The Lied Center for Performing Arts began its 2008-09 season with a bang, exceeding revenue and attendance projections with its first three shows.
JEFF KORBELIK / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Monday, January 5, 2009 12:00 am
The Lied Center for Performing Arts began its 2008-09 season with a bang, exceeding revenue and attendance projections with its first three shows.
It included a sell-out of the season-opener, the touring Broadway show “Sweeney Todd.”
The fast start led interim Executive Director Ann Chang-Barnes to rejoice in her journal on the Lied’s Web site.
“The season has had a remarkable display of excitement and energy demonstrating that the Lied Center is THE place to be in Lincoln!” she wrote in October.
That was Chang-Barnes’ last post.
Since then, nine of the Lied’s next 11 shows fell short of attendance and revenue projections, with only the sold-out Capitol Steps and Native performer Kevin Locke doing better than expected.
At the holiday break, the Lied is 14.7 percent below budgeted revenue and 12.7 percent below budgeted attendance.
Faring poorly were Michael Cooper, a family series performance artist; Champions of Dance, and the Perlman/Schmidt/Bailey chamber music trio.
All three fell short of revenue and ticket projections by more than 50 percent.
Still, Barnes and her staff remain optimistic, especially with the bulk of the season — 17 of the 31 scheduled events — scheduled between January and May, including three touring Broadway productions.
“Our numbers are slightly under budget,” Chang-Barnes said. “But we’re doing better than we’ve done in the last four years.”
Indeed, it is. The Lied came into 2008-09 season in the midst of a financial crisis.
Ticket sales had slipped around 20 percent in the past three years, forcing former Executive Director Charles Henry Bethea to cut the Lied’s budget by
$1 million.
In February, Bethea laid off six of its 31 staff members to trim another $200,000 from its $4.9 million budget.
The performing arts center is part of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, but it operates independently, meaning it receives no university or state funds.
When announcing the layoffs, Bethea cited a variety of reasons: a struggling economy, a troubled housing market, more entertainment options and that people are simply busier.
Bethea resigned in May after 11 years in the wake of budget cuts, saying he had done his best to put the Lied back on track.
“A refreshing of the leadership role will make for a stronger recovery,” he told the Journal Star.
UNL Chancellor Harvey Perlman appointed Chang-Barnes, who founded the city’s successful Meadowlark Music Festival, as interim director less than a week later.
Since May, the Lied has lost Associate Executive Director Laura Sweet, who left for a position with a Minneapolis performing arts center, and marketing coordinator Brenda Weyers.
Chang-Barnes knew she had a challenge before her when she accepted Perlman’s appointment.
She said she was interested in the position full time, noting she was “serious about making the Lied Center a visible and vital part of the community again.”
She and her staff are trying a variety of things this season to make the Lied experience more pleasurable. They’ve included pre-concert slideshows, student rush tickets and buses from assisted-living centers.
The Lied also has rolled with the punches. With ticket sales lagging for Perlman/Schmidt/Bailey, the Lied moved the trio from the main hall to the smaller Johnny Carson Theater.
It proved to be a more intimate and enjoyable event for those who attended. The artists, Chang-Barnes said, also found it more appealing.
“We made lemonade out of lemons,” she said. “(The artists) were flexible with changing venues, allowing for a better event.”
As this season plays out, Chang-Barnes is booking the center’s 20th anniversary year.
She said she expected 2009-10 to include some recognizable names to complement the Lied’s mission of providing quality dance, theater and music.
Omaha Performing Arts’ 2008-09 season, for instance, features the likes of Ricky Skaggs, Bruce Hornsby, Bill Cosby, Bebe Neuwirth, k.d. lang and John Pizzarelli.
“We want to bring in (artists) that people identify with easier,” Chang-Barnes said.
Reach Jeff Korbelik at 473-7213 or jkorbelik@journalstar.com.