Playhouse plight: Capitol Theatre ticket sales in serious decline

YAKIMA, Wash. -- People just aren't buying tickets; it's not much more complicated than that.

The Capitol Theatre, a year and a half removed from the triumph of opening its new 4th Street Theatre, has found itself in serious financial trouble.

The nonprofit organization has postponed two shows, eliminated four jobs and cut its workweek to four days. With a few notable exceptions, ticket sales have lagged since 2009. Since then, the organization has eaten through $537,000 in reserves to cover operating shortfalls. And things have only gotten worse in the current season.

The Capitol sold just more than 1,000 season tickets for its 2010-11 Edge Series -- shows that push boundaries as opposed to the more mainline productions -- but fewer than 250 for its 2011-12 Edge Series

"(That was) for what we thought was a better program, a better lineup and a cheaper price," Capitol Executive Director Steve Caffery said. "And that is indicative of our ticket sales this year."

Sales for the organization's flagship Best of Broadway Series are off by about 30 percent from the previous year. Single-ticket revenue for "Shrek the Musical" last September was about $35,000 below the organization's projections. Sales for November's "Spamalot" and December's "Young Frankenstein" also lagged, leaving a projected cash loss of $125,000 for fiscal year 2012, Caffery said. Some of that likely has to do with programming -- the hit Broadway adaptations of comedy films, it seems, don't draw as well as the classics -- and part of it has to do with the economy.

"It's not just the Capitol Theatre; it's the arts," said Brian Roberts, one of the Capitol board's three vice presidents.

Indeed, volumes have been written about nonprofit arts organizations struggling in the down economy the past few years. Local organizations, such as Allied Arts of Yakima and the Larson Gallery, have made no secret of their recent budget struggles. And Seattle's famed Intiman Theater shut down midway through its season last year and this week announced a scaled-back upcoming season after just reaching its $1 million fundraising goal.

The lack of ticket sales is not a Yakima thing, Caffery said, but is a matter of people finding cheaper entertainment options. Ticket prices for "Shrek" started at $15 and went as high $65. Edge Series shows at the 4th Street Theatre vary in price, with tickets for April's "Barrage" available for $39 and $49.

"A year ago, you might have said, 'Let's go check out "Young Frankenstein,'" he said. "Now you might say, 'Hey, let's rent a movie.'"

In response to those economic realities, the Capitol organization cut its operations to the bone, laying off its stage manager, its director of development, its director of education and a receptionist. No one on staff has gotten a raise since 2007, Caffery said.

The Capitol has also taken on a $300,000 credit line to help cover its cash shortflow and has leaned on the city, which owns the actual theater, to increase the management fee it pays the theater organization so that it's closer to actual costs. The Capitol Theatre organization -- formally the Capitol Theatre Committee -- has managed the theater since 1978. The theater itself has been around since 1920; the organization took over after it burned and was rebuilt.

Now, 34 years later, it needs to adjust to stay viable. From a programming standpoint, the focus needs to shift to better-selling shows, Caffery said. The hipper, younger-skewing shows he was so proud to book when the 4th Street Theatre opened in late 2010 have not sold as expected. Two of this season's shows set for that new venue -- "The Complete History of Sports: Abridged" and "See Me Naked" -- have been postponed to next year for lack of ticket sales. They were not canceled, because the contracts had been paid already.

"That (under-45) demographic does not buy tickets," Caffery said.

So future seasons may be a little bit less risky and a little bit more "Fiddler on the Roof," he said. Old war-horse shows such as "Grease," which sold out in December 2010, will be more commonplace than shows like "Shrek." That is disappointing, Capitol board President Karen Hyatt said, but it is reality, and it is necessity.

"We have a mission to bring a variety of programming to the Yakima Valley," she said. "And definitely, when you can't do that, something is lost. ... We want to continue to do the things that are more edgy and also do the things the community wants. We need to make sure we can do that."

Doing that means more than weathering this economic downturn, though, Hyatt said. It means changes to the organization's business model. Ticket sales, city management fees and facility rentals account for 83 percent of the Capitol's revenue, leaving it vulnerable in a weak economy. If more of that burden could be shifted to donations and grant funding, the organization's finances would be less volatile. So that's a focus over the next 18 months, she said. The Capitol is also planning to institute a $1-per-ticket user fee on all shows, including facility rentals, that Caffery said is expected to raise $25,000 to $35,000 annually.

"What we are doing is for the next 18 months, until June 2013, we are stabilizing operations," he said. "We will balance the budget, and we will go to essentially any lengths to do that."

* Pat Muir can be reached at 509-577-7693 or pmuir@yakimaherald.com.