Arts groups shed staff as they work to cut expenses

As the coronavirus pandemic hits arts groups squarely in the checkbook, leaders are unhappily reducing staff even as they appeal to supporters and scrutinize the cost of everything down to office telephone service.

While theaters sit dark, from home offices and living rooms across Central Florida and beyond, local arts leaders are strategizing how to keep their organizations afloat when their income has vanished.

“There are no days off, but that’s OK,” said Douglas LoveRamos, managing director of Orlando Shakes. “A lot of people are counting on us.”

Hundreds of Central Floridians working in the arts have been affected by cancellations at the area’s largest cultural organizations. And the cuts are starting to go deeper than actors and musicians.

With more than 40 full-time employees, the Shakes has a

larger workforce than most Orlando arts groups. Along with dismissing 70 artists, the organization has furloughed nearly three-quarters of its staff, leaving a team of 10 to steer the theater through the crisis, Love-Ramos said.

The furlough allows employees to qualify for unemployment, Love-Ramos said, and Shakes leadership is checking in with them regularly to offer assistance.

“We want to still be that community we’ve always been for each other,” he said. “They are our family, and we want them back when this is over.”

On Friday, the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra cut about half of its staff. Nine employees were furloughed, meaning they forego their wages but maintain their benefits, said board chair Mary Palmer. An additional four employees had their hours reduced.

“Reluctantly, we must consider ways to reduce costs,” Palmer said. “Each choice causes pain and concern to us all.”

The furlough is effective March 30-June 30, but Palmer said employees could be called back to work sooner if the situation improves.

The orchestra’s musicians, paid only when they play, are also losing income. The Philharmonic did partially pay musicians for a postponed concert, Palmer said, with plans to pay out the rest when the event takes place.

Completely closed: Sleuths Mystery Dinner Show, an International Drive attraction, shut down completely March 20.

“Everyone was laid off,” said Laurel Clark, the dinner theater’s show director. The “devastating closure” affected about 60 actors, and roughly an equal amount of office, kitchen and wait staff.

Smaller organizations, such as Mad Cow Theatre, the Garden Theatre and Opera Orlando, have reduced staff hours — while others haven’t ruled it out.

Central Florida Community Arts hasn’t laid off any of its 19 employees, but “we have set out a very strategic plan of how we would reduce hours or pay if we need to,” said executive director Joshua Vickery.

CFC-Arts also employs 117 contractors — teaching artists, directors and other members involved in show production — who are going without full or any pay, he said.

Likewise, Orlando Repertory Theatre canceled the contracts of 83 seasonal workers involved in production at a cost of about $120,000 to the affected individuals, spokeswoman Olivia DeMarco said. The theater on Saturday called off the remainder of its season.

Bright spots: A few of the smallest organizations have been able to pay staff and artists in full.

Although Winter Park Playhouse canceled the bulk of performances of “The Andrews Brothers,” it paid the actors, musicians and technicians as if the show had run for its scheduled seven weeks.

“We just simply couldn’t pull the rug out from under them,” said Heather Alexander, executive director of the playhouse, which has a staff of eight.

The Bach Festival Society, which has a full-time staff of six alongside seven regular part-timers, also was able to provide compensation to artists affected by the early end of the Winter Park group’s season, said executive director Elizabeth Gwinn.

The majority of Orlando Ballet’s expenses goes to personnel — and the company is focused on retaining its staff, wrote the ballet’s leadership team in an email.

“In addition to protecting our team from personal impact, our greatest chance for recovery is to remain staffed with talent that is best equipped to keep us afloat as we navigate this crisis,” wrote ballet executives, who said they are evaluating the situation in two-week segments.

But the current status quo can’t be maintained long term, arts leaders agreed.

“Our operating reserves, while limited, will allow us to remain operating in this capacity for several weeks, but will not carry us indefinitely,” said DeMarco of Orlando Rep.

“We have to remain optimistic and have faith that we will make it through and be on the other side ready to entertain, uplift and inspire our community, because God knows we’re going to need it.”

Heather Alexander, executive director of the Winter Park Playhouse

Bare essentials: Many organizations are limiting expenditures to the bare essentials — and looking to eke out even more savings wherever possible.

“We are tightening everywhere — not just artistic, but business and general [expenses]. How can we trim or negotiate things that are not being used, like phones, copiers and office Internet,” said Vickery of CFCArts.

Complicating matters: As organizations check in with supporters, who may also be feeling the economic crunch, the subject of donations becomes a delicate one.

“There are a lot of needs out there, and we want to be sensitive to that,” said Mitzi Maxwell, executive director of Mad Cow Theatre.

“We are taking a softer approach to immediate fundraising, as we understand the financial toll this pandemic is taking on every household right now,” agreed the Rep’s DeMarco.

Instead of requesting additional money, many groups are asking ticket buyers to support the ongoing United Arts fundraising campaign or to forego refunds for canceled events.

“We have encouraged patrons who can to convert their tickets purchased for ‘Daughter’ or other events into tax-deductible donations for the organization, and many have kindly done so,” said Opera Orlando executive director Gabriel Preisser. The group’s “Daughter of the Regiment” production was canceled.

It’s a strategy, though, that can yield mixed results.

“We are being brutally honest with our patrons and imploring them to donate the ticket purchase,” said Alexander of Winter Park Playhouse. “Many have generously done so, but there are a shocking number of people who still want their money back.”

Look to the future: Other organizations are asking supporters to look to the future by making purchases now. At Orlando Museum of Art, for example, memberships are currently discounted and will run 13 months instead of the usual year.

“We have to remain optimistic and have faith that we will make it through and be on the other side ready to entertain, uplift and inspire our community, because God knows we’re going to need it,” Alexander said.

Yet that faith is tempered with the uncertainty of the post-virus economic situation.

“While we are in a solid financial position, we are nevertheless very aware of the state of the economy and people’s investments. We expect a reduction in overall contributed income,” said Gwinn of the Bach Festival Society. “This will pass, but it will hurt.”

Maxwell, of Mad Cow, is hopeful that through the difficulties, arts groups might become closer — and learn lessons that make them stronger.

“We are in touch with other organizations around the community, the state and the country comparing notes and examining the future,” said Maxwell, who’s trying to spend time each day “looking at what’s ahead, on the other side of the pandemic.”

At Orlando Shakes, Love-Ramos and his team are also planning for a post-virus world. The theater’s production of “My Lord, What a Night” was just days from opening when its run was postponed.

“We’re still in the eye of the storm and trying to equip ourselves as best we can,” he said. “But the ‘What a Night’ set is still on our stage. Everything is ready to pick up where we left off.”