Happy New Year!
There were a few interesting developments as we said goodbye to 2015 that should make for interesting discussion topics in classes in the spring semester.
The financial problems encountered by the Carolina Theatre can be connected to topics covered in Chapter 9, Controls, Operations, and Budgeting and Chapter 10, Economics and Financial Management. Organizations usually do not find themselves surprised by a debt of a million dollars. The kinds of financial controls that could have prevented this from happening will likely now be implemented.
Two recent articles about the Irvine Barclay Theatre in Orange County California highlight topics related to Chapter 7, Human Resources and the Arts, Chapter 8, Leadership in the Arts, and Chapter 12, Fundraising and Development. It appears that conflict within the board of the Barclay resulted in a prominent donor taking the dramatic action of publicly requesting their family name be removed from a performance hall in the complex. I imagine the development staff at the theatre were relieved to have the controversy favorably resolved.
Lastly, we have a reminder about the importance of securing the rights for copyrighted material, including set designs. The upshot of the gaffe is the theatre will be implementing some new policies. I guess this action falls under the policy-making process of ready, fire, aim. The board members lacking knowledge about copyright issues points to risks associated with volunteers mentioned in Chapter 7, Human Resources and the Arts.
Group that runs Durham’s Carolina Theatre more than $1M in debt
By Virginia Bridges and Mark Schultz, Durham News & Observer, Dec 21. 2015.
City officials are working with the group that manages the Carolina Theatre to better understand how the historic entertainment venue has amassed nearly $1.1 million in debt.
“What they have sent, it’s not all that clear, quite frankly, and we just need our finance people to meet with their finance people to go through the numbers,” City Manager Tom Bonfield said.
On Monday, the nonprofit’s leaders announced they had run up an additional $800,000 in debt since July 2013, when they and the rest of the board thought the city-owned theater was making a profit. The city pays Carolina Theatre of Durham Inc. $654,000 a year to run the complex on Morgan Street
Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/community/durham-news/article50902770.html#storylink=cpy
Drama reaches new high over how to run Irvine Barclay Theatre
By David Ng, LA Times, Dec. 10, 2015
For the Irvine Barclay Theatre, 2015 was supposed to have been a year of celebration — a 25th anniversary season spotlighting the company’s reputation as one of Orange County’s premier presenters of dance, music and theater.
Instead, at least four prominent donors have said they are withdrawing financial support following a clash between board chairman Robert Farnsworth and former president Douglas Rankin, who left the company in August. The family of the late Dr. George and Arlene Cheng, who donated $750,000 to the Barclay the year it opened, have taken the unusual step of demanding that its name be taken down from the Barclay’s 756-seat Cheng Hall.
In a letter to Farnsworth, city leaders and officials at UC Irvine, where the theater is located, Jennifer Cheng said her family and her late parents’ foundation are “compelled to cut all ties” with the Barclay, including the removal of the Cheng name from the building, brochures, programming and other material. The letter praises the work of Rankin in the last five years, criticizes the “unwelcome” naming of Jerry Mandel as Rankin’s interim replacement and accuses the Barclay of leaving artistic programming to “a committee of individuals who have no or very little programming experience of ability.”
Read more here: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-cm-irvine-barclay-20151212-story.html
Irvine Barclay Theatre chairman steps down following internal dissent
By David Ng, LA Times, Dec 17, 2015
The embattled chairman of the Irvine Barclay Theatre in Orange County announced a leadership change Wednesday during a board meeting in which some longtime supporters criticized his management.
Robert Farnsworth will remain on the board of the Barclay, located on the UC Irvine campus, but said he will turn over the chairman position to Ken Rohl.
In an interview Thursday, Farnsworth emphasized that he was not stepping down early. His term ends Dec. 31, he said, and he called the change “a natural transition.” He also emphasized that all board members and officers had been elected unanimously.
After the Wednesday meeting, former board member Jennifer Cheng said the Cheng Family Foundation will no longer request that its name be removed from the Barclay’s 756-seat Cheng Hall. In a Dec. 5 letter, the family asked that its name be removed from the performance space and all official Barclay publications.
Read more here: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-irvine-barclay-theatre-chairman-robert farnsworth-20151216-story.html
Copyright infringement suspends New Milford theater’s production
By Susan Tuz, Friday, December 11, 2015, Danbury Newstimes
NEW MILFORD — A rookie mistake has brought down the curtain on TheatreWorks’ production of “Bell, Book & Candle.”
Artistic license appears to have been stretched when a set design was copied by Joseph Russo, director and designer for the New Milford community theater’s production of John van Druten’s supernatural comedy.
Performances of the play, which opened Dec. 4 in New Milford, were “suspended” Thursday after the board of directors received a cease-and-desist letter from the attorneys and agents of Darko Tresnjak and Alexander Dodge, who originally collaborated on the set design for a 2012 co-production of the play by Hartford Stage and Long Wharf Theater.
Glen Couture, president of Theatreworks, said Russo was not aware he was crossing into copyright infringement when he used elements of the earlier production.
Read more here: http://www.newstimes.com/news/article/Copyright-infringement-suspends-New-Milford-6691960.php