Globe teamwork

write to thank Charles McNulty for his generous assessment of my years in Southern California theater [“Theaters Playing to Bottom Line,” March 25]. It must be said that theater is a team sport; whatever was accomplished on behalf of new plays in my time at South Coast Repertory and at the Old Globe was done by groups of gifted artists and support staff who implemented a commitment made by the leadership of those theaters.

But I’m concerned that the credit awarded me in McNulty’s piece seemed to some extent to be at the expense of my colleague and friend of 20 years, Lou Spisto.

McNulty correctly points out that regional nonprofit theaters were created as artistic alternatives to boulevard fare favored by the commercial theater. As he notes, contributed income to nonprofits from government sources, broad-based individual support, and business and corporate funding has steadily declined, along with subscription bases. More and more nonprofits have had to find new strategies to pay more of their own way.

While producing two musicals and one Christmas perennial a year (out of 15 productions annually), the Globe over five seasons under Spisto has significantly increased its subscription base and generated single-ticket sales that have offset income shortfall on world premieres and other adventurous programming. The three-play Shakespeare Repertory led by Darko Tresnjak has been restored at the Globe and has flourished on Spisto’s watch. And half of the remaining programming in my three years at the Globe -- over a dozen plays -- have been new works.

McNulty credits Spisto’s extraordinary producing skills. The Globe’s leadership functions as a team. Lou has supported my artistic choices and made some of his own. The Globe’s “laudable history” and “balanced diet” referenced by McNulty has continued under Spisto’s leadership, and Lou, Darko and I are currently programming into the 2010 season. Lou is committed to continuing a balanced program of musicals, classics and new work.

The tension between art and commerce McNulty identified is an everyday factor in nonprofit theater. But most would agree that ongoing or growing deficits are a greater threat to artistic vision than executive oversight of artists -- especially given Spisto’s history of support for innovative programming and commitment to the mission of the Old Globe.

Jerry Patch

San Diego

Patch is co-artistic director at the Old Globe.