Pay-Perk Packages for Running Arts Centers Around U.S.

A Times Orange County Edition survey of arts centers around the country and the two highest-paid administrators at each indicates that by general standards of comparison, Orange County Performing Arts Center President Thomas R. Kendrick and his wife, Center General Manager Judith O’Dea Morr, are very well compensated:

--Kendrick received compensation of $184,246 in 1988 and a benefits package of $6,543, for a total of $190,789, according to documents filed with the California Registry of Charitable Trusts. Morr earned $108,678 and a benefits package of $3,749, for a total of $112,427.

The Center has one hall and 65 employees, 29 of whom (including Kendrick and Morr) earn more than $30,000 per year. There were 266 paid, ticketed performances in 1988, 60% of which were presented by the Center. The Center’s current budget is $15.4 million.

--Nathan Leventhal, president of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, earned $205,865 and received a benefit package of $20,785 in 1988, for a total of $226,650, according to documents filed with New York state. Donald Warner, one of the center’s six vice presidents and the second-highest-paid administrator, earned $108,765 and received benefits worth $14,750, totaling $123,515.

There are six theaters in the complex and 307 full-time employees, 106 of whom earn more than $30,000 per year. In the current season, there were about 2,200 paid, ticketed performances (about the same number as in 1988). Of those, 90% were presented by the center or constituent organizations such as the Metropolitan Opera and the New York City Ballet, which have separate operating budgets. (These budgets dwarf those of the Pacific Symphony and Orange County Philharmonic Society, which are not considered resident or constituent organizations of the Orange County Center.) In 1988-89, Lincoln Center’s own budget is $40 million.

--Francis L. Dale, who until June, 1988, was president of the Music Center in Los Angeles, was listed as earning $175,000 a year with no benefits package, according to the most recent information filed with the California Registry of Charitable Trusts in Sacramento. Esther Wachtell, who was executive vice president until she succeeded Dale, was listed at $75,000 a year. She has been replaced in that position by James Black, whose salary is not yet available.

A county facility with three halls, the Music Center has 400 employees--11 of whom earn more than $30,000 annually--and operates on $75 million a year. There were 976 paid, ticketed performances at the Music Center during the 1987-88 season, 90% of which were presented by groups affiliated with the complex, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Joffrey Ballet and the Los Angeles Music Center Opera, according to Hal Shafer of the center’s financial department.

--Ralph Davidson, the chairman of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, is paid $125,000 per year and is provided with a car, according to Laura Longley, the center’s director of public affairs. He succeeded Roger Stevens, who had no salary. The 1988 figures, including the salary of Marta Istomin, the center’s artistic director, have not yet been filed with the Internal Revenue Service. In 1987, the next-highest-paid administrator was Stephen Klein at $106,156, according to information filed with the IRS. Klein is executive director of the National Symphony, which is affiliated with the Kennedy Center. He has no additional duties with the center.

The complex includes five performing arts venues and one film theater and has 275 full-time employees, including 103 orchestra members. In all, 189 of the full-time employees, including all members of the orchestra, earned more than $30,000. For the 1987-88 season, there were more than 1,500 live performances, nearly 80% of which were presented by the center, according to Longley. The center operates on a budget of $57 million, a figure that includes the symphony’s budget.

--Lawrence J. Wilker, president of Playhouse Square Center in Cleveland, earned $130,000 in 1988, with a benefits package of $15,630, for a total of $145,630, according to the most recent information filed with the IRS. Art Falco, the vice president for finance, earned $67,600 that year, with no separate benefits package.

The center includes three refurbished theaters and has 90 full-time employees, 19 of whom earned more than $30,000 in 1988. There were more than 500 paid, ticketed performances at the center in the 1988-89 season, about the same as in the previous year. About half were presented by the center. The playhouse’s annual budget was $8.5 million.

--Thelma Shelley, managing director of the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center, receives a salary of $86,996, according to Elizabeth Glaze, a spokeswoman for the center. The assistant managing director, Elizabeth Murray, earns $61,802. Both Shelley and Murray are civil servants and receive benefits accordingly.

The War Memorial has three theaters and 69 employees, 30 of whom earn more than $30,000. During the 1987-88 season there were nearly 700 live, ticketed performances at the center, which does not present or sponsor any performances. The facility operates on a yearly budget of $4.5 million.

--Ruby Black, manager of the Gus S. Wortham Theater Center in Houston, earns $38,213 in salary as a city employee. Ken Ashworth, assistant manager, earns $32,904.

The two-theater facility has 27 full-time employees. There were 231 paid, ticketed performances in 1988-89, up slightly from 1987-88. More than 60% were presented by the Houston Grand Opera and the Houston Ballet, resident companies at the center, both of which maintain budgets independent of the center. The center, which operates on an annual budget of $1.67 million, neither presents nor sponsors performances.

Like the Orange County Performing Arts Center, the Wortham Center cost about $73 million to build, all of which was raised from private sources.