Open House Reminder

Reminder that the OHPAA board will be holding a public open house at the Empress on Tuesday, March 3, 2009, from 7 to 9 PM. This event is open to all patrons, volunteers or anyone else that has an interest in OHPAA or the Empress Theatre. The purpose of the open house is to take feedback from patrons and volunteers about how well we are doing. Come tell us your thoughts.

New Roof, New Paint, Super Volunteers & Contributors

During the last few weeks, the Empress Theatre has received a new roof, a fresh coat of paint in the lobby and other enhancements.

Empress patrons who came to see Babes in Toyland may remember all of the plastic sheeting in the north end of the house, especially near the sound booth, and some may even remember finding some wet seats in the back row. The old membrane roof on the north side of the building had been failing for some time, and a decision was finally made to replace the entire roof rather than keep trying to fix the leaks. The new roof should keep the water out in the future, but there is still a bit of work to be done to fix someof the things that were damaged by the leaks. The new roof was arranged by the family of Leo Ware.

A small army of volunteers dedicated their Saturday, and a few evenings of the last couple of weeks to moving props and costumes from the Empress basement to another storage location, patching walls, giving the lobby a fresh coat of paint, and installing carpet tiles in the prop room. Curtis Bailey, Michele Brown, Kathy Wilcox and a host of others whose names I don't have put in many hours of hard work. We thank all of these wonderful volunteers for their great work!

Michael Harman, a local youth frequently seen on the Empress stage, and son of Steve and Charlen e "Charlie" Harman, lead another group of volunteers who cleaned and organized the green room and installed some much needed shelving and lighting as his Eagle Scout project. Thank you, Michael and crew.

The Empress is fortunate to have so many willing and able volunteers and contributors. Without the hard work and financial contributions from you, the great plays and musicals just wouldn't be possible.

Last Chance for 2nd Anniversary Gala Dinner Reservations!

If you haven't made your reservation for the 2nd Anniversary Gala yet,... do it now!

The caterer needs a guest count no later than Wednesday, October 15th, so we need to have all reservations by that time.

Don't miss out on this great party for all of our Empress Theatre friends. Call the box office at (801)347-7373 right now, or make your reservation on line at the Empress Theatre's website.
Tell your friends to get their reservations in now too!

In addition to the dinner, there will be an awards ceromony, a preview of the 2009 season, and afterwards an evening of dancing the night away.

Second Anniversary Gala & '09 Season Kick-Off

Mark Saturday, October 18, 2008 on you calendar!

That's the day we'll be celebrating the 2nd anniversary of the reopening of the Empress Theatre! And well be kicking off the 2009 Season Ticket Sales!

We're having a gala party, starting at 7:00 PM, with dinner, an awards program and a sneak peek at the 2009 season, followed by dancing. The affair will be held at Rocky Mountain Raceway, 6555 W 2100 S, Magna. Tickets for dinner, the program and dancing will be $45/couple or $25 per person. If you just want to come for the program and dancing, it's $7.50 per person. Businesses can purchase their own table for up to 8 people for $160, and will get a placard with their business name on the table.

We'll also be kicking off our 2009 season-ticket sales at the gala, so you won't want to miss it.

Dress will be semi-formal, with coat and tie suggested. Call the box office at (801) 347-7373 to reserve your tickets now!

4th of July Thank You's

A big special thank you to everyone who helped us celebrate the 4th of July Empress Theatre Style!



Suzanne, Michele, Pam, Tammy, Dr. Haggart, Douglas, Amy, Ginny and all the ushers and tour guides and other people whose names I don't have who helped with the yard sale and the theatre tours. We made a little over $800, which is good money for a yard sale. I'm not sure we made enough to justify doing all the work everyone did again, but we're that much closer to our goal of raising the down payment on the Empress! Way to go!



Steve, Liz, and all the cast of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and the cast of "Jesters Royale" (It was as big a surprise for me as it was for you) for your presence in the parade and for passing out the fliers. A special personal thank you to Adam McKinlay for rescuing Amy and Ephraim with the 4-wheeler.



Laura Bedore, KOSY-FM and Green Team Utah for providing our parade announcer. As usual, Laura was terriffic!

4th of July in Magna!

We've been getting a lot of donations for the "Super Colossal Yard Sale," and the Tribune and the Provo Herald have both published our notices. Joline is going to need some help tagging and pricning stuff. We can use a couple more hands to help run the sale too. If you can help, call the box office and let Suzanne know!

In addition to the yard sale, we'll be selling concessions both in the parking lot and in the Empress Theatre lobby. And we'll be offering tours of the Empress, so bring your friends that haven't seen a show yet.

In the meantime, there are some other cool things going on in Magna on the 4th:

• Lions Club Chuck Wagon Breakfast from 8:00 to Noon!


• The Senior Citizens Center is having a rumage sale (We're the copycats!)


• The Arts Council of Magna is having an art show featuring local artists in the Magna Chamber of Commerce building


• The annual Magna-tude parade will start at 12:30. Laura Bedore will be announcing the parade from near the Empress!


• All of the normal Copper Community Park Festivities will be be happening, including the carnival.


• Fireworks after dark.

Homeschool and the Theatre

One of the cool things about homeschooling my children and being involved with the Empress Theatre is that we can build our curriculum around the shows we're working on. It can be pretty amazing where this process can take you. For example...

• Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is obviously set in 1850 Oregon, so there's that whole slice of Amercian History to cover.


• Seven Brides is based on a short story by Stephen Vincent Binet called "The Sobbin' Women" which is a wonderful way to get into the writings of Binet. "By the Waters of Babylon" and "The Devil and Daniel Webster" are a couple of my personal favorites.


• "The Devil and Daniel Webster" is cited as an "unofficial" legal case in The United States ex rel Gerald Mayo v. Satan and His Staff (54 F.R. D. 282 - 1971), which opens up discussions about legal jurisdiction and procedure. Can a man actually sue Satan?


• Binet's story, in turn, is based on The Rape of the Sabine Women, from Plutarch. This opens up the history and mythology of the founding of Rome.


• The notion of bride kidnapping has been practiced in many parts of the world, and still is in some parts of the lower steppes of Asia and parts of Africa. This is a stepping off point for discussions of different marriage customs, morals, and scruples. Did you know that the tradition of carrying the bride across the threshold dates from the custom of kidnapping her first?


• The "rape" in The Rape of the Sabine Women means to abduct or kidnap, and has nothing to do with the modern meaning of sexual violation, which leads to discussions of how our language changes over time. Since it comes from the same Latin root (Raptio) that is the source for "rapture," "rapine," "rapacious," "ravish," and "raptor," we can expand vocabulary.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

So here's this week's trivia question, just for Leisa: Be the first to tell me who painted the picture accompanying this post, and where it hangs and you'll get two tickets to Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

Volunteer Discount

Did you know that Empress Theatre volunteers get a 15% discount on program advertising?

Here's what you can do with it... Obviously you can place an ad in the program. Or on the email tickets, or on this blog... That's pretty cool if you happen to own a business.

But what if you don't own a business? Well, you can sell ad space to other people that do own businesses and keep the difference for yourself. Lets see, a full page ad costs $185, so that's about $27.75 you'd get to put in your pocket. And the really cool part is that you get the difference every time they renew their ad too.

There are still a couple of days left to get an ad into the Seven Brides for Seven Brothers program. The ad deadline is Friday, June 27th.

So what are you waiting for?

The "Leo Awards"

Last Sunday, the American Theatre Wing handed out the 2008 Tony awards. In the Heights took the award for best musical, best original score written for the theatre, best choreography, and best orchestrations, and was nominated in nine other categories. If you want to know more about the Tonys or the winners, visit the official website

The Tony awards get their name from Antoinette Perry, an actress, director, producer and the dynamic wartime leader of the American Theatre Wing, who passed away just before the awards program started in 1947.

Well, I'm thinking we need to have a "Leo." We should have a black-tie (very optional) gala every year around Tony time and give awards to the best of the Empress Theatre's talent, both on and off of the stage. And at the same time we can honor and thank our patrons and benefactors for their support through the year.

And what a great way to honor Leo Ware's memory.

Tell me what you think!

In the meantime, here are the poll results from our "What was your favorite show" poll. Only 25 folks voted, so there's a very wide margin of error, but...

The first runner up is ... Pirates of Penzance with 21% of the vote
The second runner up is (and this surprised me given the smaller crowds we had)... The Mystery of Edwin Drood with 32% of the vote.

And the winner is ... (Ralph, could I have a drum roll please)...
Fiddler on the Roof. (BTW, Fiddler won Tony awards in 1965 for best musical and 8 other categories. In 1972, it won a special Tony for becoming the longest-running musical in Broadway history.)

Be sure to vote for your favorite male lead in our current poll.

Cast for Seussical

Man, remind me not to invite you guys to an Easter Egg hunt. This has been on the website for a while but you have to look for it. Quick, before Horton hatches it!

Cast for Seussical:
Cat in the Hat . . . . . . . .Thomas Gasu
JO-Jo . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Jasmine Dean
Horton the Elephant . . . Shawn Maxfield
Getsrude McFuzz . . . . .Aubrey Vance
Maysie LaBird . . . . . . . Samanta Pace
Sour Kangaroo . . . . . . .Cynthia Johnson
Young Kangaroo . . . . . Jaden Johnson
General Schmitz . . . . . .Nolan Mitchell
Mr. Mayor . . . . . . . . . .TBA
Mrs. Mayor . . . . . . . . .Amanda Heywood

The Wickersham Brothers
Austin Wrathall
Skyler Bluemel
.Jordan Wanberg
Brandon Case.
Dallon Thorup
Adam McKinlay
Troy Larsen

Bird Girl Chorus
Macall Herpich.
Maegan Herpich
Madison Ford
Shannon Jones
Annalyn Ruth
Hannah Ruth
Cheryl Cripps
Connie Cripps
Kimberly Pettit
Krystin Christopherson

Whos
Doug Green
Jim Schroeder
Emily Herpich
Ann Herpich
Lila Cripps
Spencer Lawson
Nicole Mitchell
Alyvia Wrathall
Tianna Wrathall
Stacie Brown
Starly Bluemel
Kenichi Nakashima
Akemi Nakashima

Jungle Creatures
Jennifer Pearce
Sara Barlocker
Samantha Christensen
Kylee Clark
Amanda Shinall
TraQuell Gasu
Tyanna Gasu
Alissa Christensen
Brittney De St. Jeor
Mary Alice Nelson
The Grinch . . . . . . . .Doug Green
Vlad Vladikoff . . . . . Emily Herpich

Hunters
Ann Herpich
Lila Cripps
Nicole MitchellCadets
Spencer Lawson
Kenichi Nakashima
TraQuell Gasu
Tyanna Gasu
Alissa Christensen
Brittney De St. Jeor
Mary Alice Nelson
Amanda Shinall

Please remember that the Chorus is used throughout the show, there are a lot of group numbers and numbers where people will be playing other characters. If you decide you cannot do the show, please email Glen Carpenter at glenorcarp@msn.com..Thank you for sharing your talents with us. FIRST REHEARSAL SATURDAY JUNE 21ST FROM 10AM TO 1:30PM

A 4th of July request

While I'm on the subject of the 4th of July, there is a flag pole on top of the Empress Theatre. It would look terriffic to have our flag flying proudly up there, but the pole is in need of paint and repair.

It would be even more cool to have someone design an Empress Theatre flag that could fly below Old Glory, and maybe even have a bunch of them over the sidewalk in front of the theatre.

Who is up for these two projects?

More Surprises

What do you get when a theatre cleans out its property and set storage, and needs to raise $12,000 in a big hurry? One Super-Colossal Yard Sale!

We are tentatively scheduling this mega event for July 4th in the theatre's parking lot. We've got a snow mobile, a couple of electronic organs, a fountain, and some other stuff, but (and this is the cool part) we need more stuff to sell. So all of you that agreed to clean out the garage for your Dad's (that's a hint for those of you who have no money for a Fathers' Day gift) this weekend now have something to do with all that stuff.

It's a perfect win-win-win!

Dad gets a clean garage, you get to make a donation to your favorite charity, and we get to sell the stuff to help raise the $12,000 we need to make the down payment on the Empress Theatre. And you'll feel so much better when it's done. Just bask in it.

Now for those of you who don't have garages, don't have fathers, or just want more to bask in: we need volunteers to put the whole show together. Call, email, text or stop me or Joline on the street to volunteer. But volunteer now.

This is going to be so much fun!

Board Meeting: The good, the bad, and the not very pretty...

As I predicted a few posts back, Joline resigned as Executive Director of the Empress Theatre. Trent Oliphant has been named Acting Executive Director until the board finishes its reorganization and revision of the by-laws. Joline isn't gone completely though; she has agreed to help out with our development efforts. So expect to see Joline working on marketing and fundraising. (I am personally ecstatic about this!)
But for those of you who volunteer at the theatre, call Trent when you need something... Or Nolan, he is still the Artistic Director of the Empress Theatre.
Joline has been a wonderful asset to OHPAA and to the Empress, and I want to extend my personal thank you to her for going way beyond the call of duty. She is going to be a tremendous asset in the Development Department.
And we are going to need that help, as the board voted to proceed with phase one of the capital plan. In this phase we exercize the option to purchase the Empress Theatre from Leo's estate, and purchase the Magna Hardware building and all the parking to the west and north. I'm not going to go into a lot of detail on the arrangements, other than to say that we're getting a really good deal on the four properties involved.
But taking this action gives us a couple of serious challenges.
First, we need to raise the remaining down payment for the Empress Theatre. Our purchase option expires in August, and we need to raise $12,000 for the rest of the down payment.
Second, the deal on the hardware building will require us to pay $650/month for about a year, and then come up with $15,000. After that we'll either have to make payments of about $1,000/month, or find funding to pay off that purchase.
Under all of the scenarios, we'll need to either refinance the hardware building in three years, and the Empress Theatre in five, or develop funding to pay them off. And none of these scenarios includes anything for rennovation of the hardware building.
All of this is complicated by our current cash shortage. We can probably get grant money to at least help with some of these costs, but in order to apply for the grants, we need to have an audit. And to get the audit, we need to pay the auditor...
We are working with Salt Lake County and others to develop some of this funding, and I will be writing grant proposals like mad for the next little while, but we need your donations too!
And if you can't make a donation yourself, then we still need you! We need people to do everything from stuff envelopes to writing grant proposals.
We have, in fact, a need for someone to organize a super-colossal yard sale. I'm betting that you'd have a lot of fun with this; getting donated items to go with the two organs and the snowmobile we already have to sell; figuring out where and when to have the sale; advertising it and getting the word out. Come on, volunteer! You know you want to!

Fund Raising Update

WE DID IT!!! Thank you to everyone who donated or who helped recruit others to our cause. We didn't get enough in time to go with a color program, but we will have a slick black and white book.

Here's the honor roll of donors:

Betsy Vandenberghe pledged $50-$100

Jann Lowder, $100

Laura Bedore, $100

Kathy Wilcox, $100

Clyde Hendrickson, $200

And....

Rocky Mountain Power, $1580!

The Rocky Mountain Power donation is kewl. Clyde works for Rocky Mountain, and has done a bunch of volunteer accounting work for us. The power company has a program where employees can volunteer their time to a non-profit like OHPAA and the Empress Theatre, and the company will make a donation based on the number of hours donated.

So, a big thank you to Clyde Hendrickson and to Rocky Mountain Power. And to everyone else that contributed, large and small.

All of you other volunteers out there that have regular day jobs: check with your employers and see if they have a similar program. If everyone who volunteers at the Empress Theatre worked for a company like Rocky Mountain Power, my job would be soooooo much easier!

Programs for Big Bad Musical

Okay, so here's what happened...

We had a smash hit with Joseph, that covered our expenses and allowed us to reimburse some long outstanding purchases and cover some other deferred expenses.

"An Evening of One Act Plays" was an educational program, not a major production. It was artisticly and educationally successfull, but it didn't make us any money. We may have even lost a bit on the deal. But that's why we're a non-profit organization.

We hoped that The Foreigner would ride on Joseph's coattails and be successful at the box office. Based on this expectation, we committed cash to secure the rights to Big Bad Musical and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. And we started putting money into Seven Brides.

Well, Foreigner didn't do as well as we'd planned. It was a risky show for us to do. It's not well known outside of theatre circles, and it has some language and situations that some find objectionable. It just wasn't what our audience wanted. It's a wonderful show, and Porter and the cast have done a marvelous job with it. But we just didn't draw the paying audience we expected for it. Hopefully, when all the beans are counted, it will have covered its expenses.

But Foreigner hasn't put any cash back into the till.

Meanwhile...

For our big productions, we have a contract with Theatre Publications to actually publish the book. They have the right to sell some of the advertising, so they underwrite a large portion of the printing bill. So those big 32-36 page full color programs don't cost us very much. And we are able to sell advertising to help defray some more of the costs.

But our smaller shows and educational programs are not covered in the contract. One-Acts and Young Performers' Theatre isn't expected to draw large audiences, and we'd never recoup the cost of the big programs without selling a lot more advertising than we've been able to do so far. We've only had a couple of volunteers step up to sell ads, and they've had marginal success. (though they've been more successful than I was when I tried doing it for a living in Las Vegas!)

We were able to have the programs for One-Acts printed for $200. When I asked about doing the Big Bad programs, and I was ordering only half as many, the quote was $250. That was a pretty steep increase. And we're cash tight.

So, here is a specific need for donations or sponsorships. We need to raise enough cash to cover printing the program for Big Bad, and we need some additional cash to cover the cost of printing flyers and postcards and doing our other marketing things. If we can raise $500, we can do 500 black and white, 8 page programs and have color postcards and flyers printed. If we can raise $750, we can have the programs in color. For $1,000 we can do 16 pages in color.

(No. We're not in danger of closing up shop. We have a temporary cash shortage. But we do still have a long way to go before we'll be financially comfortable and able to reach our goals. I always look at these little situations as opportunites. Lets see if we can raise some cash to meet this need! As an educational program, this is one of those things that has value beyond the price of admission.)

So, I'm going to ask you to either make a donation, become a sponsor, or help us find some sponsors for Big Bad Musical. (BTW, I already have one $50 pledge... From one of our friends in Holladay!) The deadline to submit the program to the printer is Monday, so don't procrastinate.

UPDATE: As of 11:40 this morning, I have received a committment from one Friend of the Empress for a $50 - $100 donation, but she won't be able to make it until June 25 when she returns from Brazil. Another of our friends has agreed to put a full page ad in the program. And finally, we've received a $200 donation through Google Checkout. That's $325 we've raised so far. Lets keep going!

UPDATE: Got an email from Joline a few minutes ago. Kathy Wilcox just made another donation for $100. Kathy you Rock!

UPDATE 6/9/2008: Jan Lowder just donated $100 via Google Checkout! This is awesome!

Super Star Volunteer: Joline Walgamott

I had hoped I'd never have to write this particular blog post. And I'm sure I'll catch hell from Joline when she reads this; I don't think she wants this disclosed, but I'm going to disclose it anyway.

It's not that I don't want to sing Joline's praises. Joline is one of the most wonderful people I have ever met, and as the Executive Director of the Empress Theatre, she has been a tireless volunteer. She has taken on an enormous job and made the Empress work. Joline and Rod have put so much of themselves into OHPAA and the Empress Theatre; much more than most of you will ever know.

Many of the folks who come to play at the Empress come to do the fun things; either to be on stage in a show, or to watch a performance. But some of us have taken on the, "its a tough job, but somebody has to do it" functions of the Empress. The Executive Director position is one of those jobs, and Joline is one of about five folks that have carried OHPAA and the Empress Theatre's water so the rest of us could have fun. Joline has put in many, many 60 hour weeks for us, and both she and Rod have sacrificed things in their personal lives to make the operation work. The Executive Director merits a salary of $100,000; Joline has been doing that work for 18 months for ... zilch.

But now the chickens have come home to roost, and I feel that I have failed Joline in my efforts to raise operating funds. You see, on Monday, Joline had to start a paying job at Discover Card in order to help support her family and recover some of the financial resources she and Rod have put into OHPAA. The financial burden of supporting OHPAA became too much for the Walgamotts. As a result, Joline will have less time available for her ED duties, and that work is going to have to be done by others. There is actually discussion of Joline stepping down as Executive Director.

I'm going to put this bluntly: OHPAA needs to raise about $250-300,000 to reach its 2008 operating goals. We need to raise about $50,000 fairly soon to maintain our production quality for the remainder of the season. Part of the goals includes salaries for about six people that carry the load so the rest of us can have fun. If you love the Empress Theatre, or if you love Joline, as I do, then click on the donate button to the left, or if you can't make a cash donation at this time, then help me to raise the money by volunteering your time to help with fund raising and marketing.

Do it right now while you're thinking about it.

OHPAA Long Range Capital Plans

Rod, Joline and I (and Nolan for a few short minutes) met on Wednesday with Bob Bailey, a consultant, and a delegation from the county working to develop Salt Lake County's "Cultural Arts Master Plan" to discuss the future of OHPAA and the Empress Theatre.
We gave them a tour of the Empress Theatre and the Magna Hardware building, discussed what we've accomplished so far and what we plan to do in the future.
As some of you may already know, the Empress Theatre is the only live theatre serving the west side of Salt Lake County (HCT, located on 2200 W is actually east of the geographical center of the valley.) The only other live performance venue to serve the west side is the Usana Ampitheatre in West Valley City. The purpose of our meeting was to ensure that OHPAA and the Empress Theatre are included in the master plan so that we don't get bypassed as arts development monies are appropriated and locations for venues are chosen.
As part of the discussion, we talked about OHPAA's longer range plans. We still need to purchase the Empress Theatre from Leo Ware's estate beofre our purchase option expires in August. We are also working on purchasing the old Magna Hardware building right nextdoor to the Empress. That building includes the parking lot to the west and the alley easement that runs from the Empress to 9180 West and the building that currently houses Walgamott Realty. Further down the road, but not much further, we are looking at acquiring the old Dyches Drug building across the street.
The hardware building will be rennovated for use as a set construction shop, costume shop, storage and possibly some office space. We might also open the upstage wall of the Empress Theatre stage to communicate with the hardware store building to allow us to move scenery back and forth between the two buildings rather than take it through the lobby as we do now.
The 6000 square foot main floor of the Dyches building would be used as a rehearsal hall, classroom, reception area, and possibly a small eatery and gift shop. We could also use that building as a black box theatre or for non-play type performances like our show choir or for events like dances. (Despite the overwhelming preference for an outdoor party with live entertainment, I still want to have a formal gala. Probably in the winter. Fortunately, we can do both!)
Finally, the parking lot west of the hardware store would be paved and marked, while the alley behind the Empress Theatre and the hardware store would either become additional parking or would be landscaped for outdoor events. And we'd probably add the parking behind the Dyches building as well.
All told, it will take about $750,000 to $1,000,000 just to purchase the buildings and do enough of the rennovation to allow us to open them up. We'll have to decontaminate the meth lab in the Dyches building, tear down that eyesore on top, and fix the roof. And probably double that to actually complete the project. But I think it is well worth the effort for both OHPAA's sake and for Magna's.
These plans are still in the development stages, and haven't even been voted on by the Board yet, but I thought folks would like to know what we're looking at in the future.

Dance the night away or big picnic in the park?

Would you rather dance the night away or chill out at a big picnic in the park with friends? Over the last month, there have been more than 100 visitors to this blog, but only 12 of you have voted in the poll in the left margin. There are five days left, go register your vote. Do it right now!
The big picnic is in the lead at the moment, followed a close second by the formal gala.
While I'm on the subject... Who'd like to help plan either of these events?

Value Beyond the Price of Admission - My view

Okay, I guess it's time for me to answer my own question, and say what I think the value beyond the price of admission is.

Lets start with the value of the price of admission. That value is the value of the entertainment; the value of seeing the show on the stage, complete with all of the ooohs and ahhhs and teary eyes and belly laughs. The value of the one time experience. I may want to share that with a friend, and so I will buy my friend a ticket and come see the show again. I feel that the entertainment is worth more than the price of the ticket and drop some cash in the donation box or send in a check. But all of these are things that are included in the price of admission.

But the one time experience doesn't justify tax payer funded subsidies or large grants from philanthropic organizations. As I reframed the question, what is it about some performing arts programs that allows them to compete with cancer research or public education for funding? What is the common thread? Here then, is what I think...

Things like medical research or education or environmental science or poverty programs are worthy philanthropic areas of focus because they seek to improve the quality of life. Some, like environmental science or education, seek to reach the broadest possible scope; while others like poverty reduction or medical research, seek to improve the quality of live for a select sub-group of the human population. Yet even with the most tightly focused field, we all gain because we push forward the field of human knowledge. An idea or discovery in one area often translates into advances in other areas as well.

Whether you believe that Man was created by deity or evolved from a primordial sludge, one thing we can agree on is the one of the more remarkable things about human beings, which sets them apart from all other forms of life on Earth, is the use of language. All animals can communicate with each other, but only Man uses language to communicate ideas. In fact, the ape named Ape from George of the Jungle aside, Man is probably the only creature that thinks in terms of ideas. We not only think and communicate ideas, but we have developed the ability to record ideas and save them for people that come after us. So ideas, and the ability to communicate those ideas, is what makes Man unique, and also gives Man both the ability to rise above a base existence, and the ability to befoul his existence.

Were it not for this ability in Man to create and then communicate ideas, then the medical research, the poverty program, the environmental science, and education would not be possible. Is it not then, extremely important to support the further development of both ideas themselves, and the means through which they are preserved and communicated? And since Man can both elevate and debase himself depending on which ideas he chooses to pursue, is it not in the best interest of Mankind to support the higher ideas?

Mortimer Adler, one of the chief editors of Encyclopedia Brittanica, calls it the "great conversation." He collected close to a hundred of the best works of classical literature, from Plato to Shakespeare to Freud, in to a large set of books he calls "The Great Books of the Western World." Each of the books was chosen because it makes a major advance in human thinking; each book is a classic in its field. But books are only part of the story... and not always the right way to preserve or transmit an idea.

Theatre, Dance, Opera, and Symphony (I didn't chose these categories... they came from a comment in the Salt Lake Tribune), and in fact each of the fine and visual arts, embodies both a means of communicating ideas and a means of preserving ideas. Performance actually came before the written media, and it is likely the oldest means of transmitting and preserving ideas. All of these prompt us to use our brains differently than we might otherwise. And by stimulating our brains differently, prompt us to look at our worlds differently; they encourage us to create new ideas.

So, to summarize, the performing arts are a means of preserving and communicating classic ideas that are part of the Great Conversation, and stimulating new ideas that will advance that conversation. They are worth the support of governments and the donations from wealthy foundations because they not only improve the human condition, but because they preserve and advance the mechanism that makes all other improvement to the human condition possible. They are not just a part of what humans do, they are what makes us human.

The Value Beyond the Price of Admission

Every now and then I am confronted by someone who complains, as did a commentor in today's Tribune (see the comments associated with the letter): "What is it about dance, theater, opera and symphony, that they can't finance themselves like so many other artistic genres?"

This person is probably suffering from a common delusion that most of the operating money for live theatres like the Empress and organizations like OHPAA come from government grants. For the record, OHPAA received a whopping $3,000 in government subsidies last year; compared to over $500,000 in donated cash, volunteer labor, and materials from private sources and over $70,000 in earned income from ticket sales, etc. And that was just our first year of operation. We expect to make about $150,000 from ticket sales this year.

Nevertheless, the question is valid and deserves an answer. I think however, that we must first reframe the question slightly. Dance, theatre, opera, and symphony and all of the other performing and fine arts are all able to "finance themselves," but they don't do it strictly from the money collected from admission to events or sale of artifacts. These art forms are funded by a combination of "earned income," sponsorship revenues (from the sales of advertising and promotional partnerships) , and donations or grants from private and public sources.

For what it's worth, TV, movies and even professional sports wouldn't make it on admissions alone. They need sponsors and they get subsidies too! There is just a different mix and visibility, as well as different production & distribution efficiencies.

Next, I think we need to ask the question: Why is this this model used? This question is really two questions: What are the alternative models and why is this model chosen over them? And Why does this model work at all?

We can take up the first question at a later time, but for today, lets examine the 2nd. Why is it that "dance, theatre, opera and symphony" can finance their art and the operation of their venues with tax subsidies and private donations?

What value exists in the performing arts that justifies governmental subsidy programs like the Salt Lake County Zoo, Arts, and Parks program or a grant from the Utah Arts Council or the National Endowment for the Arts? What prompts a charitable foundation like the George S. and Delores Dore Eccles Foundation to establish arts as a philanthropic focus? What inspires a private donor to write a check for several thousand dollars and give it to an organization like OHPAA? And what's up with all the donated labor and time?

I have my thoughts on this, but I think I'm going to leave the question open for today. Instead, I'd like to hear your ideas about why it is even possible for a performing arts organization to acquire funding beyond what it can earn from the sale of tickets. Click on the comment link below and tell me what you think.