Chairman of the Dr. Phillips Center Board, Jim Pugh and Chuck Steinmetz, Dr. Phillips Center Operations Committee Chairman, have responded to the Florida Theatrical Association, defending DPAC’s decision to self-present Broadway productions in Orlando.
Earlier this week, FTA, who has been presenting Broadway in Orlando for the past 25 years, charged that DPAC’s decision to self-present is “short-sighted” and the long-term financial stability of the center was being jeopardized.  The FTA also claimed, the group is being marginalized by the Center, as are other local art groups.
But, in an open letter to the Central Florida Community on Thursday, Pugh and Steinmetz point out that DPAC’s decision to self-present Broadway in Orlando emerged from a lengthy process and a thorough vetting of all options.  “The decision wasn’t easy, but it is the right business decision,” the letter states.
“By self-presenting Broadway, the Center will potentially earn up to $2.8 million in total revenue, with an additional annual benefit of $700,000 in revenue by not using the two third-party entities, and keeping all dollars in our community,” the letter also states.
See the open letter by Jim Pugh and Chuck Steinmetz to the Central Florida Community below:
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An Open Letter to the Central Florida Community:
We recently announced a very important decision about how Broadway programming will be handled for the Dr. Phillips Center. This decision came after years of carefully studying business models and trends in the performing arts industry; taking a look at other performing arts centers and how they programmed Broadway productions; consulting with show producers, industry experts and other Centers of the same size and scope as ours; and meeting with a global consortium of more than 40 Centers.
We had a choice to contract with Florida Theatrical Association, who partners with a for-profit, New York-based company, Broadway Across America, which also produces some of the shows presented in Orlando. After thoroughly vetting all options, we decided the most effective business model for us was to work directly with Broadway agents to present Broadway shows in our facility. By self-presenting Broadway, the Center will potentially earn up to $2.8 million in total revenue, with an additional annual benefit of $700,000 in revenue by not using the two third-party entities, and keeping all dollars in our community.
We hired Judy Joseph as vice president of programming to negotiate directly with producer representatives for the Center’s Broadway shows; as well as other quality national and community-based programming. She brings over 20 years of experience and comes from a performing arts center which also made the decision to self-present, and as a result, enjoyed successful seasons with major productions. She will be building a programming team similar to other performing arts centers to support our business model, and is already in the process of booking our shows that we will successfully present for the 2014-15 opening season.
Having assumed the responsibility of raising private funds, consolidating public funds and maintaining on-going fiduciary responsibility for construction and operations, we must determine what is in the best interest of the Center’s operations. The decision wasn’t easy, but it is the right business decision.
We began planning the Dr. Phillips Center 10 years ago in collaboration with our local performing arts groups, along with Ron Legler and Florida Theatrical. Since that time, Florida Theatrical’s partner organization, Broadway Across America, underwent numerous changes which affected how Florida Theatrical would potentially work with the Center. We have sought ways to create a new community relationship with Ron Legler and other local affiliates with experience promoting Broadway, and await a meeting with him – at our request – to further explore this relationship.
We believe it is important to clarify some significant information regarding our decision. Many larger performing arts centers have moved to a self-presenting model, while several new centers have opened with this model:
? The Smith Center opened in Las Vegas last year with over 10,000 subscribers and a highly successful opening season
? The newly opened Durham Performing Arts Center chose not to co-promote with a third party presenter
? Both the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach and the Straz Center in Tampa Bay chose to end a partnership with Florida Theatrical and moved to self-presenting just a few years ago
? Other self-presenting centers include: the Tennessee Performing Arts Center in Nashville; Kimmel Center in Philadelphia; Playhouse Square in Ohio; and Denver Performing Arts Center in Colorado.
The decision to self-present Broadway increased earned revenue and helped advance the missions of these performing arts centers. Similarly, our business model focuses on growing earned revenue, making us less dependent on annual government funding. The decision also followed a very thorough and appropriate process, in accordance with the Dr. Phillips Center board bylaws. This selection process, which preceded our decision to self-present, was open, fair and competitive.
For more than 30 years, our community has strived to build a performing arts center. Now that we have reached this pivotal point of realizing this decades-long dream for our community, it is crucial that we make decisions that are in the best interest of the Center’s mission, future and the community. We cannot simply rely on doing things the way they have always been done. We must understand the performing arts center industry trends and make the business decisions that support where the industry is going.
We have major investments in this undertaking from the philanthropic community and our public partners; and contractually, our public partners expect us to run this as a business. Donors, volunteers and the community at-large have invested deeply in this project’s success. We will adhere to our great responsibility to build and operate this Center effectively and uphold our commitment to make the right decisions for it, even when they are tough decisions. We will continue to approach these with the insight and foresight that good business demands. By doing so, it allows us to present the variety of quality national and community-based programming our community deserves.
We are pleased to acknowledge that the Dr. Phillips Center is on-time and on-budget. We are building a place which will have the ability to showcase various forms of performing arts for generations to come. We are creating new opportunities for the most important arts organizations, the Orlando Ballet and the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra. By making these strong business decisions, we will ensure the Center’s existence and effectively fulfill its vision – Arts for Every Life.
Sincerely,
Jim Pugh
Board Chairman
Chuck Steinmetz
Operations Committee Chairman
Executive Committee Member
