First Posted: 3/20/2015
DURYEA — Financial woes may dim the stage lights at the Phoenix Performing Arts Centre for good.
The staff at the Duryea theater is trying to raise $5,000 by March 30 in order to keep the theater alive and performances on schedule. The bulk of the money needed will be to purchase licenses that allow the theater to perform certain shows.
According to the center’s artistic director Lee LaChette, 52, the theater usually gets its money from production fees, in which performers pay $125 to sign up for a show and the ticket sales, but LaChette said audience attendance has been scarce as of late.
The production fees also help pay for props and costumes. The fee can be compared to Little League and other organized sports groups in which participants pay a fee to play.
“We’re the cheapest ticket prices in the area for shows and, unfortunately, I guess it’s hurting us a little bit,” said LaChette. “We’re not pulling in the money we should, audiences are down and I think every theater company is feeling that people are just not coming to live theater anymore. ‘Addams Family,’ which is a premiere production in our area, had a matinee of 12 people.”
Ticket costs for a show at the Phoenix Performing Arts Center are usually $10 to $12 for general admission and $5 for children ages 5 and younger.
A premiere production, according to LaChette, is when theaters are given rights to perform a specific show. For example, when “The Addams Family” musical was licensed to be performed in theaters across the country, Phoenix Performing Arts Centre was one of, if not the first, live theater studio to perform it in the Northeastern Pennsylvania area.
The performance center building is owned by Balchune Construction, so on top of paying for rent and utilities such as heat, water and electricity, purchasing licenses for shows has been the difficult part.
LaChette said performances cannot continue if profits do not allow for the purchase of show licenses, which she said “are not cheap.”
Several plans are in place in an attempt to save the theater. Duryea Borough Council recently applied for grants on behalf of the center and the group is in the process of acquiring 501c3 status, which will deem it a nonprofit organization and, therefore, tax exempt.
The center currently is for-profit and LaChette said it has managed to break even these past few years, but this year has been difficult in keeping up with payments.
She said the staff is also stepping up its fundraising game.
“This year because of the financial stress we are in, we’ve pushed very hard on a lot of fundraisers,” she said. “We just had a spaghetti dinner and we’re selling candy bars. We have a wine-tasting evening coming up at Bartolai Winery on April 12. And with every production, if we stick around and make it through this year, every production is probably going to have to have a fundraiser attached to it.”
Currently, the performance center is doing a production of “Beauty and the Beast,” which LaChette said is sold out for this weekend, but still has seats available for 7 p.m. showings on Friday, March 27 and Saturday March 28 as well as a 2 p.m. matinee showing on March 28.
When “Beauty and the Beast” wraps up, the theater group will spend the month of April rehearsing for its next production “Godspell,” which will be performed in May. LaChette also said if funds to keep the theater have not reached the goal of $5,000, or if grants applied for are not received by then, the theater will close its doors for good.
“We have to survive until things get into place for us,” said LaChette. “Right now, we’re in that lull of no money coming in. In the future, we’re going to have money but we need money right now to stay alive.”
Over the years, the theater has presented shows ranging from children’s shows such as “Cinderella” amongst others and adult shows such as “Avenue Q.” All shows are performed by children and teenagers.
“A lot of people are against what we do here because we let our teenagers do adult shows,” said LaChette. “They don’t feel that’s appropriate, like ‘Jekyll & Hyde’ and ‘Cabaret.’ They’ve done some phenomenal shows. People who have come and seen the shows forget that they’re kids and a lot of people have compared us to Broadway.”
LaChette said the young talent the theater presents is mostly students who wish to pursue acting on a professional level. She feels the Phoenix Performing Arts Centre is a great place to get experience and better themselves before going to college.
Vocal and dance classes are also taught at the theater. Vocal lessons are one-on-one between a student and an instructor, and dance classes range anywhere from 6 to 10 students, according to LaChette.
While the instructors and LaChette earn money through classes and productions, she said a good percentage of that goes back to the theater to help pay for costs.
The studio has been open since 2008 when the previous theater company occupying the building gave it up and decided not to lease it.
“They gave up the building and we were part of the board at that time of that company,” said Lachette. “We decided to hang onto the building and make it our own company — the Phoenix, rising from the ashes.”
With the help of fundraising through the center and help from the Duryea Borough Council, Lachette hopes to see the Phoenix Performing Arts Centre thrive once more, especially for the youth who are part of the production.
“Take a look at the kids,” said Lachette. “We are one of only two theater companies that will take children very young. Our youngest in ‘Beauty and the Beast’ is 4 years old. We do it for the kids. We focus mainly on the kids and give them the best experience that we can give them. They call this place home; it’s their second home. It’s family, they associate as friends outside of here and it’s priceless what you give to them and to watch them on that stage. To take it away from them, I don’t even know where half these kids would go to get the experience that they’re getting here.”
