Rising Funds Bode Well at Barclay

Irvine Barclay Theatre officials have received more money in contributions from corporations and individuals over the past two months than during the entire previous year.

Barclay president Douglas Rankin and board chairman Gary Singer are to announce tonight at a regular meeting of the City Council that the theater raised $237,000 in April and May--exceeding the $192,000 in private donations for all of 1995.

The spurt of gifts could have long-range implications for Barclay funding, Rankin said in a recent interview, presaging what he hopes will be growth in private donations. He said that, “estimating conservatively,” the Barclay should be able to raise at least $400,000 by year’s end.

Rankin attributed the recent flow of largess in great part to the City Council’s decision, by a unanimous vote March 26, to increase the Barclay’s subsidy from the city for the next five years.

“We had people sitting on the fence, awaiting the outcome of that decision,” Rankin said. “Given the fact that the council surprised everyone with its unanimity, it was a stunning message to the community as a whole that the theater is worth supporting.”

The recent spate of gifts came from Taco Bell, $50,000; Ray Watson, a retired executive formerly with Disney and the Irvine Co., $50,000; and the Waste Management Co., $60,000 over three years. An additional $21,000 came from roughly 80 contributors, and two fund-raising benefits brought in $56,000.

Rankin also expects to report that, when all the figures are in for the 1995-96 season, which ends in June, they will show that it has been a record year for attendance and box-office revenue--improving on the 1994-95 season, which also was a banner year.

The 756-seat theater opened in 1990 at a cost of $17.6 million, financed by a three-way partnership of the city, UC Irvine and a not-for-profit Irvine Barclay Theatre operating company that programs professional arts events in addition to community and UCI presentations.

The City Council bolstered its fiscal support in the face of skeptics who had demanded a sharp reduction in the city’s $425,000 annual subsidy. One proposal had recommended cutting it by $100,000. Instead, the council awarded an additional $120,000 requested by the theater for the current season.

The decision to increase annual funding to $600,000 over the next five years means that UCI also will increase its annual contribution from $212,500 to $300,000. (The university is obligated to match 50% of the city’s subsidy.) When Rankin presents the Barclay’s projected 1996-97 budget in June--he estimates it will be roughly $2 million, up slightly from the current $1.9 million--the Barclay is expected to receive $900,000 in public funding, up from $667,500.

City Manager Paul Brady said Friday that the higher subsidy was voted “with no restrictions whatsoever” after an investigation of Barclay programming and operations conducted by a council-appointed task force, which included an independent examination by an outside consultant.

The consultant, Jim Volz, a drama professor at Cal State Fullerton whose advice has been sought by South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa and other nationally recognized theaters, was hired to analyze how the Barclay develops its budget, to recommend improvements, to evaluate the benefits of having a professional theater and to suggest ways to minimize city funding while protecting the city’s overall investment.

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Volz said in a separate interview that the Barclay’s increased subsidy is “more than justified” over the short and long term.

“What I found in looking through the artistic and financial history of the Barclay is that it has been incredibly well-managed, that the physical plant has been maintained wonderfully well and that there’s a strong audience, indicating a support base.

“In a nutshell,” he continued, “I came to the conclusion that the Barclay’s first five years have been a phenomenal achievement in terms of audience, programming and community involvement, and that it has been troublesome only in terms of the lack of endowment planning and in meeting annual fund-raising goals.”

Volz noted that despite “a very strong strategic plan,” the Barclay needs more board members, volunteers, financial support and a larger staff to “delineate more clearly” what has so far been lackluster “campaign leadership.”

Still, he emphasized, “They’ve reached out to the community in a way that few professional theaters in America ever do. There are at least 40 to 50 performing arts groups that rely on it for their own presentations. That’s more than remarkable. It’s phenomenal.”

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The task-force recommendation that the Barclay board of directors be enlarged to about 25 members from nine is being implemented, Rankin said. Ten marketing firms that specialize in fund-raising campaigns are being interviewed for a concerted effort to bring in more private support.

“We’ve established that the theater’s artistic mission works, that it’s real,” Rankin said. “People are coming. Business has gotten stronger each and every year since the beginning. We know more about the future and the market than we did before.

“People say to us, ‘Well, if you just change your programming mix, you’ll be rolling in dollars,’ so that we won’t need a subsidy. Not true. The market doesn’t work that way. The realities of presenting are more complex. And the brick and mortar of a 50,000-square-foot building keep consuming energy and money at a rate not determined by us.”

Though the recent debate over funding was a chance to air perceptions (and misperceptions) about the Barclay, which resulted in the City Council’s declaration that the theater has been “a success story,” Rankin still sees a challenging period of discussion and education ahead.

“We’re going to zero in on what is possible over the next five years and how, in fact, to do it.”

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Irvine Barclay Theatre

TOTAL

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Season No. Perf. Attend. Avg. Cap. Ticket Sales Annual Budget 1993-94 185 88,000 63% $871,633 $1,750,000 1994-95 216 113,000 72% $1,327,069 $2,000,000 1995-96 217 88,890* 71%* $1,032,950* $1,900,000

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IBT-PRESENTED EVENTS

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Season No. Perf. Attend. Avg. Cap. IBT Ticket Sales 1993-94 26 14,972 78% $266,089 1994-95 31 19,534 87% $377,676 1995-96 27 18,053 90% $357,287

Season Other Ticket Sales 1993-94 $605,544 1994-95 $949,393 1995-96 $675,663*

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* Through April 30. Source: Irvine Barclay Theatre