Trouble for Local Theatres?

OK, I said I was taking the day off, but then I saw this story, which is too important to wait.

When the economy struggles, it usually hits the theatre community hard. On Broadway, we've seen quite a few shows announce a closing date, including perennial hits like Spamalot, Hairspray, Spring Awakening, Legally Blonde and others.

Now the problem seems to be hitting closer to home, as we see in this story from the Herald-Dispatch:

BECKLEY, W.Va. (AP) _ A $100,000 cut in state funding may mean the final curtain for Beckley's Theatre West Virginia, a cultural staple for more than four decades.

Funds from the Division of Culture and History amount to only 10 percent of the theater's budget. Still, general manager Gayle Bowling says the theater cannot trim spending or productions of shows like Honey in the Rock, the nation's oldest Civil War drama, without harming quality.

Bowling said Tuesday the board of directors has given her two weeks to decide how to dispose of the company's assets, its offices in Mabscott and an amphitheater at Grandview Park. She expects total shutdown within a month.

"As far as we're concerned now," she said, "we're no longer open for business."

Theater officials learned of the cut last month but hoped the funds would be restored.

Beckley received more state aid than any of the four state-funded drama groups, said Gov. Joe Manchin, but everyone needs to make adjustments in a tough financial climate.

He suggested the company meet with other theaters that have survived on small budgets and look for ways to innovate.

"Are there other things they're doing that TWV is not? We're willing to help facilitate and bring people together to find the best solution," Manchin said. "It's not like the budget's cut in half. Everyone's making adjustments. It's not that they're not being treated fair."

But Bowling refuses, citing concerns about the possible accumulation of debt and a decline in quality of productions including Hatfields and McCoys, Seussical and High School Musical.

When the company faced a budget cut in the early '90s, "the reduction showed on stage," Bowling said, "and the board is adamant — and I totally agreed — that we are not going to cut the quality of what we do just to get by."

Its website says Theatre West Virginia, whose founders included former Gov. Hulett C. Smith, has entertained more than 1 million people since 1955. The theater formed the Acting Company in 1971, and it remains the state's only professional touring and historical outdoor theater company.

Hopefully they can work out the funding problem, but it's a problem many theatre groups are facing. Stay tuned!