Live Theater's Financial Struggles
Live theater is one of the most enduring art forms. In older times, traveling troops performed at different locations, providing one of the more consistent forms of entertainment through much of history. Eventually, cities and larger towns began building buildings that were devoted to players, and theater became a common form of entertainment. However, as movies became popular, the theater began to lose its common appeal. This decline has continued as electronic entertainment has grown more popular. However, in addition to facing competition from other forms of entertainment, the theater is very vulnerable to changes in the economy. As a result, many live theaters seem to perpetually struggle with their finances. This has even led to speculation that, outside of the Broadway context, live theater is destined to fail. While that hopefully is not true, it is certain that live theaters are struggling.
In September 2010, in Bristol, Tennessee, the Theatre Bristol was an example of one such struggling theater. Many local theaters rely not only...
However, all organizations that relay upon charitable donations struggle in an economic recession and theaters are not immune from this effect. "You can only go so long without support, and the bills become due,' said Gwendolyn Arnold, president of Theatre Bristol's Board of Directors. 'If something doesn't happen or change by the end of this month, I don't see Theatre Bristol remaining in operation. We're running out of time'" (Brown). In fact, Emily Anne Thompson, the theater's executive director, believed that in September 2010 the theater was facing immediate closure (Brown).
In order to understand why a down economy impacts small local theaters so significantly, one has to understand the operating realities of a small theater. For example, many small theaters put on children's programs during the week, and they depend on field trips from local school districts to fill the seats in those shows. However, as school districts are hit by financial difficulties, one of the first things to be cut from the budget…
