美国国家公共电台 NPR--Without more federal money, what will regional theaters do?

Without more federal money, what will regional theaters do?

Transcript¹

Rodgers and Hammerstein. Mickey and Judy. Cornyn and Klobuchar?

In one of the big surprises of the pandemic, the "let's put on a show!" spirit from Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat², likely saved hundreds of regional theaters across the country from closing as a result of the pandemic shutdowns.

Their partnership³ resulted in $16 billion for theaters, music venues⁵ and other cultural institutions as part of the Shuttered Venue⁴ Operators Grant program, run by the Small Business Administration.

"The federal government has been a huge partner in this,'' said Jeffrey Woodward, managing director of the Dallas Theater Center. "There were a slew⁷ of government programs – I call them the alphabet soup." Woodward listed them off: "Payroll⁸ Protection Plan or PPP. Employee Retention⁹ Tax Credit, ERTC. Shutter⁶ Venues Operating Grant, S-VOG."

Without that federal money, non-profit theater as we know it would have died, said Teresa Eyering with the Theater Communications Group

Theaters also helped themselves during that time, creating innovative¹⁰ virtual performances and other programming that kept audiences invested in their work. But that infusion¹¹ of government money was key, and tied to the worst days of the pandemic; theaters know they can't rely on that sort of funding happening again. Eyering said that in order to keep doors open now, theaters need to keep innovating¹² on their stages and as part of their business model.

Theaters are also going to have to be much savvier about their long-term growth, Eyering said, which doesn't necessarily mean just repeating the same old classics. "When audiences are shrinking, [there's a] temptation to try to produce much more popular shows, which could keep us from producing some of the new work."

It is important for theaters to stay open not just for arts' sake, but because they have a profound effect on their local economies, helping¹³ support local restaurants, tourism, and other businesses. That's the reality that brought Klobuchar and Cornyn together.

Klobuchar said that, in many ways, it was a love of the late artist Prince that awakened¹⁴ her to the importance of supporting local venues. A phone call from Dayna Frank – the proprietor¹⁵ of First Avenue, one of the Minneapolis music venues where Prince began his career – made Klobuchar leap into action. Frank explained that she couldn't do virtual concerts which meant they had no revenue and might have to close. " I trust her," Klobuchar told NPR over Zoom¹⁶. And she got involved.

Klobuchar laughed when asked about her unlikely pairing with Cornyn. "Well, we actually worked together fairly well. We've done other bills together on patents and things that are a lot less sexy than this."

Cornyn has touted¹⁷ his role in saving theaters as one of his top legislative¹⁸ achievements. And Klobuchar said, on a gut¹⁹ level, what brought and kept a Minnesota Democrat and Texas Republican together is "no one wanted to let the music die. No one wanted to let live theater die."

Interestingly, if there's a place that epitomizes the growth of regional theater, that place is in Cornyn's Texas – especially Dallas. In recent years, the city has seen an influx²⁰ of big corporate²¹ headquarters, and nearly a million new residents in less than a decade, according to the 2020 census²². The draws to the city don't just include the jobs, the Cowboys or the barbecue – but its growing and vibrant²³ cultural scene.

Dallas is credited with sparking the American Regional Theater movement 75 years ago, when Margo Jones opened the first modern residence theater in 1947. Today, the Dallas Theater Center anchors the Dallas Arts District, which includes more than 20 square blocks of museums, sculpture gardens, a symphony, an opera; it bills itself as the largest contiguous urban arts center in the United States. The Dallas Theater Center's two theaters in separate locations played to an audience of 100,000 Texans annually²⁴ pre-pandemic, and the center won a regional Tony Award in 2017.

Despite this history and the area's generous donors²⁵, Woodward, the head of DTC, said subscriptions²⁶ are now down over 60%. Theaters everywhere also now face more competition for the arts consumer's dollar. There is sports, gaming and streaming television – plus 22 Broadway shows that tour regional theaters around the country.

"'Hamilton' comes in and that sucks, like, millions of dollars of ticket-buying audience," Woodward said. He said that $200 spent on the musical "Hamilton" may mean patrons don't spend additional money to see something more experimental.

All of this has forced his team to become savvy²⁷ about nearly every part of the business. The center did a web redesign. They've gotten serious about merchandise. Woodward said theaters need to look beyond the normal annual subscriptions or big money donors and hunt for every dollar they can. Currently, Woodward said, theaters get very little money from the government for education programs and workforce²⁸ development programs, even though most theaters do some form of both.

Woodward says to survive now, theaters need to gear their programming toward a younger, more diverse audience, as the country's demographics continue to shift. A part of the new economics of the theater is diversity, equity²⁹ and inclusion.

"The regional theater has been more exclusive than it should have been and has really served, essentially³⁰, a white, middle-class audience," he said. He added that the model just isn't sustainable.

Tiana Kaye Blair, an artist-in-residence at the center and the director of the theater's current production of Trouble in Mind, by Alice Childress, said that in order to draw the new, needed audiences in, theaters need to keep asking themselves: What is the purpose of a particular play they want to put on their stages? Is it about broadening audiences? Expanding creative boundaries? Developing empathy? Or making money?

It's part of the push-pull dynamic between economics and art, she said.

"Sometimes the intention is, 'We gotta make more money on the back end,' and sometimes the intention is, 'Do you wanna change something?'" Blair said. She added that, as an artist, she constantly needs to strike that balance. And so do theaters, which means they may have a tough time ahead.

Be entertaining, challenging and sustainable – all that is hard, if not impossible, in normal times, said Blair. And these times are anything but normal.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

3 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

4 venue   

n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点

参考例句：

• The hall provided a venue for weddings and other functions.大厅给婚礼和其他社会活动提供了场所。
• The chosen venue caused great controversy among the people.人们就审判地点的问题产生了极大的争议。

5 venues   

n.聚集地点( venue的名词复数 )；会场；（尤指）体育比赛场所；犯罪地点

参考例句：

• The band will be playing at 20 different venues on their UK tour. 这个乐队在英国巡回演出期间将在20个不同的地点演出。
• Farmers market corner, 800 meters long, 60 meters wide livestock trading venues. 农牧市场东北角，有长800米，宽60米的牲畜交易场地。 来自互联网

6 shutter   

n.百叶窗；(照相机)快门；关闭装置

参考例句：

• The camera has a shutter speed of one-sixtieth of a second.这架照像机的快门速度达六十分之一秒。
• The shutter rattled in the wind.百叶窗在风中发出嘎嘎声。

7 slew   

v.（使）旋转；n.大量，许多

参考例句：

• He slewed the car against the side of the building.他的车滑到了大楼的一侧，抵住了。
• They dealt with a slew of other issues.他们处理了大量的其他问题。

8 payroll   

n.工资表，在职人员名单，工薪总额

参考例句：

• His yearly payroll is $1.2 million.他的年薪是120万美元。
• I can't wait to get my payroll check.我真等不及拿到我的工资单了。

9 retention   

n.保留，保持，保持力，记忆力

参考例句：

• They advocate the retention of our nuclear power plants.他们主张保留我们的核电厂。
• His retention of energy at this hour is really surprising.人们惊叹他在这个时候还能保持如此旺盛的精力。

10 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

11 infusion   

n.灌输

参考例句：

• Old families need an infusion of new blood from time to time.古老的家族需要不时地注入新鲜血液。
• Careful observation of the infusion site is necessary.必须仔细观察输液部位。

12 innovating   

v.改革，创新( innovate的现在分词 )；引入（新事物、思想或方法），

参考例句：

• In this new century, the company keeps innovating and developing new products. 新世纪伊始，公司全面实施形象工程及整合营销，不断改革创新，开发高新产品。 来自互联网
• Beijing is backward most prime cause is innovating at system lack. 北京落后的最根本原因在于制度缺乏创新。 来自互联网

13 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

14 awakened   

v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到

参考例句：

• She awakened to the sound of birds singing. 她醒来听到鸟的叫声。
• The public has been awakened to the full horror of the situation. 公众完全意识到了这一状况的可怕程度。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 proprietor   

n.所有人；业主；经营者

参考例句：

• The proprietor was an old acquaintance of his.业主是他的一位旧相识。
• The proprietor of the corner grocery was a strange thing in my life.拐角杂货店店主是我生活中的一个怪物。

16 zoom   

n.急速上升；v.突然扩大，急速上升

参考例句：

• The airplane's zoom carried it above the clouds.飞机的陡直上升使它飞到云层之上。
• I live near an airport and the zoom of passing planes can be heard night and day.我住在一个飞机场附近，昼夜都能听到飞机飞过的嗡嗡声。

17 touted   

v.兜售( tout的过去式和过去分词 )；招揽；侦查；探听赛马情报

参考例句：

• She's being touted as the next leader of the party. 她被吹捧为该党的下一任领导人。
• People said that he touted for his mother and sister. 据说，他给母亲和姐姐拉生意。 来自辞典例句

18 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

19 gut   

n.[pl.]胆量；内脏；adj.本能的；vt.取出内脏

参考例句：

• It is not always necessary to gut the fish prior to freezing.冷冻鱼之前并不总是需要先把内脏掏空。
• My immediate gut feeling was to refuse.我本能的直接反应是拒绝。

20 influx   

n.流入，注入

参考例句：

• The country simply cannot absorb this influx of refugees.这个国家实在不能接纳这么多涌入的难民。
• Textile workers favoured protection because they feared an influx of cheap cloth.纺织工人拥护贸易保护措施，因为他们担心涌入廉价纺织品。

21 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

22 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

23 vibrant   

adj.震颤的，响亮的，充满活力的，精力充沛的，(色彩)鲜明的

参考例句：

• He always uses vibrant colours in his paintings. 他在画中总是使用鲜明的色彩。
• She gave a vibrant performance in the leading role in the school play.她在学校表演中生气盎然地扮演了主角。

24 annually   

adv.一年一次，每年

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。

25 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

26 subscriptions   

n.（报刊等的）订阅费( subscription的名词复数 )；捐款；（俱乐部的）会员费；捐助

参考例句：

• Subscriptions to these magazines can be paid in at the post office. 这些杂志的订阅费可以在邮局缴纳。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Payment of subscriptions should be made to the club secretary. 会费应交给俱乐部秘书。 来自《简明英汉词典》

27 savvy   

v.知道，了解；n.理解能力，机智，悟性；adj.有见识的，懂实际知识的，通情达理的

参考例句：

• She was a pretty savvy woman.她是个见过世面的漂亮女人。
• Where's your savvy?你的常识到哪里去了？

28 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

29 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

30 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。