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Foothills Theater is in danger of going dark. After 34 years when the curtain comes down on the final bows of the cast of The Rainmaker it could well be the end. Live Theater is a wonderful thing. It can inspire. It can excite and it can move us to tears. If Foothills is unable to find an "Angel" to help with the two hundred thousand dollar hole it finds itself in I'm sure many tears will be shed. I am struck though by the responses I have heard since I first heard the news on Thursday evening that an emergency fund drive was going to be neccdesary to complete the season. Foothills still hopes to put on The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Doubt and You're a Good Man Charlie Brown. I got the call at home from the Marketing Manager for Foothills and really couldn't believe it. Foothills has been on the brink for a number of seasons now. Yet they always found a way and have always pulled off the impossible. That may be working against them in this hour of great need. I've run into people who just don't believe it. Who think that another miracle is around the corner and of course Foothills will be there because after 34 years we've come to expect it to always be there.
Others take a look at the gross for the last couple of seasons and seem to have come to the conclusion that Foothills is living outside its means. I don't believe that but I think this points to a larger problem. Foothills is a professional theater in the second largest city in New England. Central Massachusetts should be able to support a professional theater and has for 34 years but this weekend I've had people express suprise to me that Foothills is an Equity House. That the people who work there behind the scenes and the actors on the stage are professionals and make their living from their craft. Their seems to be some sort of thought that Foothills is just like going to see local actors in Community Theater. Their is a difference. People take a look at the gross and seem to have come to the conclusion that Foothills is living outside its means. I don't think so. Where else can you have an intimate theater experience and view professional actors many of whom have appeared on Broadway and in wonderful theater companies around the world. An we have this gem right here in Worcester. The problem seems to be that they are upside down. That somewhere along the way the 60-40 split that most non-profit, professional Theater companies have in communities the size of Worcester, 60% coming from corporate sponsorship, 40% coming from ticket sales has been turned around. Foothills exists on an almost 80-20 split some seasons with 80% coming from the ticket buying public and only 20% coming from corporate sponsorship. As we are seeing today that ratio is unsustainable. Some will point to The Hanover as a reason for the demise, some the economy, some will say parking or the fact that City Square has not become a reality. All those played their part but I don't think any of them caused it. For some reason, although the recent seasons have been very strong, people stopped going. Attendence has been down this year. I hope that Foothills finds its "Angel" and the season continues. Whorehouse is sure to be a hit. The question is going forward. How will the Theater be marketed in the future?Worcester, as with all communities, is facing an economic crisis most of us have never seen. The City is decidng what it wants to be. What core services it can offer. We have a say in that decision as well. It's not that long ago that we were talking about Worcester, an 18 hour a day City, a City on the move. Patrons have proved over thirty four years that they will support professional theater. It would be a great loss to all that Worcester wants to be to lose Foothills.
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Hank's Blog 