Since theatres started reopening their doors following the pandemic-induced closures, Theatre Facts noted that expenses have risen substantially and continued to increase. Though total earned income for Trend Theatres increased 94 percent from 2022 to 2023, that earned income still remained lower than in 2019, resulting in earned income covering less of a theatre’s total expenses in 2023 than it did in 2019.
“Everything is so much more expensive now,” said Chester Theatre’s Baker, echoing thoughts from theatres across the country that are seeing a national rise in prices for basic set construction materials.
Lumber, housing costs, and aging capital have caused issues for the intimate Massachusetts theatre. Similarly, Island City has struggled to keep up with skyrocketing production costs, with set budgets ballooning from $5,000 per play to roughly $25,000 per play, Rogow said, and the costs for musicals often stretching above $100,000 per production. He attributed this jump primarily to the cost of lumber in the years following the Covid lockdowns, which spiked due to supply and labor constraints, coupled with increased demand for home improvements.
The rapid price hike was quickly passed on to consumers, sparking lumber shortages and supply chain issues felt by production crews nationwide. So, though Arvada Center has seen a 10 percent increase in revenue since 2019, Sneed said, they’ve also seen a 25 percent increase in costs, a noticeable portion of which can be attributed to inflation.
While theatres have demonstrated resilience through increased earned and contributed income compared to the immediate aftermath of the pandemic, the Theatre Facts report states, these financial improvements haven’t been able to outpace rising costs.
“As the cost of things goes up, the conventional wisdom says, how long can we keep doing this?” Baker said. “The whole operation shifted because everything had to be done differently.”
The largest portion of increased expenses for many theatres, though, is not supplies but personnel. According to Theatre Facts, Profiled Theatres saw total payroll expenses comprise about 45 to 53 percent of total expenses across all theatre budget sizes. Multiple theatres stated that management reevaluated salaries during this period and significantly adjusted pay rates upward for many craftspeople and artists.
“That’s hard in an industry that is built on everyone making sacrifices,” said Corporandy of Detroit Public Theatre.
In the early years of her career, Corporandy, like many theatre professionals, held to an unwavering “the show must go on” mentality. For her, this meant working long hours for minimal pay with limited opportunities for a well-balanced personal life. The pandemic closures of 2020 instigated an overdue industry-wide discussion about work-life balance and increased pay.
“We want to support staff with salaries at a living wage level,” said Seiden of Washington, D.C.’s Mosaic Theater. Added Corporandy, “It’s not perfect, but it is always a priority.”
Indeed, while the pressure around compensation is coming not only from a tight labor market but a new wave of union organizing, it is also a priority of many managers. Corporandy and her peers insist that theatre artists and administrators be compensated fairly and fully for their work.
“As we become the most professional theatre we can be,” Rogow said, “we have to pay for that quality.”
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