Thursday, May 29, 2008

TJT at the Crossroads, 2008:


Questions and Answers.

Many of you are reading this after receiving our recent appeal letter. Because some of you have raised some very important questions that could not be addressed in a necessarily brief letter, we have posted the following Q and A in order to provide a lot more of the background and history that has led to the present moment.

In our 29 years, TJT has rarely been flush. We have constantly operated close to the edge as we worked to make theatre of consistently high quality while maintaining one of the nations’ few professional Jewish theatre companies in an environment of ever-rising costs and ever-diminishing resources. We have had triumphs and we have made mistakes. And we have learned a good deal along the way.

About seven years ago, we began a process of serious re-evaluation with a consultant funded by the Hewlett Foundation. The findings led to a number of difficult but essential changes in our internal structure. At the same time we were in the process of developing a new generation of leadership for the company. This double transformation took us from an increasingly dysfunctional artistic leadership set-up of four co-artistic directors with no workable system for decision making to a single artistic director (Aaron Davidman, who had joined TJT five years earlier) responsible for programming, staffing, and long-term planning, all with considerable input from the two founding members (Corey Fischer and Naomi Newman. The third co-founder and the fourth co-artistic director, Albert Greenberg and Helen Stoltzfus, respectively, left TJT at this time.)

The next seven years saw a blossoming of new creative energy in the form of critical success, awards and audience growth. Among Aaron’s first hires was Sara T. Schwartz who joined TJT as development director and, in 2006 became Executive Director.

But in the midst of this renascence, TJT’s already high fixed costs were rising along with gas prices, worker compensation fees, cost of material. Earned income reached a ceiling (see below); assumptions that larger cast productions and larger marketing budgets would lead to increased ticket sales did not bear out as we’d hoped.

With hindsight, it’s much easier to see that we needed to slow our rate of growth to allow income to keep pace with expense; we needed to give more attention to consolidating before continuing to do more. In the four years between 2000 and 2004 TJT produced 18 plays, 9 of which were original, company-created works that required considerable development time. Even with 6 over-the-top box-office record-setters, we couldn’t keep up with expenses. In many respects, we were producing at the same level as a 1.5 million dollar per year company on a budget of $700,000.

With no cash reserve to serve as a buffer, the long-term debt we had been carrying since our major renovation on our theatre in 1997-98 (though our $750,000 capital campaign reached its goal, costs went over budget by $200,000.) grew as we drew down our lines of credit.

We responded immediately by tightening our proverbial belt and deferring salaries, shortening seasons, laying off all but absolutely essential staff. This in turn lowered our ability to fundraise as our presence was diminished.

We began another re-evaluation and realized that we have one more chance: by assembling our assets; by looking at our recurrent problems frankly, without guilt or recrimination, by constructing a comprehensive plan that does not return to business as usual, we have an opportunity to become a sustainable company.

What follows
addresses the most frequently asked questions we've been hearing. If you have other questions, please post a comment on this blog (you’ll find a button at the bottom of this page), or if you prefer privacy, email us

How serious is the problem?

Critical. Traveling Jewish Theatre has worked to operate on a budget of around $700,000 per year. TJT dependably raises 30% of that figure through ticket sales and other earnings; the other 70% comes from gifts from individuals, and grants from foundations and government agencies. Thousands of individuals support TJT through their gifts of time and money. For the past four years, rising expenses exceeded income, and we now face total debt approaching $400,000. This includes bank loans, vendor debt, back pay to our staff and personal loans. To survive, TJT must cut expenses from an already bare-bones budget and develop significant new sources of income. We’ve created a new strategic plan and accompanying budgets that we believe will help us accomplish this.

What expenses are rising?

Just about every cost of TJT’s operation rises each year. Increased gas costs means that local touring; both main stage and via our Educational, Touring and Outreach Program has become more expensive. Increased lumber prices mean more expensive sets. By far the biggest single culprit in knocking TJT out of balance has been huge increases in health and workers compensation insurance cost. Between 2001 and 2008, the cost of workers compensation insurance coverage has increased 100%. One set of costs that has not increased at TJT in the past five years has been the low wages we pay our actors and staff.

Can’t TJT charge more for tickets?

The top price for a TJT ticket is now $34. We have increased our prices over the past few years and we are now in line with what other local theatres charge for tickets. If we were to charge an even higher price, we would price ourselves out of the market and make our productions inaccessible for many.


What about grants? Can’t the foundations help out?

Grants do help, and TJT has been fortunate over the years in enlisting some large foundations to support out work. TJT receives support from many local and national funders including the Jewish Community Federation, Grants for the Arts - the San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund, Hewlett Foundation, Haas Fund, Koret Foundation, Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund, among others. With the help of some foundation staff members, a meeting was called at which we presented the details of the current situation, our plan to transform our organization into one that can be truly sustainable while remaining true to out core mission, and a request for a one-time collective grant in addition to their usual annual support. While we won’t receive an official decisions until later in the summer, we have heard that our presentation was very well received and that a positive response is likely but will be contingent on a demonstration by the community of their need and desire for Traveling Jewish Theatre to continue. This is why your donations and subscriptions will are more important than ever and will really determine whether TJT has a 30th season and continues for another thirty.

Has TJT been mismanaged?

TJT has always een frugal. We reuse every paper clip, and watch every penny. Every dollar can be explained and accounted for. We produce professional level productions for a fraction of what other theatres spend. Every dollar from every donor has been used appropriately as that donor intended, and we have produced every production to which we have sold tickets and we have been responsible when we have been forced to cancel a show.

In terms of accurately predicting future income, we could have done a better job. There were always voices on our Board, from our auditors, in our Ensemble and on our management team that tried to point out warning signs of potential revenue shortfalls. In an ever-optimistic atmosphere of “it’ll turn out al right,” such voices can find themselves frustrated. This is especially true when things regularly “turned out all right.” In any business, if you ignore warning signs you place your business in peril.

The first step in our new business plan requires that every budget be based on the most conservative projections, that every budget show a substantial surplus, and every shortfall be dealt with immediately. Other changes are described below.

What has TJT done so far in the face of this crisis?

  • TJT has pared our Administrative Staff to cut payroll expense. We are getting by now with only one full-time and one part-time person on payroll.
  • TJT has scaled back projects, spending no more than we are certain to bring in. Our last production of Dead Mother was a good example of this as the box office met it’s projection.
  • TJT has ceased all programming until we get the situation under control.
  • TJT has met with its foundation funders to fully disclose the situation and ask for help.
  • TJT has ended its commitment to providing guaranteed, year-round work for anyone other than the Artistic Director and the Executive Director. Other staff will be part-time and production positions, including actors, will be on a contract basis. This includes founding members, Corey Fischer and Naomi Newman and represents the most difficult change in TJT’s operation, particularly in light of the lack of any form of pension or other material recognition of 30 years of continuous work building the company and a large part of its repertoire. We hope to remedy this in the future, if and when a sustainable and secure TJT comes to be.
  • TJT is appealing to you to help, right now.

In the future, what will be the same at TJT?

We --Sara Aaron, Corey and Naomi -- will still be involved.

TJT has built a international reputation for creating and presenting invigorating and relevant, critically acclaimed, original, company-created works and new plays drawn from Jewish culture.

We intend to continue building on that record. We will remain committed to young people, through our Educational, Touring and Outreach Program, and our Accessibility Program. We will continue to build bridges between cultures through our work. We will create original plays (as funds are available), and we will continue to contribute to the Bay Area’s reputation as a center for leading-edge art and innovative expressions of Jewish culture.

In the future, what will be different at TJT?

  • We will secure new partnerships with other area organizations, such as the San Francisco JCC as well as theatres of all sizes to strengthen our profile, reach new audiences and to enhance our income potential.
  • TJT will eliminate its debt, and then operate in such a way as to create no new debt.
  • TJT will build a “Cash Reserve,” a substantial cushion that must be constantly replenished.
  • We will cut expenses, and that means for the foreseeable future a smaller staff and artists working only on contract.
  • We will work with a play selection committee that will include artists and representatives of our audience to help ensure seasons that reflect the diversity of our Bay Area community.

What if TJT does have to close its doors?

None of us want this to happen, but if we do close our doors, we will do so honorably. We would hold an event to celebrate the company’s achievements. We would sell our assets with the hope that the sale of our theatre would pay off our accumulated debts (because we have a unique ownership arrangement in a co-op building it is hard to determine an exact selling price at this time). And the Ensemble would go their separate ways, with heads held high for a 29-year job well done, and an ethical end to this institution.


How can I help keep Traveling Jewish Theatre going?

The immediate goal is to meet a $100,000 goal in contributed income by June 30, 2008. And another $50,000 by September 1, 2008.


The best thing you can do right now is to write a check and send it today.


If you’re uncomfortable making a contribution to TJT knowing that the prospect of closure does exist, we’ll be glad to hold your check (not deposit it) until we meet our contribution goal. If we don’t make our goal we’ll return your check. Just let us know if that’s the case.

If things turn around as hoped, what can I expect next season?

  • A No-Holds-Barred Celebration of 30 amazing years of creativity hosted by the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco at Kanbar Hall.

  • A revival of one of our best-loved original works, The Last Yiddish Poet by Corey Fischer, Albert Greenberg and Naomi Newman, (1980) performed by Aaron Davidman and Corey Fischer, Directed by Naomi Newman

The works of two brilliant Jewish playwrights:

The Model Apartment by Pulitzer Prize winner, Donald Margulies (Bay Area Premiere)

The Floating Light Bulb by Woody Allen

A Festival of Play Readings by Jewish Women Playwrights


We want to hear what TJT means to you, the changes you would like to suggest, your responses to our work and to this posting. We invite you to post your responses here as part of an ongoing community conversation or, if you prefer a more private medium, just send emails to sara@atjt.com. We would also like you to consider about joining our Board or volunteering to serve on a committee. If this stirs your interest, please get in touch!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am saddened to hear that one of the most fantastic theatre companies in the Bay is struggling. Our community is wealthy and should be throwing down to make such theatre a powerful cultural form.

Laurie

henry said...

It's hard to find such great theater in such a wonderful, intimate setting. The plays I've seen at ATJT are some of the best I've seen anywhere. Let's hope we can all pull through, as there would be a big void in Jewish culture in the Bay Area without them.

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