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But what a difference a year makes. The theater has made dramatic expense cuts and created a five-year plan for raising revenue.
And board members of the nonprofit theater have gone to great lengths to make sure that supporters and the public know that the show will go on.
Ned Hayes and other members of the Capital Playhouse board addressed concerns about the theater at a recent public forum.
“We are actually paying our bills,” he told a gathering of about 15 people.
The board members also spelled out recent changes at the theater in a newsletter that was mailed to supporters in July. Some of those changes include:
• Expense cuts: Capital Playhouse has cut its expenses by $150,000, including four staff members. That reduced its total staff to six.
• Capital campaigns: The theater aims to make fundraising and grants a larger portion of its overall budget. That is considered a better balance for the nonprofit, which has relied more heavily on ticket sales and tuition. Capital Playhouse’s fiscal year ends Sept. 30.
• Pay as you go: The playhouse previously relied on bank loans and personal loans to pay for programs, which eventually drove its total debt to $350,000 in 2010. No new debt has been incurred since, board members said. The theater has met most of its revenue goals for 2011, except for a $22,000 shortfall in public contributions. A recent fundraising telethon brought in about $18,250 and donations continue to come in, Hayes said. The public contribution goal is about $166,000; so far the playhouse has raised about $144,000.
• Transparency: So far the board has held a dinner, a barbecue for Capital Playhouse alumni and the recent forum and produced the newsletter to address concerns about the organization. “We’re going to tell it like it is and lay out everything we know,” Hayes said. “We’re open to suggestions and advice.”
• Board members: At the organization’s low point, board membership fell to five. It since has grown to 10 and has its first alumni representative. It is a volunteer board.
• Managing director: A nationwide search is set to get under way to hire a new director by this fall.
Some things haven’t changed at Capital Playhouse.
The focus remains on the arts and to give children and teens a chance to perform and work with theater professionals without having to audition for plays and musicals.
The nonprofit, which was founded by former artistic director Jeff Kingsbury, has come to be known for Kids at Play, the summer performance series for youth; Kids in Koncert, a youth choir; Season in a Box, its musical series; Students on Stage, an after-school program; Page to Stage, a literacy program; and a new program, Act II, a series of plays. The final Kids at Play program for this summer is “The Pirates of Penzance;” next summer’s season will be announced at 4 p.m. Monday at Burfoot Park. Enrollment in Kids at Play takes place Monday, too, and more than 200 roles for next year’s season need to be filled.
Kingsbury parted ways with the playhouse in April after having been on a requested paid leave.
Kingsbury is a former member of the Olympia City Council who gained notoriety after he revealed to The Olympian that he was the confidential informant who twice bought marijuana from then-councilman and former colleague Joe Hyer as part of a sting operation.
Asked if Kingsbury’s involvement in controversy in the community had contributed to the organization’s financial troubles, Hayes said not “substantially so.” The larger issue was the slower economy and reduced giving to nonprofit organizations, as well as the organization’s previous lack of standard accounting and other business practices, he said.
Despite the board’s reassurances about the theater’s finances, some parents who attended the recent forum remain concerned about the organization’s image.
Board member Kim Wallace, too, said she has heard from parents about whether they should financially commit to next season’s Kids at Play program. Tuition costs for Kids at Play range from $300 to $600 a child, depending on when the child was first enrolled, Hayes said.
Those concerns might stem from a recent post on Kingsbury’s Facebook page, a copy of which was emailed to The Olympian. The post is called “25 years discarded” and lists 61 entries in which Kingsbury spells out his recent history with the board, the playhouse and his other personal and professional endeavors. Hayes said what has been posted on Facebook has “very little to do with the current status of the playhouse.”
“People have expressed a concern about our finances and solvency,” said Hayes, adding that a year ago he would have agreed with those people. “We’re in such a better position that I’m excited about the future.”
Kingsbury returned to the Olympia area last week after participating in a summer theater festival in Chico, Calif., he said. He also has received acting offers and is involved with a theater company in Davenport, Iowa, an area he is set to return to in September, although he plans to continue to make the Olympia area his home, Kingsbury said.
The playhouse community and others “haven’t had an opportunity to hear from me and my perspective on it,” he said about his Facebook post.
Kingsbury said Friday he wishes the best for the Capital Playhouse, particularly Kids at Play, which he hopes can “survive and prosper and continues to move forward.”
Still, he said, he has some difficult feelings, and he disputes the board’s claims of transparency. He said he is owed back pay and wants to be repaid for a loan he made to the organization. The current balance on his loan is $109,000, Kingsbury said.
Hayes said the board has no documentation of any loan from Kingsbury.
“The fact is the playhouse board has been in active communication with all of our vendors and debtors and is working with each of them to come current,” he said.
Kingsbury, though, still has his supporters on the board, such as Ginger Eagle, and she said the best thing for Capital Playhouse is to continue to move forward.
“I thought he (Kingsbury) was fabulous – he is a fabulous person– and he got me involved here and I wouldn’t trade that for anything,” Eagle said at the recent forum. “The best thing we can do is make this place a huge success for the next 25 years. It is a testament to his foresight and brilliance that he created this and the only way we can do him justice is to carry it on, and I’m going to do everything we can to carry it on.”
Rolf Boone: 360-754-5403
rboone@theolympian.com
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