Facing Strong Headwinds, LA's Regional Theaters Seek Help From Washington

American regional theaters were hit hard during the pandemic. Audiences have yet to return to pre-COVID levels and the cost of production has risen sharply, resulting in budget shortfalls at theaters across the country.

Los Angeles’s rich and storied theater scene is not immune to the crisis. This past summer, Center Theatre Group announced that it would be laying off approximately 10% of its staff and pressing pause on programming for its most theatrically adventurous space, the Mark Taper Forum.

Snehal Desai, artistic director of Center Theatre Group, and Danny Feldman, producing artistic director of the Pasadena Playhouse, joined LAist’s daily news program, AirTalk with Larry Mantle, to discuss the issues their theaters are facing and how they’re tackling the crisis.

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A united front for Washington

More than 100 regional theaters from all 50 states have banded together to form the Professional Non-Profit Theater Coalition (PNTC). Desai and Feldman went to Washington last month with other theater-makers from across the country to lobby for federal support alongside famous faces Lin-Manuel Miranda and Phylicia Rashad.

“We were able to talk about the impact of the arts, not only just in terms of the cultural life of this country and our communities, but also the economic impact when our theaters are closed, how it impacts businesses that are in the area in terms of restaurants, bars and dry cleaners,” Desai said.

The PNTC is pushing for the passage of the Supporting Theater and Generating Economic Activity Act (STAGE Act) that would grant theaters $500 million annually over five years.

“We're realizing it's going to take us another three to five years to come back," Desai said. "So what we're asking for is support at scale to support us.”

Reception on Capitol Hill was warm, Desai said. “It's a bipartisan issue because theaters are in every community in our country.”

Beyond 8 shows a week

“We aren't just entertainment venues,” Feldman said. “We see ourselves as service organizations to our communities.”

Regional theaters serve as incubators for up-and-coming artists, as well as arts education centers for young people, with student matinees and educational outreach a vital part of many theaters' missions.

As Feldman sees it, in addition to a good night out, theaters start conversations. “That is what we do best, is bringing people together to open their minds in a certain way and to have a dialogue,” he added.

Plus, regional theaters offer “visibility to communities whose stories we haven't heard from,” Desai said. “Representation is so important.”

Looking ahead

“We're at a turning point now where we have to determine our future and where we're going. It is not sustainable in the way it used to be. We need to find new models moving forward,” Feldman said.

According to Desai, theaters also have to figure out to better connect with young people. “I don't know that the next generation has always felt welcome in our spaces and in our theaters…What are we gonna do to change that?”

“Ultimately,” Feldman added, “people have been saying theater's dying for thousands of years, so I'm not particularly worried about it. We're the cockroaches of the entertainment industry. We'll be around for a long time.”

Listen to the conversation