A CEO Tries His Hand at Theater

Playwrights expect criticism, but Dwayne Clark got a measure of disapproval he wasnt expecting. A comedy he commissioned and co-wrote, Seven Ways to Get There, received encouraging reviews after its premiere at Seattles A Contemporary Theatre (ACT) in February. The real criticism was about how the play earned its place on one of the nonprofit theaters prestigious stages.

Clark is the founder and CEO of Aegis Living, which operates a total of 30 assisted-living facilities in Washington, California and Nevada and employs nearly 2,000 people. He hired established local playwright Bryan Willis to write the play, based on Clarks own encounters in a mens therapy group. Clark recalls his time navigating differences with six others as one of the most profound experiences of his life and he wanted to share a message about masculine reluctance to sharing pain.

ACTs interest in the play, General Manager Becky Witmer explains, was tempered by expectations of modest ticket sales for an untested work. Witmer told Clark to expect to sell no more than 1,000 tickets, far below the 3,000 tickets of a successful production. Clark, eager to see his play staged, funded the production, backing its nearly $225,000 budget with a $50,000 sponsorship from Aegis Living and the rest from his own substantial wealth. I guaranteed that ACT would not lose, he says.

Clark saw himself as an arts angel, providing employment to actors, directors and stagehands. He lobbied to fill seats by asking his CEO friends to buy blocks of tickets for their employees, even to pay twice the face value of the tickets. He says he lost money, perhaps as much as $50,000, though much of it was directed to a social services charity. Rather than ask friends to attend another rubber chicken dinner, Clark pitched this idea: Why not write a check, give some tickets to your staff, let them laugh, support the arts and have your money go to a charity, in this case Sound Mental Health? And they loved the idea!

To Clark, it was a way of introducing entertainment to giving and suggested a new way to fix what he considered the broken economic model of nonprofit arts.

When the arrangement was revealed in Seattles alternative weekly The Stranger, it provoked fury among some artists. Under the headline Bought and Paid For, Clarks deal was read as unseemly artistic meddling posing as benefaction. About Clarks self-funded approach, Melissa Hillman, artistic director of Impact Theatre in Berkeley, California, blogged, You didnt create anything new; you just used an old model and made creative control a condition of your patronage.

I was shocked by this possessiveness, says Clark, stinging from the accusation of rich guy pays for play. That I walked over you, walked over Bryan nothing could be further from the truth. He says Hillmans message was: Its great that youre in the arts; just give us your money and shut up.
Is the business model for the performing arts so broken?
ACTs director of development, Maria Kolby-Wolfe, says it isnt, but adds, I dont think anyone in the industry would say its a perfect model. She acknowledges, We are looking for new ways to keep ourselves alive.

As a former member of the board of directors at the 5th Avenue Theatre, Seattles largest nonprofit theater company, Clark already understood that ticket sales cover only half of most production costs in nonprofit arts, where prices are kept modest to allow for greater accessibility. (This contrasts with commercial theater, where tickets can run $150 or more.) Losing money on every production isnt a business failure; its a business model that permits risky work and relies on grants, corporate sponsors and private donors to close the gap.

Clarks relationship with ACT, Witmer explains, was not philanthropic; he was a producer. The theaters ACTLab, formerly the Central Heating Lab, allows chosen producing companies to use one of ACTs five stages, and all producers are responsible for their shows costs. ACT provides house support and retains a percentage of ticket sales. In that way, Witmer says, the arrangement with Clark was really not that out of the ordinary for what we do in the lab.

Most ACTLab partners, of course, cant fund shows from their own deep pockets as Clark can. But arts support, at about 7 percent of all philanthropy in Washington state, hasnt kept pace with the boom in Seattles wealth that Clark shares, even as area giving has grown overall, led by causes like global health.

In Seattle, established firms like Microsoft, Boeing, Paccar and Starbucks provide the lions share of corporate support. At the Seattle Symphony, Vice President of Development Jane Hargraft finds the new tech wealth supportive, with the symphony receiving up to $100,000 each year from Microsoft employees whose donations are matched by the company. Philanthropy Northwest reports that corporate arts giving was up 67 percent during the recovery of 2010 to 2012. Last year, the Seattle-based ArtsFund distributed $2.5 million in grants to 55 area arts groups from its corporate and individual contributors. ArtsFund Executive Director Mari Horita says her talks with companies reflect a strong appreciation for the arts.
Still, corporate support represents less than 10 percent of most theater companies contributions, and ACTs Kolby-Wolfe observes that they play a marketing role for most firms.

Theyre looking for a wide net to get out in front of, she says, and local arts seldom offer the global reach companies seek. Horita notes that companies shift their giving priorities, as many have recently to education, and admits, Were not really there yet where people see the arts as critical.

Private foundations, which theaters rely on for nearly one-fifth of their donations, reduced arts giving in the region by $14 million between 2010 and 2012, according to Philanthropy Northwest, overwhelming any increase in corporate giving for a net 12 percent decline overall in regional arts support. More recently, the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, which distributed $2.75 million to arts and culture organizations in 2013, unexpectedly suspended its application process last fall. Although revised guidelines were promised by last October, neither those guidelines nor new invitations to apply have been issued, leaving many arts groups scrambling to restructure their budgets. The foundation declined to offer comment for this story.

Meanwhile, federal funding for theaters is half what it was just five years ago, and support from all government sources accounts for only 8 percent at most theaters, according to the Theatre Communications Group, an organization that promotes nonprofit theater in the United States.

Clark delights in having persuaded 84 fellow CEOs to see Seven Ways to Get There with their employees. I cant tell you how many phone calls I got saying, I loved that space at ACT. Ive never been to a show in the round before. That is a phenomenal theater. Id love to go back there, he says. From the feedback, Clark estimates that 75 percent of them had never been to a play in ACTs building and that up to half had never attended a play in Seattle.

Such poor engagement is daunting as theaters rely increasingly on gifts from individuals. (More than half of theaters support now comes through trustees, galas and donors.) Todays major patrons, Kolby-Wolfe finds, expect more control than prior generations, even asking to take part in casting a request that is politely refused. Its a different mindset, she says. Thats another thing we have to look at and work with.

Hargraft agrees that younger donors are different. Many wealthy tech retirees are still young and focused on children, she notes, and connections to the arts may be weak because of the nature of their work. As they are accustomed to solving problems, their philanthropy often begins with national or international social concerns. Theyre not afraid to say no, she adds, and thats information as well. But Hargraft sees the tech wealthy coming to the arts as they mature. Its not our money, she reminds. Its not about us. Its about their choice and their passion.

Seven Ways to Get There had a successful run by audience measurements. Clarks efforts drew more than 4,000 ticket buyers for 15 performances and the cast received a standing ovation each time. But even after selling an impressive 72 percent of available seats, the production lost money and Clark made his own $50,000 donation to Sound Mental Health. Still, Clark says theaters in other cities have inquired about staging the play.

What do Clarks fellow CEOs think? They think Im crazy, he says. Crazy to do it. Crazy to go forward. They think the work was profound, but its a high-risk proposition. I get zero money, I get criticized and my works being evaluated every day.
John Oppenheimer, CEO of Columbia Hospitality, says the play was far better than he was expecting, and he admires how Clark was willing to put himself up front for the betterment of others.

In this way, Clark has more in common with his critics than they might realize. Many theater artists, especially in Seattles small, independent theaters like Theater Schmeater, Annex Theatre or Stone Soup Theatre, scrape together funds from their own pockets, from parents and friends through Kickstarter, and sell cookies or their cars to finance their artistic dreams. Actors, designers and crew subsidize these shows by working for token stipends, solely for the chance to practice their craft. Like Clark, they ask their own friends to buy tickets and fill the seats. Some persist like this for years.

Why? For the same reasons Clark provides. Because I think stories need to be told, he argues. The arts need to be supported, and profound things can happen when you tell a story the right way and can move an audience.

Impact Theatres Hillman still takes exception with Clark on at least one count. The difference between most donors and you, she tells Clark in her Bitter Gertrude blog, is that most donors dont overtly dictate the plays the theater they patronize chooses to produce. Donors are making an investment in a theater they love its a gift to ensure that the theater can continue to do the work it already does. Its an act of faith in the theater and its leaders and the art they produce. And its already an enormous part of our nonprofit business model, by design.

Clark remains undaunted. He says hes working on a new play. Its about a drug-addicted amputee. Hes calling it One Leg in Heaven.