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David Nail and Gregg Weiner star in 'Cane', one of Florida Stage's productions in the 2010-11 season. (Photo by Ken Jacques)
On Friday, Arthur Nelkin and his wife attended Florida Stage’s production of The Cha-Cha of the Camel Spider. They also bought tickets for the summer production of Ella and a subscription for next season for $556, and tossed in an extra $100 to support the theater.
They had no idea that three days later, there would be no theater to support. Florida Stage closed without warning Monday and announced it would file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
"Those are the breaks," said Nelkin, an arts patron from Boynton Beach. "We could file a claim in the bankruptcy filing, but it’s not worth the trouble."
Other subscribers are expressing unhappiness and anger.
"It’s like stealing our money," said Bob Segal of Lake Worth.
Segal followed the theater from Manalapan to the Kravis Center’s Rinker Playhouse, unlike many of his neighbors and friends who "were disillusioned and did not."
Florida Stage officials "should have known from that alone that there was some kind of trouble," Segal said. "But they called us a couple of times to renew."
Marketing Director Michael Gepner would not discuss refunds or how much subscriber money was collected. The theater claims a $1.5 million debt and said subscriptions had dwindled to fewer than 2,000.
Gepner would only point to the company’s website, which says: "We regret that Florida Stage is not able to refund money for tickets to shows that will not take place."
At least one subscriber would be happy to join a class-action suit against the theater. Nino Fernandez of Palm Beach renewed his subscription in May for about $450, along with a $75 donation, and also bought four tickets for Ella, the planned musical about Ella Fitzgerald.
"It’s hard to believe," said Fernandez, a Florida Stage subscriber for a decade. "They have to have known that subscriptions were down. You sort of got ripples that things were going badly, but they didn’t make any effort to communicate with their subscriber base."
Boca Raton bankruptcy attorney Jordan Rappaport said that once Florida Stage files for Chapter 7, anyone can file a claim. But he said "it’s impossible to know" what, if anything, they would get.
"For $100, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to file, but if you’re owed a large amount of money, say if you’re a vendor or the landlord, you can hire an attorney," Rappaport said.
The Palm Beach County Cultural Council is looking into the idea of giving unhappy subscribers "compensation of some kind, including free shows at other theaters," Executive Director Rena Blades said.
She doesn’t believe Florida Stage acted in bad faith. "A bankruptcy, from my understanding, is a snapshot in time. There comes a moment when there’s no going back. It’s just crummy for everybody."
Some arts groups wondered whether Florida Stage should have sounded a more public alarm. But Ceci Grasso Dadisman of the arts marketing group CeciCreative, whose clients include the Palm Beach Opera, said that most "don’t want to seem weak."
"They want people to keep subscribing and keep donating gifts," Dadisman said. "They think they’re going to be around forever. They’re afraid to let people know they’re in trouble."
Leslie,
Florida Stage STAFF was also left bewildered and angry. Our patrons lost a few nights a year out and a couple hundred dollars. Over 30 of us lost our livelihood. I worked there for 18 years! We had no idea. Subscribers need to put themselves in OUR shoes. And now I’m seeing all kinds of obituaries from the same critics who helped close us. They didn’t seem to like us so much when they wrote terrible things about us. Think that helps sell tickets? No. It closes doors and kills art.
God bless Florida Stage and all the wonderful theater artists that brought us such great theater for so many years. I am so sad to see it come to an end. The economy has been hard on so many people and organizations in Palm Beach County and now it has taken one of our cultural icons.
Now that the end has come, it is easy to second guess the motives of the management and the Board. I have a different perspective – I believe that they kept the problems quiet because they were praying for a different outcome up until the very last moment. I wish their prayers had been answered.
For the Florida Stage theater artists and staff, I look forward to seeing you in future productions with other companies in Palm Beach County.
Are yoou really Blaming the critics for your closing?
James: I am so sorry about the loss of your livelihood and of the theater. I interviewed an employee, the master electrician, in our first story, so that loss has been addressed. This story as about that loss from a different angle and was not meant to diminish your loss or frustration.
Thanks for reading.
I understand that many subscribers and ticket buyers are feeling shocked and frustrated by this breaking news from Florida Stage, and I understand that this topic will generate lots of response and media buzz. Perhaps when things quiet down in a few days, the Palm Beach Post would care do an article about 1) the void now left in south Florida’s cultural scene and/or 2) the fate of the 30 staff members (not to mention all of the local actors that were hired) who were left very suddenly with no employment, no severance, and no advanced notice.
Again, we’ve addressed both of those issues in the last two stories, and we’re obviously not done writing about Florida Stage and the aftermath of its closing. And if you or any other emplyees are interested in talking to us, please email me at lstreeter@pbpost.com. Thanks!
The sad thing about this is that it need not have happened. Instead of depending primarily on support from the people who live on the eastern side of the Intracostal, Florida Stage should have spent years cultivating the support of the senior communities throughout Palm Beach County. If Florida Stage had visited these communities and developed programs for them, they would have provided the support which would have kept Florida Stage alive today.
I cite as an example Community Performing Arts, Inc. which runs eight separate four performance series, primarily at the Spanish River Church in Boca (seats over 1000) as well as at several other venues. They always sell out. It is totally supported by subscribers from the many senior communities located in the Boynton and Delray areas which provide the organizational basis for their support. Such support, if Florida Stage had nurtured it, would have been preferable to support from far wealthier Palm Beach Island which in the end, obviously did not come through when the the chips were down.
Actually, Leslie, I do think you may have missed Sad Tropics’ point. This is a tragedy on many levels that includes the loss of income for many people, not just the employees steadily employed by Florida Stage, but the overhire workers they employ at the beginning and ending of a production, the outside directors, lighting and set designers and the actors that have graced their boards for nearly 25 years. This is going to have a longer reaching impact on the community than just 38 people losing their jobs.
For the patrons who are out money to purchase tickets to Ella or the 2011-12 season, they’re not going to be as quick to purchase subscriptions to other theaters. This too can have a negative, long lasting effect on our community. If these theaters don’t receive support, they too could close.
And lastly, we, the theater-going audience are being deprived of what looked to be an incredible season next year. I was at one of the final performances of Cha-Cha where it was announced that Frances Sternhagen cleared her schedule to perform in Isreal Horowitz’s Fighting Over Beverly. That is an opportunity we aren’t like to get again in South Florida.
Thanks for that. We’re not done writing about this, and about the far-reaching impact. We’ve had just a few days to try to get everything together, because as you said there is so much to examine and write about. Thanks again for writing.
Thanks Leslie, for covering the demise of an institution that has nurtured and supported me for over a decade. Please, please keep writing about this desperate turn of events. Every fine arts organization in the tri county area is reeling from this unexpected loss, for good reason. I can only hope that a new generation may be inspired by the opportunity that a strong artistic community provides to nurture more than just it’s artists, but it’s next generation as well.
Sincerely
Erin Amico
it is very interesting that your money had to be in 6-5-11 for renewal and the next day the doors are closed for good. its a pity that they put so many people out of work. carol schulman
In a county where we see so many fortunate and talented people driving around in Bentley’s Ferrari’s and Rolls Royces while living in gazillion dollar homes, its troubling that someone could not raise the drop in the bucket money needed to keep FL Stage afloat in tough times. No one there had bad intentions, that is a fact.
They produced great work for the community over the years.
Thank you Florida Stage.
Nice, thanks!
The truly unfortunate result of Florida Stage’s demise is the gaping hole thats been created in Florida’s performing arts scene. No other arts organization produces new work by emerging playwrights in Florida like Florida Stage and no other arts organization in Florida did it as professionally as Florida Stage. You don’t find that kind of theatre so far removed from New York, but it was happening right here in our backyard and it should have been nurtured, supported, and fought for. You know how the saying goes, “you don’t know what you got…”
I would like to participate in the class action lawsuit against Florida stage in an effort to get back my money which was literally stolen from me. Please let me know the contact information so I can join the lawsuit. Thank you
Bernard Rattiner