Theatres in New York City - Public Theater and the Cherry Lane Theatre - Research Paper Example

? Theaters in New York Research paper This paper is aimed at providing a comparative study of two theaters of New York - Public Theater and the Cherry Lane Theatre. This paper provides comparisons in terms of history of these two theaters, organizational structures and managerial positions of these two theaters, mission, vision, and strategies of these two theaters. The research will then reveal the nature of profit earnings of these two theaters, funding base and strategies used to sell tickets, and nature of labor relations, touring productions and the nature of talent used in these two theaters. Historical comparisons: There are lots of theaters in the New York City and most these theaters possess significant popularity and importance to the theater-loving people of the New York City. Among these famous theaters the Public Theater and the Cherry Lane Theatre of the New York City are very popular. The Public Theater was founded by Joseph Papp. He founded the theater as a Shakespeare Workshop. It is currently described as one of the most excellent cultural institutions of America. This has been the most important theater in New York City and also in the entire nation where all the voices, rhythms, societies, and cultures converged. The theater has been founded for the purpose of providing public platforms to the up-and-coming performers and dramatists. The theater has been opened at 425, Lafayette Street, East Village, Lower Manhattan (this place was formally known as the Astor library) with the world-premiere production and live performance of the famous American rock musical HAIR. This was the first show of this rock musical. Throughout the history the theater has been famous for producing several plays, musicals, and productions based on William Shakespeare, and various other classics in its Lafayette Street headquarter. The theater has been nurtured under the leadership of Oskar Eustis, the famous Artistic Director, and Patrick Willingham, the famous Executive Director of the theater. During their leadership the theater has been emerged as the most crucial nurturing place for artists and audiences in relation to embrace the complexities of contemporary culture and society of the country. Under the leadership and guidance of Joseph Papp the theater has evolved as the most important place of enclosure and a forum of new ideas and views (History of Public Theater, 2012, p. 1). On the contrary, The Cherry Lane Theater opened in 1924 at 38, Commerce Street, Manhattan, New York City. The theater was founded by a group of theater artists in a factory of tobacco warehouse and box. But in the 1924, designer Cleon Throckmorton designed the structure of the theater and converted the tobacco factory into a theater. This very structure of the theater is present till date. In 1998, the studio has been opened for new American work. Angelina Fiordellisi was the owner and the founder of the theater and helped a lot in the evolution process of the theater. Among these changes the most important one has been creation of the 60-seat black-box theater by Fiordellisi. This theater is the oldest and continuously-running theater in the New York City. This theater is an off-Broadway theater whereas the Public Theater is a Broadway theater (History of the Cherry Lane Theater, 2012, p. 1). Organizational structures and managerial positions: Both the theaters, the Public Theater and the Cherry Lane Theater are organized and managed by artists and dramatists. The Public Theater is organized by Joseph Papp, who was one of the most recognized theatrical producer as well as director of the country, till his death. During his time the theater achieved several successes and won various awards and prizes. He was like the father figure of the theater and under his management the theater had been a significant place for both music and plays and this system of management is present in modern days also. The management type of the Public Theater is highly passionate about the development of the theatrical productions of the country as well as making significant contribution in the development of the culture and the society of the Shakespearian views of drama. In the Public Theater the decisions are made on the basis of strict non-profit motives and the management and organizers are highly concerned about the success of the artists and dramatists who are invincible part of the theater. The management conducts group meetings and open discussions for all the senior members of the management group and senior artists and dramatists and take decisions on the basis of the results drawn in the open discussion (The official website of the Public Theater, 2012, p. 1). On the contrary, the Cherry Lane Theater was founded by a group of theater artists and dramatists. These theater artists were colleagues of the famous American lyrical poet and playwright Edna St. Vincent Millay. These artists have opened the theater mainly as the center for producing and presenting drama and theatrical arts and performances. These artists did not focus much on managing the theater for the purpose of presenting musical shows and producing own theatrical presentations and hence, earning money. Accordingly the two theaters have been organized and managed in different ways. In the modern times with the growing needs for making profits the Cherry Lane Theater is also expanding its business by engaging in productions of various theatrical productions. In the Cherry Lane Theater most of the decisions are taken by Angelina Fiordellisi. These decisions are taken mostly based on small meeting and discussions with the management of small number of people, mainly artists and dramatists (The Official website of the Cherry Lane Theater, 2012, p. 1). Mission, Vision, and Strategies: The mission and vision of the Public Theater is related to the achievement of artistic excellence simultaneously developing the American theater toward making it accessible to all people. This goal is to be achieved with the help of ‘productions of challenging new plays, musicals, and innovative stagings of the classics’. Whereas the mission and vision of the Cherry Lane Theater is to create a new group or community of people for the purpose of supporting playwriting for various dramas and plays for the theater and to secure the future of the American drama. The Public is dedicated to embracing the complexities of contemporary society and nurturing both artists and audiences, as it continues Joseph Papp's legacy of creating a place of inclusion and a forum for ideas. To fulfill this purpose the studio- theater programming has been implemented by the management of the Cherry Lane Theater. The most important mission of the Cherry Lane Theater is to access to affordable outlets to the people which will be able to draw diversified elements of various communities across the country together and also inspire various creative experiences with the help of arts and theaters. The Living Theatre, Theatre of the Absurd, and the Downtown Theater movement all took root there, and it developed a reputation as a place where aspiring playwrights and emerging voices could showcase their work. Hence, the mission and vision of the two theaters differ significantly on the ground that the Public Theater wants to create a new era of theatrical performances in the country, whereas the Cherry Lane Theater wants to develop playwrights and the emerging voices of the country in the fields of drama and theater. The Public Theater organizes programmes for the purpose of making effective connections among actors, audiences across different ethnic societies, cultures, ages, and experiences. This type of programme has not been organized by the Cherry Lane Theater (Mission of the Public Theater, 2012, p. 1; Mission of the Cherry Lane Theater, 2012, p. 1). Nonprofit or Profit?: The Public Theater is one of the biggest non-profit commercial organizations among all the off-Broadway theaters situated at the New York City. The Public Theater is one of the successful theaters that is organized and managed by the non-profit seekers. This non-profit theater is one of the few off-Broadway theaters that have not been meant to make profits. The Public Theater engages in different tours, such as world tours with different shows and theatrical performances, like other commercial organizations and theaters. But these tours are not meant for making profits; rather these are meant for the purpose of providing theatrical performances to people of different communities, cultures, and societies (Stein and Bathurst, 2008, p. 37). On the other hand, the Cherry Lane Theater is the most influential theater in the country that has been more focused on making profits. This policy has been developed in recent times with the introduction of larger number of seats for audiences and with the recent improvement in the studio of the theater. There are 180 seats in the main stage and 60 seats in the studio. These estimates clearly indicate that the main motive of the theater is to earn profits through presentations of excellent theatrical performances (Stein and Bathurst, 2008, p. 37). Strategies used for selling tickets: Various policies and strategies are taken in order to do proper marketing to sell tickets. Various advertisements and campaigns are used by the authority for the purpose of providing successful marketing in terms of selling tickets. Various Internet websites, like Facebook, Twitter have been used extensively to advertize different current shows and plays which are conducted by the theater. Apart from these the official website of the theater is used for the purpose of providing informations to the audience regarding schedules of current shows, theaters, and dramas. The tickets are often sold at concessional basis implying that the first person buying the ticket will receive a concession in terms of money. The Cherry Lane Theater mainly uses the official website of the theater for the purpose of providing informations to the audience and sells tickets directly from its website and counters. Since, the Public Theater is not a profit-seeking theater, therefore the intensity of making profits through rigorous advertisements and marketing is not mush among them; rather this theater is more concerned about the development of theatrical performances of various acts and drama played at the theater. On the other hand, the Cherry Lane Theater uses different blogs and sites to advertize for different shows and dramas and hence to earn profits through significant attendance of audience (Farber, 2006, p. 79). Differences in funding base: Cultural Institutions Group is the major funding base of the Public Theater. This group was formed by a group of private citizens of New York as a public-private partnership aiming at rapid growth of the societal, cultural, and economic aspects of the New York City. The group has the collaboration with the Public Theater in regard to providing necessary funds to the theater and also to augment the pace of development of the theater with appropriate funding and necessary advertising or campaigning strategies. Apart from this main source for funding and monetary assistance the theater arranges some campaigns, such as world tours, and advertisements of different products and brands in order to get more funds for the betterment of the theater. Various theatrical festivals and special shows of popular dramas and theatrical performances are also arranged frequently by the theater’s authority where prices of those dramas and theatrical performances are kept at medium and high levels so that more funds can be arranged. For example, in 2009, the Public Theater raised significant amount of funds for renovation of the main building which has the historical importance by “Going Public” campaign. Through this campaign more than $35 million dollar has been raised in 2010. This campaign included presence of famous American actors like Liev Schreiber and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Also the theater issues volunteers for managing and collecting funds from different shows and campaigns. The Public Theater also receives donations from institutions and individuals for the improvement of infrastructure of the theater. In the process of collection of funds internal and external staffs also help to organize various shows, in collecting advertisements, and in arranging donations (The Official website of the Public Theater, 2012, p. 1). On the contrary, the Cherry Lane Theater arranges funds from various sources including selling tickets of theatrical performances and famous plays or dramas. This has been the main source of collecting funds for the development of the theater and also for the improving infrastructures of the theater. In 1999, the theater received a huge lumpsum amount of grant from the European Union for the development of the theater. This fund was given to the theater mainly to organize special plays and theatrical performances and this had helped the theater to some great extent to augment its popularity and thus to collect greater funds from future shows and plays. Like the Public Theater, the Cherry Lane Theater also collects significant funds from donations and various campaigns of theatrical performances. The staffs and management act as volunteers and they are largely responsible for collecting greater funds for the theater. Staffs of the Cherry Lane Theater are highly coordinated to collect funds and for using these funds for the development of theater (The Official website of the Cherry Lane Theater, 2012, p. 1). Labor relations: There is no labor union in the Public Theater, but the staffs and members of the theater are highly coordinated to make significant impacts on the overall development of the theater. There exists a labor union, but the union is under the partial control of the management. The union does not take decisions solely based upon their own understanding and consideration of various aspects like development of the theater and development of each and every staff members. The general rules of the American Labour Law are imposed on the staffs and laborers of the Public Theater and these rules and regulations are obeyed by both the management and staffs. On the other hand various internal expectations are also set upon the management and staffs and these expectations are sometimes well-fulfilled, but sometimes are ignored by either party. In 2010, allegations were set up against the management of the theater in regard to the complaint that the management did not provide enough royalty for theatrical performances which have been produced as films in future times. The main complaint came from playwrights and they have argued to be paid more than $40, 000 annually (Labor Relations – Broadway, 2012, p. 1). The union of this theater does not have any administrator in charge of the union, although there is a cooperated relationship between union members and management or administrators (Feldman, 2006, pp. 87-88). On the other hand, the labor union of the Cherry Lane Theater is very strong and coordinated toward the fulfillment of various goals and agenda set by the union. In this context the Cherry Lane Theater is differ significantly from the Public Theater. In the Cherry Lane Theater the main source of union is the staffs of the theater who are concerned about various things like development of working conditions, improving salary scales of employees, increasing the fund-base of the theater and many more. Active coordination between the employees and management helps the theater to grow at faster rates, but sometimes these two agents have been found engaging in conflicts and problems. The Labor Relations Board of the United States controls the union of the Cherry Lane Theater and these conflicts are also solved in the presence of the board as well (Feldman, 2006, pp. 92-93). Touring productions: The Public Theater is more coordinated and organised regarding tours or touring programmes of various plays and theatrical performances compared to the Cherry Lane Theater. Various tours and programmes are arranged by the theater very frequently and these tours are conducted not only domestically, but also internationally. These tours are organized not only to collect funds, but also to provide famous plays and theatrical performances of the theater. The Public Theater has organized various tours and festivals. The New York Shakespeare Festival is the biggest festival of drama and other theatrical performances which have been most popular theatrical festival of the city. Apart from this festival the theater also organizes international and national campaigns and tours. Among these tours and campaigns the “Going Public” campaign of 2009 has been the most popular campaign of all time that has been conducted by the theater. All these tours are managed and handled by the management of the theater and these tours are highly beneficial in terms of raising funds for the theater and also for raising popularity of various shows organized and produced by the theater (Mulcahy, 2005, p. 13). On the contrary, the Cherry Lane Theater is less concerned about organizing tours and programmes internationally. The Cherry Lane Theater organizes festivals and various new shows at its original theater and studio. These shows also include various new productions of the Cherry Lane Theater. These shows gather lots of funds for the theater, but the fund is significantly lower than that of the Public Theater. The Cherry Lane Theater mainly focuses on productions of its own theatrical performances and plays which have been giving significant popularity for the theater since its inception. These shows and performances are organized mainly by the management of theater under the control of Angelina Fiordellisi (Mulcahy, 2005, p. 13). The talent: The quality and quantity of talent of both the theaters are equally important for the development of both the theaters. Both the theaters possess well-known actors and theatrical performers who have been providing greater success to both the Public Theater and the Cherry Lane Theater. Both the theaters have their own staff-management groups which are responsible for negotiating with the staffs, actors, and directors. This management is given the authority by the theaters’ management to use their supreme power to bring the best talent in the theater. There is separate talent acquisitions team in the Public Theater that deals with the acquisition of new talent for the improvement of the theater and its theatrical performances. The Cherry Lane Theater and the Public Theater both encourage new talents in the field of acting as well as directions and even in script-writing or playwriting. Actors, directors, other staffs do not work in certain groups or communities. Since, theatrical performances require greater coordinations and collaborations among the group members, therefore all staffs of both theaters work with significant coordination and cooperation (The Official website of the Cherry Lane Theater, 2012, p. 1; The Official website of the Public Theater, 2012, p, 1). Conclusion: The Public Theater and the Cherry Lane Theater are two of the most popular theaters in the New York City. These two theaters are providing best-known and most popular theatrical performances in the history of American theaters and drama. Both the theaters possess greatest popularity, not only domestically, but also internationally. But in the modern era of films and other sources of visual entertainment, like other theaters, these two theaters have also been losing their need a little bit (Reiss, 2008, p. 59). But it can easily be said that these two theaters will always remain at the centre of the people heart for producing and providing some of the greatest theatrical performances of all time. References: Farber, D. C. (2006), Producing theatre: a comprehensive legal and business guide, New Jersey: Hal Leonard Corporation Feldman, H. (2006), Labor relations, and the public, USA: American Academy of Political and Social Science History of the Cherry Lane Theater, (2012), Cherry Lane Theater, retrieved on January 30, 2012 from http://www.cherrylanetheatre.org/history/ History of the Public Theater, (2012), The Public Theater, retrieved on January 30, 2012 from http://www.publictheater.org/content/view/22/98/ Labor Relations – Broadway, (2012), The new York Times, retrieved on January 30, 2012 from http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/subjects/t/theater/labor_relations_broadway/index.html Mulcahy, L. (2005), Theater festivals: best worldwide venues for new works, USA: Skyhorse Publishers Mission of the Public Theater, (2012), The Public Theater, retrieved on January 30, 2012 from http://www.publictheater.org/content/view/21/138/ Reiss, B. (2008), Theaters of madness: insane asylums and nineteenth-century American culture, USA: University of Chicago Press Stein, T. S. and Bathurst, J. (2008), Performing Arts Management: A Handbook of Professional Practices, USA: Skyhorse Publishers The Official Website of the Pubic Theater, (2012), retrieved on January 30, 2012 from http://publictheater.org/ The Official Website of the Cherry Lane Theater, (2012), retrieved on January 30, 2012 from http://www.cherrylanetheatre.org/ Read More