For Luminato, much turns on the Hearn
Festival transforming former power plant for its 2016 edition
Luminato is rolling the dice and taking a $2.5-million gamble on something known as its #TurnOnTheHearn project.
“Measuring three times the size of the Tate Modern, it is larger than the Coliseum in Rome and Lincoln Center in New York,” marvelled artistic director Jorn Weisbrodt, who led several small groups of pilgrims through the massive, decommissioned power generating plant in Toronto’s Port Lands. “This June, we will transform it into the largest community and cultural centre in the world.”
Win or lose, #TurnOnTheHearn is bound to be a game changer when the 10th edition of the annual arts festival rolls out in June. If the Hearn draws bigger, more diverse crowds, more revenue, more civic pride, more donors and more positive buzz than Luminato has known before, well, then the Hearn gamble will assure the festival’s survival and catapult into a more secure second decade.
But if Toronto cultural consumers yawn and stay home rather than make the trek to the Eastern Port Lands, well, in that case, Luminato’s radical makeover in 2016 will be remembered as a costly, ill-fated pipe dream that failed. And if that happens, it will make the challenge of keeping the festival alive for a second decade a doubtful business.
Considering the stakes, incoming CEO Anthony Sargent — who let Weisbrodt do the waxing eloquent during Sunday’s tour — seems remarkably calm about doing something radically different in Year 1 of his five-year term running the show.
Of course, this is not the first time Luminato has danced with the Hearn. Two years ago, its pre-opening fundraising gala was held there and again the next year. And in 2015, beyond being an off-beat locale for a gala, it was packed for two nights of the Unsound Festival, which drew a lively and strikingly young crowd.
But in 2016, all ticketed events are at the Hearn and special temporary theatres are being built for them. That includes the two most conspicuous “wow” attractions. In the division of historic dramas about kings, there’s the cycle of three James Plays from the National Theatre of Scotland. On the popular showbiz side, there’s Rufus Does Judy, in which Rufus Wainwright (pop icon and husband of Weisbrodt) crosses the border with his take on Judy Garland’s legendary 1961 comeback concert at Carnegie Hall.
The catch is: both of these attractions need special spaces to meet the needs of performers, technicians and audiences.
Heading into his fifth and final edition as Luminato’s artistic director, Weisbrodt passionately preached the gospel of how this huge industrial wasteland could be converted into the most revolutionary cultural hot spot on planet Earth.
I kept wondering: How much is this costing? Tour pilgrims heard no mention of that.
“The Hearn Generating Station is a unique industrial landmark of intense and overwhelming beauty,” says Weisbrodt.
In Weisbrodt’s vision, once it is transformed into a gigantic community and cultural centre, the Hearn is destined to be nothing less than the crown jewel of the world’s most diverse city. But it’s up to the more earthbound Clyde Wagner, Luminato’s executive producer, to decide what can and can’t be done.
“It’s my job to take big dreams and make them a reality,” Wagner explains. “I lead a team of talented producers, design partners, consultants, engineers, suppliers, artists and more. Every one of them is instrumental in bringing the Hearn to life this June. We have 17 days to deliver an experience you won’t forget.”
Partisans, a cutting-edge Toronto architecture firm, is rethinking and redesigning the interior spaces. Charcoalblue, an international theatre and acoustics consultancy firm, has been brought in to assure top quality in all things technical.
So how can a festival with the relatively small annual budget of $11 million afford to undertake such a mammoth project, while at the same time spreading the festival over three weekends instead of the usual two?
Not a problem, Sargent says, in the most relaxed, unstressed tone.
“Luminato Festival’s #TurnOnTheHearn project has an activation budget of approximately $2.5 million (included in the festival’s standard annual budget of $11 million),” explains the emailed reply I received in response to my irritatingly frequent queries about the cost.
“The Hearn budget is inclusive of all infrastructure for the Hearn site build, from the spaces we’re creating (the Hearn Theatre, Music Stage, Jackman Gallery, Side Room performance space, audience/front-of-house spaces, washrooms, food/ restaurant areas and more), capital purchases (seats for a mobile theatre that Luminato will own and can use in future years), setup and production costs, and funds committed to completing the creation of the Hearn as an art installation in itself (the design, the build, etc.). Programming costs (artists’ fees, production costs), administration fees, etc. are not included in this figure.”
But there are also savings, notably about $700,000 for the rental and staffing of other venues (such as the Sony Centre or the St. Lawrence Centre). Then there’s the cost of animating public outdoor spaces elsewhere in the city, starting at about $800,000, which won’t be necessary this year.
And beyond what is mentioned in that official reply, I can think of other ways the festival can recoup the costs of reinventing the Hearn. First, this is the 10th anniversary with a special setting and special costs — and that provides a great opportunity for prodding founding luminaries and other big-pocket donors into writing cheques this year.
Then there’s the food-and-beverage revenue. Suppose you spend the entire day at the Hearn taking in not one but several Luminato offerings. You will want to eat and drink more than once. And once you are at the Hearn, you will stay there rather than go to a bar or restaurant outside festival turf. Who wouldn’t want a share of the take?
Bottom line: This is a daring, even scary risk. But I’m betting it will pay off. mknelman@thestar.ca