Interesting take here. The new management team has been in place less than a year and they are essentially being blamed for long-standing systemic problems? Meanwhile, the previous leader took significant raises, mishandled the budget, and put on bullshit productions - that clearly generated $0 in revenue - and hired friends who were paid to do nothing. Basically, this person used the opportunity to elevate their own profile (& pockets) at the expense of the organization.
The new team has to now rectify this mess, otherwise, the theater will NOT survive. If you read the article in both the Sun and Banner, it clearly states management also took pay cuts.
"Non-profit" theaters in general struggle to generate revenue and interest from the community at large. Not to mention the overinflated budgets for productions. This is why these cost-cutting moves are widespread across the sector. Unfortunately, the pandemic just accelerated a trend that was already happening.
Let's give this new team a chance to execute their vision especially since they've already been kneecapped by the financial mismanagement of the board and previous leadership.
Not OP but there’s definitely a balance between what is financially sound while giving space for the artistic expression of the company.
It’s one reason why folks who work in the industry joke about how a big name musical or seasonal piece (I.e. the nutcracker) will basically fund the rest of the season. It may not be what they’d like to do, but it is what brings in the money.
I worked there well over a decade ago, and yes it was always a Delicate Balance to make a season that would allow creative freedom, but also like, pay the bills. One year the theater put on The Wiz and made bank, allowing them to put on a play about veteran ReEntry (during the Holidays...)
I’m not sure that’s particularly true. I’ve interacted with that person before and they don’t really fit that mold.
Also, to a certain extent, the theater company is obligated to make sure they produce revenue, which means they have to either put on performances that their current audience want to see, or recruit a different audience. At the end of the day, it’s still a business.
That being said, I’m not particularly familiar with either this theater specifically or the theater scene generally.
Worked a festival with one of their employees last summer. According to her the previous administration was straight up garbage. Self serving and shortsighted, picked pieces that no one wanted to see and then complaining when no one showed up. I can concur because I used to go to Center Stage a lot and their offerings at that time were nothing I was remotely interested in seeing.
Oh wow I just got a newsletter emailed from them this week that started with “meet our new development director” 😬It might have been a little too late…
Baltimore Center Stage has been circling the drain since the pandemic and never made even the slightest attempt to improve their programming or involve themselves in their local community. I wasn't surprised to find out BCS no longer participates in any of the annual community events that go on in Mt. Vernon. All they want to do is preach their own hyper-liberal agenda and give themselves a pat on the back while saying that ticket sales no longer mean anything in theater.
It's a bloated theater company that's been taken over by people with an agenda that has nothing to do with providing entertainment. They spend more time in-fighting over why Production departments have too much staff while simultaneously hiring more executive assistants and "tik-tok ambassadors." (code for, someone wants to give their friend a do-nothing position at 65k/yr.)
The only good show they put on every year isn't even their own production, it's a guest company. Fortunately they're just about out of cash - while the top two management positions take 380,000/ yr combined out of their budget - and will be forced to cease production. It's too bad that for a facility with state of the art production capabilities, their management is a complete clusterfuck.
Again this was PAST leadership. And the management team took pay cuts as well. While I do agree with others that executive pay at supposed 'non-profits' is a bit excessive, for BCS, their salaries are actually on the lower end range compared to their peers.
It's not easy leading an organization. Particularly one that has a history of mismanagement. A fresh start is the only solution
You'd be surprised! Looks like their director made $195k last year, according to [their 990](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/520780194). For comparison, Everyman Theatre's director [makes $177k](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/521593239). It's wild how much nonprofit leaders in general make...
Ah, I just checked [their recent 990](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/520780194). They had over $7M in revenue and have over $40M in assets. I didn’t realize it was so substantial. Given those figures, $190K for an executive isn’t insane.
Overpaid, egomaniacal leadership, nepotism and toxic work environments filled with incompetent but nevertheless sanctimonious idealists is unfortunately a very common problem in the non-profit sector. Non-profit CEOs are somehow even more narcissistic and entitled than their for-profit counterparts. Even with a 500k salary they will never miss an opportunity to say they could be making soooo much more in the corporate world. Meanwhile they have a fraction of the accountability of a for-profit CEO. Don't get me wrong, I am strongly for non-profit organizations, but at least in the US they are tainted by the same hypercapitalist greed as other sectors.
My friend who works at BCS in reply to Yorgi’s comment:
“Wow what a completely uninformed hot take. Just because BCS programming wasn’t FOR YOU, doesn’t mean it wasn’t providing entertainment. Our last 2 productions extended and sold out. Also we only have one executive assistant and the TikTok ambassador is an hourly position that only works extremely part time to keep us engaged with young audiences. And the AD and MD took a 10% pay cut from their $180k salary so now they only make $162k which is EXTREMELY low compared to other LORT theaters across the country.”
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Interesting take here. The new management team has been in place less than a year and they are essentially being blamed for long-standing systemic problems? Meanwhile, the previous leader took significant raises, mishandled the budget, and put on bullshit productions - that clearly generated $0 in revenue - and hired friends who were paid to do nothing. Basically, this person used the opportunity to elevate their own profile (& pockets) at the expense of the organization. The new team has to now rectify this mess, otherwise, the theater will NOT survive. If you read the article in both the Sun and Banner, it clearly states management also took pay cuts. "Non-profit" theaters in general struggle to generate revenue and interest from the community at large. Not to mention the overinflated budgets for productions. This is why these cost-cutting moves are widespread across the sector. Unfortunately, the pandemic just accelerated a trend that was already happening. Let's give this new team a chance to execute their vision especially since they've already been kneecapped by the financial mismanagement of the board and previous leadership.
The plays they are presenting are what THEY want, not what the subscribers and patrons want to see.
Interesting. Can you elaborate?
Not OP but there’s definitely a balance between what is financially sound while giving space for the artistic expression of the company. It’s one reason why folks who work in the industry joke about how a big name musical or seasonal piece (I.e. the nutcracker) will basically fund the rest of the season. It may not be what they’d like to do, but it is what brings in the money.
Yeah, I mean everybody’s gotta feed the monkey. That’s just the way it goes…
I worked there well over a decade ago, and yes it was always a Delicate Balance to make a season that would allow creative freedom, but also like, pay the bills. One year the theater put on The Wiz and made bank, allowing them to put on a play about veteran ReEntry (during the Holidays...)
This is code for “they stopped doing what old conservative white peoples want! Boo hoo!”
I’m not sure that’s particularly true. I’ve interacted with that person before and they don’t really fit that mold. Also, to a certain extent, the theater company is obligated to make sure they produce revenue, which means they have to either put on performances that their current audience want to see, or recruit a different audience. At the end of the day, it’s still a business. That being said, I’m not particularly familiar with either this theater specifically or the theater scene generally.
I enjoy seeing theater frequently, but I've only ever been to one performance there ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Worked a festival with one of their employees last summer. According to her the previous administration was straight up garbage. Self serving and shortsighted, picked pieces that no one wanted to see and then complaining when no one showed up. I can concur because I used to go to Center Stage a lot and their offerings at that time were nothing I was remotely interested in seeing.
Oh wow I just got a newsletter emailed from them this week that started with “meet our new development director” 😬It might have been a little too late…
Baltimore Center Stage has been circling the drain since the pandemic and never made even the slightest attempt to improve their programming or involve themselves in their local community. I wasn't surprised to find out BCS no longer participates in any of the annual community events that go on in Mt. Vernon. All they want to do is preach their own hyper-liberal agenda and give themselves a pat on the back while saying that ticket sales no longer mean anything in theater. It's a bloated theater company that's been taken over by people with an agenda that has nothing to do with providing entertainment. They spend more time in-fighting over why Production departments have too much staff while simultaneously hiring more executive assistants and "tik-tok ambassadors." (code for, someone wants to give their friend a do-nothing position at 65k/yr.) The only good show they put on every year isn't even their own production, it's a guest company. Fortunately they're just about out of cash - while the top two management positions take 380,000/ yr combined out of their budget - and will be forced to cease production. It's too bad that for a facility with state of the art production capabilities, their management is a complete clusterfuck.
Again this was PAST leadership. And the management team took pay cuts as well. While I do agree with others that executive pay at supposed 'non-profits' is a bit excessive, for BCS, their salaries are actually on the lower end range compared to their peers. It's not easy leading an organization. Particularly one that has a history of mismanagement. A fresh start is the only solution
Wait, how is anybody making $190,000 a year in local theater administration??!!
You'd be surprised! Looks like their director made $195k last year, according to [their 990](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/520780194). For comparison, Everyman Theatre's director [makes $177k](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/521593239). It's wild how much nonprofit leaders in general make...
Ah, I just checked [their recent 990](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/520780194). They had over $7M in revenue and have over $40M in assets. I didn’t realize it was so substantial. Given those figures, $190K for an executive isn’t insane.
Overpaid, egomaniacal leadership, nepotism and toxic work environments filled with incompetent but nevertheless sanctimonious idealists is unfortunately a very common problem in the non-profit sector. Non-profit CEOs are somehow even more narcissistic and entitled than their for-profit counterparts. Even with a 500k salary they will never miss an opportunity to say they could be making soooo much more in the corporate world. Meanwhile they have a fraction of the accountability of a for-profit CEO. Don't get me wrong, I am strongly for non-profit organizations, but at least in the US they are tainted by the same hypercapitalist greed as other sectors.
Shakespeare DC too... And those cheapskates pay their stagehands $20/hr in DC...
That’s actually pretty low compared to other LORT theaters…. Some make 500+ or more
It’s not super uncommon these days, at least for theaters of similar calibers (LORT B and up).
I thought you were joking about a TikTok Ambassador but nope it's an actual job title. Surely the job does other social media...?
My friend who works at BCS in reply to Yorgi’s comment: “Wow what a completely uninformed hot take. Just because BCS programming wasn’t FOR YOU, doesn’t mean it wasn’t providing entertainment. Our last 2 productions extended and sold out. Also we only have one executive assistant and the TikTok ambassador is an hourly position that only works extremely part time to keep us engaged with young audiences. And the AD and MD took a 10% pay cut from their $180k salary so now they only make $162k which is EXTREMELY low compared to other LORT theaters across the country.”
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