Theatre Facts 2014: A Report on the Fiscal State of the U.S. Professional Not-For-Profit Theatre Field

"Theatre Facts" is Theatre Communications Group's (TCG) annual report on the fiscal state of the U.S. professional not-for-profit theatre field. The report examines attendance, performance, and fiscal health using data from TCG Fiscal Survey 2014, for the fiscal year that member theatres completed anytime between October 31, 2013, and September 30, 2014. Theatres' artistry, the contributions they make to their communities, and their influence on the artistic legacy of the nation transcend the quantitative analyses that are described here. This report is organized into 3 sections that offer different perspectives:The "Universe" section provides a broad overview of the U.S. not-for-profit professional theatre field in 2014.The "Trend Theatres" section presents a longitudinal analysis of the 118 TCG Member Theatres that responded to the TCG Fiscal Survey each year since 2010. This section provides interesting insights regarding longer-term trends experienced by a smaller sample of mostly larger theatres.The "Profiled Theatres" section provides an in-depth examination of all 177 Member Theatres that completed TCG Fiscal Survey 2014

The Wonder Theatre Metropolitan Program of Events

A program of events for the Metropolitan Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts, for the week of September 4, 1926.https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/fac-theatre-and-songbooks/1016/thumbnail.jp

Spatial Competition and Demand: An Application to Motion Pictures

This paper provides a rich assessment of the demand characteristics for movie theatre attendance in two major metropolitan markets and provides strong support for the importance of spatial characteristics in empirical demand analysis. We provide evidence of the usual competitive effect of location on an exhibitor’s demand but also find evidence of a clustering effect: when a group of theatres is in close proximity to each other, their proximity generates additional demand for all theatres within the cluster. The demographic evidence suggests that movie attendance is a normal good but does not support the commonly held industry view that young male viewers drive demand. Finally, we show that attendance at a particular theatre is affected by both the theatre’s attributes and the attributes of nearby competing theatres. The attributes we include cover physical features and theatre type.

Product Differentiation and Film Programming Choice: Do First-Run Movie Theatres Show the Same Films?

We present an empirical analysis of product differentiation using a rich new dynamic panel data set on film programming choice in a major U.S. metropolitan motion-pictures exhibition market. These data allow us to investigate the determinants of strategic product differentiation in a multicharacteristics space. We find evidence of stability in the degree of product differentiation over time, but also find that the degree of product differentiation between theatre pairs reflects a balance between strategic concerns and contractual constraints. Similarity in one dimension is offset by differentiation in others. Finally, we find that theatres under common ownership make more similar programming choices than theatres with different owners.

Performance Measurement Systems in Theatres: The Case of the Municipal Theatre of Ferrara

In recent years, cultural organisations have introduced and tested new management tools to achieve their institutional goals of efficiency, effectiveness and social cohesion. This process has been widely linked to New Public Management for public sector cultural organisations, but the introduction of these tools has been an interesting process in private cultural organisations too. This paper aims at considering more specifically one kind of management tools: performance measurement systems. Their goal is to give to the management a set of information of quantitative and qualitative nature that could guide the strategic choices in the long-term. With this work, we will consider the real possibilities of application of a good performance measurement system in cultural organisations, with a particular focus on theatres. Our research starts with the analysis of the theoretical framework of performance measurement systems and theatres management. The theoretical approach is supported by the analysis of a case study, the Municipal Theatre of Ferrara (Italy). In this way, we will try to verify and discuss opportunities and critical points implied by the introduction of a performance measurement system in theatres.New Public Management; Management Tools; Performance Measurement; Theatres; Municipal Theatre of Ferrara

Theatres in Towns:Why they matter

This briefing paper reports on research on theatre in towns undertaken between 2021 and 2022. When the research began in March 2021, the long-term effects of the Covid-19 global pandemic on theatres, town centres, and the cultural life of towns was only just coming into focus. By 31st March 2023, one of the most iconic of town theatres, Oldham Coliseum, had closed its doors for the last time. This closure throws a spotlight on the value of theatres in towns for local employment, audiences, artists, and communities.Our research identifies the positive contribution theatres make to towns across England. Where theatres are supported and thrive, they bring a range of social benefits and creative opportunities to communities and townspeople. The research also shows the risks and challenges theatres face, and what would be lost if theatres in towns close

Canada and the Pacific War

The war in Asia and the Pacific did not end in as tidy a fashion as it had in Europe. Official surrenders of the Japanese extended from 28 August to the end of September 1945. Several theatres had been created by Allied political and military leaders with Canadians involved in all of them

The enigma of Vitruvian resonating vases and the relevance of the concept for today

The clarity of sound within Greek or Roman theatres (without any form of enhancement) will be impressive to any visitor. The seats arranged in curved rows around the circular orchestra form large horizontal reflecting surfaces. The paths of sound waves travel from the source (the actor or singer) to each of the listeners in a direct path (i.e. without obstruction or reflection). Vitruvius, however, claimed further enhancements could be made. In theatres, also, are copper vases and these are placed in chambers under the rows of seats in accordance with mathematical reckoning. The Greeks call them Echeia. The differences of the sounds which arise are combined into musical symphonies... … it becomes fuller, and reaches the audience with a richer and sweeter note. Vitruvius, on Architecture, Book I, – on training of architects, Loeb This paper explores the notion of intent and purpose behind the Vitruvian concept and also addresses an arguably more complex issue, that of a potential fusion between archaeology, science and art.Peer reviewe

Product Differentiation and Film Programming Choice: Do First-Run Movie Theatres Show the Same Films?

We present an empirical analysis of product differentiation using a new dynamic panel data set on film programming choice in a major U.S. metropolitan motion-pictures exhibition market. Using these data, we compute two measures of film programming choice, which allow us to investigate the determinants of strategic product differentiation in a multi-characteristics space. Our evidence is consistent with the idea that the degree of product differentiation between theatre pairs reflects a balance between strategic concerns and contractual constraints. Similarity in one dimension is offset by differentiation in others. Our results further suggest that the degree of product differentiation is negatively related to market size. Finally, we find thta ownership matters theatres under common ownership make more similar programming choices than theatres with different owners.

An Artistic Community and a Workplace: How Finnish Independent Theatres Interact with Money

The article analyzes how money interacts with the practices and organizational activities of independent theatres in Finland in the 2010s. It discusses what kind of development the interaction entails or favors in the wider context of Finnish cultural policy. We share the results of Visio (2015-16), an empirical study and development project funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture and carried out with four professional independent theatres, which originated as group theatres, but are now institutionalized and operate with discretionary state subsidies. During the development project supported by Theatre Centre Finland, the study observed aspects of organizational development and learning as well as sustainable work in the said theatres. This was done via ethnographic and multiple case study methodologies. The study defined a theatre organization as a community for artistic work and a workplace for a diverse group of theatre professionals. The cases and the ethnographies were then reflected against current Finnish cultural policy.As descendants of the group theatre movement – arising from artistic ambition and opposition to commercialism – Finnish independent theatres have developed in different directions in their ideas of theatre, artistic visions, objectives, production models, and positioning in the field. Yet, there is a tendency to define independent theatres in opposition to theatres subsidized by law (the so-called VOS theatres), instead of laying stress on their specific artistic or operational visions or characteristics. This emphasis is present in public discussions, but also in the self-definitions of independent theatres. Money, and the economic affairs it underlines, strongly interact with the development, organizational learning, and working culture of Finnish independent theatres. Theoretically, we promote a Simmelian framework that stresses the socio-cultural dimension of money. Thus, we examine how the practices of the monetary economy are present in the practices and the development of independent theatres, and how this reflects their position within the current cultural policy and funding systems. Based on the above, the article suggests a more versatile approach to artistic independent theatres – one that emphasizes recognizing the heterogeneity of their operating models and artistic orientations, and their roles as diverse artistic communities aside from workplaces