Theater Companies Plan to Learn from Theater of the Stars Closing

Several local theater companies say the closing will leave a void in the Atlanta Arts community. That includes those in charge of the Atlanta Lyric Theatre. As a result of the shutdown, it will be the area’s only remaining professional musical theater company. Brandt Blocker is managing artistic director for the Atlanta Lyric.

“Some folks might think oh wow well the closing of Theater of the Stars is a good thing for the Lyric Theatre and other theaters in town. That’s not true. Theater breeds theater.”

Blocker says his company is smaller than Theater of the Stars. But he says despite the economy,  the it has seen continued growth in past six years. During that time, his company moved from Georgia Tech’s campus to Marietta’s Strand Theater.

“We made an effort to come out to a community that we felt would embrace and would desire to have a product and entertainment that we can present and Marietta was that community that was looking for it at the time.“

Last month the theater company relocated to a larger theater in the Cobb Civic Center. Blocker says the company hopes to continue to grow and wants to appeal to the entire Atlanta community. But as that growth occurs, Blocker says his organization will learn financial lessons from the closing of Theater of the Stars.

“Primarily what the Lyric is learning is that we must keep a focus on our local patrons and local artists here in Atlanta.”

Jeff Watkins is the artistic director for the Shakespeare Tavern in downtown Atlanta. He also says there are lessons he will take from the shutdown.

“For me it reaffirms the necessity to maintain that revenue stream. Every business has revenue streams and the more revenue streams you have the more ways you have of getting money to your bottom line and keeping your people employed.”

Watkins says his theater company was able to stay afloat during the downturn and later turn a healthy profit because it held productions every single day. He says it took a combination of ticket sales, donor generosity and grants funding. Watkins says he also found success by telling donors his theater company is nonprofit and by switching his fundraising efforts to email rather than direct mail.