From Deseret News archives:
WSU has ceased funding for Utah Musical Theatre
Industry's audiences and money have been slipping for years, director says
Bruce Cohen, UMT's artistic and managing director since 2003, will be involved during the next few months in closing down the theater operation. He will also continue teaching at WSU through the remainder of the school year.
Cohen said audiences and funding across the entire industry have been slipping in recent years. "In Utah, this is not an unchallenging climate. There is a glut of theater in and around this area. And theater is a notorious business. Just like restaurants, you have to be fiercely competitive."
UMT had been hurt by reduced budgeting over the past few seasons, especially in the funding available for marketing and advertising, according to Cohen. "We had very positive results from the patrons (last season), but we were unable to maintain sufficient marketing to prop up sagging ticket sales."
Two of the biggest problems, he felt, were an inability to raise funding to produce at least one major large-scale popular musical, such as "Oklahoma!" or "The Music Man," which would help in pre-selling a season, and the move several seasons earlier to Ogden's downtown Egyptian Theater, instead of remaining on campus in the smaller Allred Theater. "The agreements they initially had (between WSU and Ogden City) never came to fruition."
But an even greater concern was that the cost of building sets and scenery for the larger Egyptian stage was nearly double that required for materials to fill the Allred space.
Ultimately, said Cohen, UMT was mired in a "Catch-22" situation — attempting to produce smaller, lesser-known musicals, to stay within the budget, then not being able to market them sufficiently.
"Songs for a New World," a relatively unknown musical revue that closed UMT's 2006 summer season "... drew meager audiences the first few nights, but ticket sales went on to triple and double the second week as word of mouth got around," Cohen said. "If we had been able to run it another three or four weekends, we could have built off that word-of-mouth."
Asked if WSU was simply putting Utah Musical Theatre on hiatus with the possibility of reviving it in another year or two, Cohen said the school "is just not interested in being in the theater business."
In a prepared statement, WSU said "the university plans to use some of the UMT resources to support and enhance other performing-arts and cultural events in the College of Arts and Humanities."
While acknowledging this was a difficult decision for everyone involved, university officials feel the time is right to discontinue UMT.
According to June Phillips, the college dean, "While the quality of the shows remained high, ongoing operating expenses and a steady erosion of audience were factors in the final decision. The company struggled to attract audiences as consumers had increasing options for their entertainment dollars."
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