performance arts center worth nearly the same amount, was it necessary to spend this much money on a football stadium at a time when nearly all school districts in American are making deep cuts to budgets and the laying off teachers.

Yes, to the "state-of-the-arts" performance arts center because of the long reach of influence this has on the student body and, ultimately, the community, but, a football stadium? I don't understand how that will benefit the entire Allen student body.

 

Of course it is a matter of economics and part of that Texas mentality of "big, big, bigger" pride, but one cannot help but to think about the ever ongoing arguement to whether or not sports should be a tax-funded program in the educational system.

Let's just assume that the Allen school board decides to not fund construction for a new stadium and reinvests the $60 million into developing a job-training facility? Or creates a research facility for student to devise new energy technologies? Either possibility would result in a well-trained student body prepared for the 21st century.

 

What then to do about all those rabid fans clamoring over their Eagles?

 

Much like cultural institutions, a majority of funding for a new stadium can could from the private and business sectors with members of the football team and coaching staff coming up with creative fundraising events. If these efforts fall short of the $60 million, then as is the case with cultural institutions, the stadium will have to be built with limited funds and within budget restraints.

 

Unfortunately, the Allen Eagles stadium has been built, opened the 2012-13 season and currently is 2-0 heading for another state championship. I am sure the next new $60 million dollar stadium is in planning, precidence has been set, and some school board is itching to have their monument to amateur football. 

And built it they will. 

 

Meanwhile, American children lag far behind in science and mathematics, their communicative skills are being reduced to 145 word tweets and do so as communities continue to undervalue the importance of Arts in education by approving budgets that cut programs and teachers. 

 

Oh well, right? We have our bread and circuses under the Friday Night lights, and do so in 60 million dollar comfort. 

 

Matthew LaChiusa is the Executive/Artistic Director for the American Repertory Theater of WNY and is a avid football fan. His passion for the game came from his father Louis and his uncle Steve Nichols from his Pop Warner "midget football" days as a member of the Westfield Golden Hawks.

The Lazarus Arena

In early May 2012, an announcement that WNY regional production house, Shea's Performing Arts Center, was purchasing the 710 Main Street fossil called Studio Arena. A collective "yea" was raised among the community as the lifeless shell of the once proud LORT house had new life breathed into it. 

Curtain will rise again at Studio Arena: wivb.com

This prompted a positive reaction from numerous representatives from the Buffalo Theater community as all saw some sort of benefit to be had by this resurrection. Spokesperson and board-member for every conceivable Arts agency, Randall Kramer jumped at the PR opportunity and happily announced "Its an exciting day for theater, but also for arts in Western New York." 

Scott Berhand, who's company Rod Less Travelled had the distinctive honor of being last production that closed the doors on Studio, generically exclaimed "...a big win not only for the theater district but also for the entire theater community." 

How so? 

Shea's Executive Director, Anthony Conte indicated the new theater would accommodate production companies from Cleveland, Rochester and, even, New York City. "The key on our part is to assess, evaluate, if we think XYZ show can sell in Buffalo" as Conte indicated the focus is to sell tickets and not originality.

This would mean Lazarus Arena would be importing productions and exporting revenues (minus the portion of what Shea's takes out) to communities outside of Buffalo. 

Not so the case as Conte also indicated that local theaters and college companies will be included into the production scheduling. The stipulation is that a 625 seat theater will certainly require local theaters and college companies to have XYZ shows to fill atleast 200 per night to cover costs.

Again, not sure how this will benefit Buffalo Theater. 

Perhaps those local theater representatives most overjoyed about this announcement will be the only ones with an active part in bringing in their own productions. 

And why not? If you're aiming to fill 625 seats on a nightly basis to cover the production cost alone, then safe XYZ bets are sing-along, jukebox musicals or celebrity endorsed (or casted) productions. Hell, that model worked well for Studio Arena in the past why not follow the same plan again?

Right? 

There is acting method to understand a role by looking at the "sub-text" of a script. This in-between-the-lines method assists the director and actor in gaining a sense of the character and scene, thus having insight into story's bigger picture and the characters placement within it.  

What is the "sub-text" of having Lazarus Arena back among the living theater scene? 

Lost ticket revenue. All those lost-souls Studio subscribers who sought out other companies and supported them in the absences of Lazarus Arena will now funnel their money back to this establishment (providing they're still alive). 

Lost Public and Foundation money. Having the reputation through Shea's parental affiliation, this new production house adds its tin-cup to the thinning soup-line of public and foundation money and will get a greater, warmer portion than the ones in the back of the line. 

Placed in a region of shrinking populace, the emergence of another entertainment source furthers dilutes the artistic diversity this city prides itself on. If there was a sense that Buffalo was on an economic rebound and a hard-factual indicator the population was on the rise, this rising of a dead dinosaur would seem appropriate. This is not the case. There is not enough dramatic art supporters to spend money on Lazarus Studio and then find the resources to attend lesser known companies putting on diverse and unfamiliar works. 

An argument could be made that those patrons who actively look for diverse and unorthodox theater will continue to support theater who maintain this creative mission. For these companies, the existence of the new Studio will not effect their box-offices. It just means companies are left to fight among themselves for the "scraps" of these particular patrons' support. 

Finally, when it was mentioned that theater companies would rather sell 625 seats instead of 90, there is an underlying message sent to Western New York theaters. Pack the patrons in, put on safe XYZ shows with celebrities or out-of-town talent, and don't spend your money on diverse and/or  unfamiliar works (unless these have been commercially successful elsewhere). 

With all that said, alongside the giddy automated generic responses, some sort of positives takes should be taken from this Lazarus taxon. 

The job creation from the resurrection will mean several folks will find employment as box-office people, lower-teir admin positions or production crews (providing the Local #33 is brought back). 

Having the "lights back up" on 710 adds a nice touch to Main and is crucial to the rejuvenation of downtown Buffalo. This boost could mean increased profits for local businesses resulting in an increase of job opportunities for out-of-work waiters, dishwashers, bartenders and pan-handlers. 

Hotels could see an increase in stays as out-of-town performance companies need to house their imported talent for a performance's run. 

And... I'm running out of positives.

Who knows what type of impact this will have on the community? No official studies were made public, no questionnaires were submitted to the community, no polls, no input and no plans were to be seen. 

 

Just a solo 2.1 million dollar bid for a building left dark for the last four years. Faith would have us to believe that the business plan put into place to secure that much money would be more than the vague, generic responses to this public announcement. 

Still Anthony Conte is confident with some sort of plan in place to bring Lazarus Arena to the forefront of Buffalo theater, but echoes the gamble of such a venture, "We still will be taking a certain amount of risk." 

No doubt. 

A 2.1 million dollar risk in which the rewards are uncertain? Anyone for a trip to the Seneca waterfront casino. 

C'mon Lazarus, roll a lucky 7.