In the first part of our State of the arts special report, Julie MacLellan talked to Footlight Theatre and Align Entertainment about the challenges and successes of staging musical theatre in Burnaby.
In part 2, both companies talk about their visions for the future - and what comes next in the quest to create memorable theatre for the people of Burnaby and beyond.
Enter the audience
You can have everything going for you as a theatre company, but if no one comes to see your show - well, you've got trouble.
The question facing both Footlight Theatre and Align Entertainment is whether audiences are ready to support their large-scale musical productions.
Before Align Entertainment's recent run of Shrek the Musical at the Michael J. Fox Theatre, founding partner Chad Matchette was being cautiously optimistic about the turnout for Shrek - it had been getting a great deal of word-of-mouth publicity, he said, and people were excited about the musical coming to town. But he noted that Vancouver audiences are notorious for last-minute ticket-buying, so he wasn't certain what to expect of the run.
However, to help ensure audiences, the company was doing its best to keep the show accessible to everyone - with reduced matinee prices and special $15 tickets on weekdays and Family Day.
By the end of the run, it was evidently paying off.
Megan Simpson, one of Align Entertainment's partners, said the company had found ticket sales were strong out of the gate, with a few early shows even selling out - and, as the run went on, tickets were being sold for later shows. Which, she noted, meant word was getting out that Shrek was worth coming to see.
"It's going really well. We're really, really excited," she said, with a week or so left in the show's run, though she admitted that they'd still like to see ticket sales go even higher.
Footlight, likewise, focuses on affordability - Susan Reid, president of the group's board, pointed out tickets are always priced on a tier system so there will be something for everyone. It also offers school shows during the day so that local youngsters can enjoy the shows.
Reid pointed out that its affordability, combined with the accessibility of easy parking and access to SkyTrain, makes it much more appealing to families than venturing to a night out in Vancouver.
"For the price of one ticket downtown, you can bring a family of four to our show," she said.
And she's quick to point out that not only is the theatre affordable, it's also high-quality.
"We're doing the same quality you would see in Arts Club," she said, and added that the scale of a Footlight production is larger than anything the professional Vancouver theatre company would stage. "We do way bigger shows than Arts Club."
Both Align and Footlight also draw on experienced professional talent to fill out their creative and production teams.
"People are blown away when they come to see a show," Reid said.
Matchette was confident audiences would be equally excited about his company's first offering - noting the talent of the team behind it was incredible.
"We're so lucky to have the people we have working with us," he said.
The issue for Footlight, Reid said, has not been one of quality or affordability, but of being known - since, despite its long history, she said, the community seems unaware of its existence.
"People don't seem to know about us," she said. "It's a matter of getting the word out."
Enter the businesspeople
Ask anyone in the arts, and they'll tell you it's not an easy time to be in the market of producing something that people regard as a "frill."
"You notice that people are cutting back on the extras," Reid said.
Which means they have to work all the harder to get support.
"One of our challenges going forward is fundraising, corporate sponsorship," she said.
Align Entertainment has been set up as a business - not a non-profit organization - from the get-go, and Matchette noted that sponsorship has been key in getting its production off the ground.
Companies including G&F Financial Group, CEFA Early Learning, the Burnaby NOW, the Lindbjerg Academy, Central Forms Print Management and the Michael J. Fox Theatre have all provided support of various kinds.
Matchette noted the company has also partnered with the Stop a Bully Foundation - in keeping with the theme of the musical Shrek.
In-kind partnerships, he said, will be key to the company's future.
At Footlight, meanwhile, the organization is looking for ways to bring more of a business focus to its operations.
Reid pointed out that, in the arts, business is not always first in mind.
"Boards are run primarily on creativity," she said. "You can't run a company on that."
As a consequence, she said, the board is expanding - there are already three more members lined up with a possible two more in the wings, bringing its total to 10 or 12. Each one comes with some kind of business background along with their creative side.
"What we've decided to do is bring in a business aspect," she said.
Among the business decisions the board has already had to make was a difficult one: to cut out the summer vaudeville shows and Christmas shows it used to do at Burnaby Village museum.
"To let some history go, it is a little melancholy," Reid admitted.
But, in the end, it just didn't make sense to continue with what had become an enormous undertaking.
"It takes a tremendous amount of volunteers and commitment by the casts," she noted.
And Lindbjerg added that it just wasn't proving to be worth it.
"Financially, it was a drain," she said.
All the Footlight board members come with various connections in the community that they will be working to build on this year.
"We're all very hopeful," Reid said. "We're really excited about the future of Footlight."
Enter the future
Simpson was understandably bubbly about the future of Align Entertainment, as its first successful run was wrapping up.
What made them particularly happy, she said, is that feedback from everyone had been so positive.
"The reviews we're getting are fabulous," she said, noting that as a new company, the audience reaction and good ticket sales are huge pluses.
"We couldn't really ask for more than that," she said.
They've already announced their show for February 2015: The Addams Family.
Simpson, who saw it in New York City a couple of years ago, said it's exactly the kind of show Align wants to stage.
"It's really hilarious, it's family-friendly," she said.
They've already begun work on it, she noted, since putting on a musical needs "a lot of time, and a lot of people."
For a brand-new company, she said, things are looking good.
"We're just really, really excited," she said.
Things are a little less certain for Footlight, but Reid remains undaunted.
Ask her about the future, and her answer is phrased as optimism - though there's a tinge of gauntlet-being-thrown-down about it.
"We believe that the people of Burnaby will rally," she said.
She's confident that the community will respond to the theatre company's need, recognizing the good Footlight has done for the community over the years.
There's the fact that the company has provided so many opportunities for families to get involved in the arts.
"The children in the community have that opportunity. Anybody can do it," she said. "It's tremendous to have your kids in a cultural event. There's not a lot of opportunities for amateur kids to do that."
From a financial perspective, she pointed out that Footlight has been good for the local economy, as each of its shows means money put into the community for costumes, sets, materials and more. Sponsors get a return on their investment through visibility, she said.
Even more, she said, she'd like to see the City of Burnaby step up to the plate and provide more support for theatre - and the arts in general.
"Burnaby isn't big on theatre," she said, noting that "culture" is a very small part of the city's "parks, recreation and culture" department.
"We have such a huge sports program in Burnaby, but we need to back the arts," she said. "We need to see support from the city, and from each of our communities."
Reid is hopeful that Burnaby's business and civic leaders will see that having Footlight in town is good for everybody.
"We are the only Burnaby theatre company," Reid said. "We are a Burnaby company, and we need supportive people - not only for financial support, but for support of the shows."
She wasn't yet ready to confirm whether Footlight will or will not stage a full-scale musical this fall.
But she will say she is happy to have taken on the challenge of the presidency.
"It's really exciting to keep the company growing," she said.
"We've struggled, but we're so excited about the future for us. ... It was a challenging year, but we're really excited about the future for Footlight."
