Village Squire, 1977-12, Page 41technical director Brian Mizzen had gone
without salaries.
As a result, six actors and five musicians
were put out of work (and actors don't get
unemployment insurance).
Livingstone still hopes to mount the
show, if money can be raised locally. But if
he does, it means the battle will begin all
over again after this show because there
will be no money for the next production.
While the financial battle is often not so
hard as in this case, funding is a constant
problem for theatres since the heavy
payroll required not only during the actual
performance of shows but for rehearsal
periods prior to the opening, make it
impossible to recoup the investment on the
limited run Canadian theatres get. London
Free Press drama critic Doug Bale
lamented the problems of Centre Stage and
all theatres who have to fight "the
persistent misconception that the arts are a
superfluous frill."
The financial plight of Centre Stage is
even more precarious than most other area
theatres. The tiny theatre has only about
100 seats and even if every seat was filled
would bring in about $300 a night. One
hundred per cent capacity for a 10
performance run would mean only $3000.
But even with a starvation budget.
Livingstone said it would take 55000 to
mount the first show, and that's with no
pay for two principals. And then of course,
even in the most successful theatre, all the
seats are seldom filled every night. There
may be 200 people wanting the 100 seats
on the weekend, but only 25 on a
weeknight.
Friends of live theatre in London know
their task. They have to come up with the
money to keep the theatre going until
government agencies can be persuaded the
theatre is worth helping. In a city the size
of London, especially with Theatre London
reduced in activity this year, it would seem
plenty of need for a second professional
stage.
***
While Centre Stage is struggling to
survive, other western Ontario theatres
have had a happier experience this year.
• — Fhe Stratford Festival reported its largest
ever surplus resulting from the successful
1977 season. The Festival is $471,249 in
the black it was reported at its annual
meeting in Stratford.
In Blyth, the annual report of the Blyth
Centre for the Arts, sponsoring body for
the Blyth Summer Festival as well as
assorted cultural events during a winter
program, showed a deficit of $4700 at the
year's end, Oct. 31. However, several
grants approved but not yet received will
mean a balanced budget for the operation
which had entered the year with a deficit of
$3000. In three seasons the budget for the
organization had increased from $10,000 to
more than 5110,000.
The story is not so happy, however,
down in Petrolia where Victoria Playhouse
has discharged its artistic director ' Bob
Isset after reporting a deficit of around
$60,000 from the operations of the
Playhouse in the past year including a
disappointing summer season. Insiders
say, however, the deficit is even worse that
what has been reported.
The successful winter season of Theatre
Go Round, a children's touring theatre
based at the Playhouse. continues as do
plans at last word for improvements to the
building.
ofi,
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Open daily
'Tit 9 p.m.
Sundays 12 to
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MERCHANDISE IN DEC.
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VILLAGE SQUIRE/DECEMBER 1977, 39.