Budget cuts are like school bullies. They steal money from innocent theaters.
The Alleyway Theatre, once the nerd with no milk money, is fighting back.
Along with the DMV and public libraries, the survival of live theaters in Buffalo has been threatened by budget cuts. But not all theatres are giving into the pressure.
Alleyway Theatre has developed a scheme to make up for lost dough while still appealing to those who are personally struggling.
The "Pay-What-It's-Worth-To-You" (PWIWTY) program is designed to attract an audience that wants to keep theatre alive but is on a tight budget. PWIWTY takes place during preview weekends, which is the first weekend of a performance. Customers can enjoy Alleyway's theatrical productions and pay what they think is an appropriate amount.
Preview weekend was designed to combat the elimination of county funding in a manner that stays faithful to the true meaning of local theater: people enjoying new plays and musicals at an affordable price.
Neal Radice, director of the Alleyway Theatre, hopes that preview weekend will help spread by word-of-mouth to boost attendance in later weeks.
"One choice would have been to raise prices to help make up the loss," Radice said. "But in an economy that's already suffering, it is likely that we might then find ourselves in the odd circumstance of making more money but performing to fewer people."
It is up to the community to help save live theater. Budget cuts put many smaller theatres and productions at risk of closing.
"It is imperative that students support the theatre community now more then ever due to these recent budget cuts," said Jonathan Miller, a graduate student of English education. "Theater is such a vital resource in our community. Without patron support, many theatres will take a hit."
Alleyway Theatre isn't the only theater downtown that is making changes to compensate for the budget cuts. The Irish Classical Theatre is, like most theaters, feeling the repercussions of lost county support. They plan to increase marketing strategies and ticket sales.
Fortunato Pezzimenti, associate artistic director of the Irish Classical Theatre, also stresses how important it is for students to get involved with saving live theatre.
"The arts are under stress and it is up to young people to support theater and the arts any way they can, especially with the discounts in ticket prices for students," said Pezzimenti.
"It's no secret how much Shakespeare in Delaware Park struggles with the $50,000 cut," said Brian Butera, a senior musical theater major. "They've been going for 30 years now only because of people's donations. It's no different with other area theaters, and many of them actually have student discount tickets or are free for student nights."
In the spirit of bringing live theater to the people of Buffalo, Alleyway Theatre, along with many others, is doing its best to make all performances reasonably priced.
What could be more reasonable than "what it's worth you?"
