Musical Theatre Festival Presents at the March Wednesday Morning Roundtable
http://auburnpub.com/news/local/article_6dccae70-5092-11e0-be9b-001cc4c002e0.html
The two men in charge of Auburn's nascent Musical Theatre Festival sang a cheerful tune in mid March to the assembled audience of local movers and shakers, extolling the project's economic benefits and comparing it to similar festivals nationwide. It was the third monthly Wednesday Morning Roundtable, held at The Center on East Genesee Street. Musical Theatre Festival managing director Michael Chamberlain and Merry-Go-Round Playhouse Producing Director Ed Sayles depicted the festival, which will launch a pilot show this summer, as a way to reinvent the city's image.
"We feel that once we show the lifestyle here in the warmer months of the year, people will come for that," Sayles said. "And if we mix in the arts and the cultural and educational aspects, this is a place where people will want to relocate."
The directors presented again their oft-cited projections of the festival's impact once it gets running: 150,000 visitors spending a collective $30 million annually, with 400 new jobs created. They compared the Auburn project to similar festivals in Ontario and Oregon, where small cities draw many multiples of their population every summer.
Merry-Go-Round currently attracts about two-thirds of its audience from outside the county, and Sayles said the festival will work with regional tourism groups to focus on drawing theatergoers from within 75 miles before branching out across the state and beyond. "In my opinion, you only get bigger and better, or smaller and weaker," he said.
The current plan is to involve four venues: Merry-Go-Round Playhouse, Auburn Public Theater, the Carriage House theater behind the Cayuga Museum of History and Art - currently being renovated for a 2012 debut - and a proposed 380-seat theater on State Street where the Kalet's Building now stands surrounded by demolition fencing.
The festival will show a pilot production, "Cooking with the Calamari Sisters," at APT this summer.
Sayles and Chamberlain also stressed the educational aspects of the festival, which is being run in partnership with Cayuga Community College. Students will learn about the technical aspects of theater production in what Sayles predicted would be the best theater education program in upstate New York.
During the question-and-answer period, audience members asked for specifics about the project's business strategies, including whether there is a formalized plan for attracting ancillary businesses; Sayles said there is not. "We think the best way for that to happen is for a guy to think that he can make a buck," he said. "From my discussions with the Shaw Festival, it pretty much just happens."
Discussion moderator and Stardust Foundation executive director Guy Cosentino asked why the Schine's Theater was not being used. Chamberlain responded that the renovations would be too costly and the theater is too large - about 1,700 seats now - but said it could come into play as the festival expands. "We certainly hope there's a place for the Schine's Theater in the project at some point in the future," he said.
Chamberlain declined to provide a specific update on fundraising, but said one would be forthcoming in May. "We're very pleased with the progress we're making," he said. "I think when we announce where we are, people will be pleasantly surprised." The festival has said it hopes to raise about $12 million.
There was no mention during the hour-long presentation of the ongoing legal dispute between the city of Auburn and local attorney Joseph Camardo over the fate of the Kalet's building. "We understand there's a process that needs to happen," Chamberlain said afterward. "We're pleased with the steps the city has taken along with the county ... and we're confident that (the Kalet's building) will be ready when we need it to be."
—Citizen staff writer Justin Murphy
