Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
Artistic Director Dale Franzen has fashioned the Broad Stage’s second season for omnibus tastes, offering 81 performances at the Santa Monica theater between September and May. Mikhail Baryshnikov brings two U.S. premieres of dances for the opening gala and season opener on September 4 and 5. Other highlights include Broadway’s Savion Glover; Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, from London; chamber music, jazz, world music, baroque, dance, opera/voice; and family and educational programs. Faced with the continuing uncertain state of the arts, a dismal economy and a lean budget, Franzen, a Pacific Palisades resident, has managed to create programming that satisfies the sophisticated audiences she attracts. ‘No doubt, last year was challenging,’ she tells the Palisadian-Post. ‘The week after we opened, the world fell apart and everybody stayed home.’ But despite the abbreviated season (40 performances) she says that she is pleased. ‘We had 12,000 come through the door; we’ve done well.’ While the challenges for Franzen remain the same, somehow things seem to fall on the right side of the balance sheet. Her pay-as-you-go philosophy (tightening staff, making cuts and keeping services in-house) has kept the Broad within its $1.2-million budget and allowed her to focus on seeking donations, large and small. ‘Some foundations froze, but others opened up,’ says Franzen, who is also grateful for her contacts, many of whom she developed over her 20-years as a professional opera singer (lyric soprano). Certainly one of the most important angels are the Broads, who helped launch the theater with a $10-million endowment for programming and arts education. ‘Eli and Edye came into my life at the best time. It was a great piece of timing; they have been extraordinary with my board, the budget and long-term strategy. Eli is brilliant and caring. I can call him up and he helps me. He is famous for his laser ability to zero in on things.’ Other advisors include L.A. Opera’s Pl’cido Domingo, actor/producer Tom Hulce, who assisted with booking Baryshnikov for the second season, and KCRW General Manager Ruth Seymour. ‘Ruth has been a mentor to me,’ Franzen says. ‘I admire her; she had a vision and has remained flexible and timely.’ Franzen also finds her counsel as a woman instructive. ‘I trust her, she’s a woman who’s not afraid.’ Franzen has also shaped a board she thinks has the background, connections and strategic thinking skills to build a community, to move the theater from its founding-year challenges to become a longtime theatrical entity. With this in mind, the board has begun to talk about a five-year strategic plan. ‘Nonprofits can’t afford to think about themselves as nonprofits any more,’ Franzen explains. ‘The original definition of nonprofit is ‘for the public good.’ All of us need to start thinking that way. My goal even in a 500-seat theater is to try to break even, but not to lose money. In order to do this I need to be thinking more strategically about a variety of income streams. With a new board chair, Austin Veutner, and a strong passionate board, we are looking at a long term strategy to protect this nonprofit.’ Believe it or not, Franzen says, her biggest challenge is spreading the word that the Broad Stage is out there. ‘I want everybody to know about this theater, and they don’t. ‘We need to spread the net through programming, the press, articles and just people talking. You can tweet, you can e-mail, but sometimes it takes actually getting someone to come to the theater by picking up the phone.’ There will be multiple reasons for visiting the Broad in the 2009-10 season, Franzen promises. She understands that the Westside wants dance, but she decided to cut out an expanded dance series in order to bring theater. It’s simple economics: unless she gets a major underwriter, such as KCRW’s support for Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, individual performers don’t require the rehearsal and tech expenses that dance and theater do. Doubtless, the opening celebration with Baryshnikov elevates the programming bar, and the story behind this coup underscores the behind-the-scenes work of an artistic director. ‘I was lucky,’ Franzen says, simply. Five years ago, she spoke with Baryshnikov’s publicist, explaining to him that what Misha was doing with his foundation (The Baryshnikov Arts Center) was similar to what she wanted to do with the Broad Stage and the smaller (126-seat) Edye Second Space. One thing led to another. Franzen began talking to Misha’s executive director, Stamford Makishi, about doing a program at the Broad. While encouraged, Franzen was not able to close the deal until March of this year, when she was ready to go to press with the season brochure and she got the call that it was a go. ‘Relationships are very important,’ she says. ‘It took me five trips to New York to get Baryshnikov.’ The legendary dancer will offer two new dances by Alexei Ratmansky’the recently appointed artist in residence at the American Ballet Theatre’and Benjamin Millepied, first soloist with the New York City Ballet. Prima ballerina Ana Laguna will share the duet. Theater programs include not only Shakespeare’s ‘Love’s Labour’s Lost,’ (November) but New-York based puppeteer Basil Twist, who will perform his version of ‘Petrouchka,’ accompanied by Stravinsky’s score for two pianos in February 2010. Franzen is also presenting ‘Jane Austen Unscripted with High Tea’ at the Edye Second Space in December, which she saw at a smaller Hollywood theater last year. ‘It’s great to have the Edye to try things out; it’s our think tank.’ In reviewing the inaugural year, Franzen says that it is still too soon to know what does or doesn’t work. That’s why she is still working as hard as ever, seeing theater, listening to music and all the while ‘getting stronger and getting clearer about what our needs are.’ For information and subscription series tickets, visit www.thebroadstage.com or call 818-461-9244.
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