Deficit Forces Opera Pacific to Cut Staff, Move Offices

Faced with deficits of nearly $2 million, Orange County’s only professional opera company on Friday announced its most drastic cost-cutting steps yet, laying off one-third of its staff, moving to smaller offices and forging an administrative cost-sharing partnership with the Orange County Performing Arts Center, where it stages its productions.

In addition, Irvine-based Opera Pacific, which puts on an average of four operas each season on a budget of $5 million to $6 million, appointed a new executive director to fill a leadership gap that has existed since its general director, Patrick L. Veitch, abruptly left in December after 15 contentious months at the helm.

Six full-time staff members in the finance, data processing and ticketing departments, among others, were fired Friday.

Company officials said the measures are necessary because they have been unable to get enough donations to make up the difference between expenses and income from ticket sales.

“We will be operating through the next fiscal year with a full-time staff of 10 people,” the new executive director, Martin Hubbard, said. “Any staff that we add will be temporary staff or [seasonal] staff to mount productions.”

The company is counting on an agreement that’s still being worked out with the center to help in those areas.

“We’re sharing some services to help reduce operating expenses so that we can continue to direct our resources to the main-stage productions,” Hubbard said. “Opera Pacific is a completely independent presenting organization, and it intends to stay that way.

“The center will be involved in no operational or artistic decisions, which is what they want and what we want,” he said, nor will the center be involved with any fund-raising for Opera Pacific. The company recently hired Orange-based Day & Associates to help identify more potential donors.

“Our focus right now is to close this year having funded this current year’s deficit and enter next year in a deficit-free structure,” said Hubbard, who said he is working as a volunteer, receiving $1 a year. He plans to step down when a new general director is hired.

“I’m very optimistic we can meet our goals,” he added, “because we’ve taken this significant step in reducing our operating expenses so that our budget from this point forward is balanced.”

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The company earned about $2.7 million in ticket sales during its 1997-98 season, which ended this month. That figure represents about half its budget. It has come up with only about $800,000 so far in donations.

“We need to raise another $1.5 million in contributed income by Aug. 31,” Hubbard said. “But we have some flexibility. We have the funds to mount our productions next year.”

On top of that $1.5 million, Opera Pacific has an accumulated deficit of about $467,000. “That will be removed over a period of time,” Hubbard said. “I don’t have a timetable for that.”

Cost-cutting began this season with fewer performances of each opera as well as reduced reliance on double casting, which allows singers more rest between each performance.

The company was founded in 1986 and has been in fiscal trouble for the last two years. It announced an accumulated deficit of nearly $1 million in September 1996, attributed partially to poor ticket sales for productions that season of Wagner’s “Die Walkure” and Marc Blitzstein’s “Regina.”

The Blitzstein work was the first in what was to have been an ambitious five-year series of operas by American composers. Last year, however, company officials announced the American operas would be staged in alternate years. None are on the recently announced 1998-99 season.

Subscription renewals are at 75% for the next season, which opens Nov. 3 at the center with Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly,” conducted by Opera Pacific’s recently appointed music director, John DeMain.