The Augusta Opera is unsure what its future might hold and has very little time to decide.
The organization, which two weeks ago canceled the last two of its current season productions, is scheduled to give up its office space at Sacred Heart Cultural Center in two weeks. Jonathan Krauss, the president of the Augusta Opera Board, said that's also the deadline for deciding whether the Augusta Opera can continue in some fashion or must shut down after more than 40 years.
"I just don't believe the Augusta Opera can be rescued in the short term," Dr. Krauss said. "There are just no donors on the horizon that can keep it going this year."
Dr. Krauss said the opera was $205,000 behind where it needed to be to stage its last two productions, Tosca in March and The Barber of Seville in May. He said an additional $25,000 in administrative bills was outstanding. He also said no refunds would be offered for tickets purchased for the remaining performances.
"If we had money for cash refunds, we probably wouldn't be in this position," he said. "That leaves us with two choices. People can write that purchase off as a charitable donation or accept a ticket exchange."
The Augusta Symphony, Augusta Ballet, Augusta Choral Society and Augusta Players have agreed to honor Augusta Opera tickets in exchange for tickets to their performances.
Although slipping attendance and donations have become problems for arts groups everywhere, Dr. Krauss said part of the problem at the Augusta Opera was an inability to rebound after the death of longtime executive director Ed Bradberry in 2002.
"It's possible that after the death of Ed Bradberry we didn't really strive to renew the board, and brand with a younger audience," he said. "We suffered because of that."
Dr. Krauss said the board is seeking legal and financial advice. Early ideas for resurrecting the Augusta Opera brand have included staging productions that make greater use of local talent rather than hiring outside professionals, and bringing in professional tours, similar to the model set up by the Augusta Ballet in 2006.
"Our concern is ensuring a certain level of quality," Dr. Krauss said. "But at this point we really don't know whether we will be able to continue in some fashion or whether this will be the end."
Reach Steven Uhles at (706) 823-3626 or steven.uhles@augustachronicle.com.
Comments
Good! If the Augusta Opera can't recover from it's current situation, it needs to fold. Regrouping with a new approach to reforming the New Augusta Opera sounds like someone is on the right path. I hope the new effort will find a level a financial stability as it strives to reach the quality of the current Augusta Opera.
Its nice to be appreciated by the movers and shakers. But answer this. If you paid a contractor for a service and they decided they wern't going to provide it and spent the money on something else, what would be your recourse? Just another example of Private (closed) boards making decisions without input from the public. It is obvious that this organization not only can't plan for their productions, they also have very little accounting and budget skills, which means they will probably end up getting some of Freds saved up gas budget money. What is absolutely amazing is that this type of operation can be classified as a Non-Profit when they are obviously a for profit organization!
never thought i'd read a post from someone cheering for an arts organization when it goes away. i don't recall such glee when the lynx folded, pt; what exactly do you have against local arts organizations, anyway? jazz project, augusta ballet, augusta opera...pretty soon, we'll be left with no representatives of high art / culture in our area and augusta will look like every other backwater burg. but go ahead and cheer if you honestly feel there is no place in the modern world for entertainment that requires a little mental exercise to enjoy. i'm sure chris brown's next album will be a smash hit.
The decision to bring in high priced, medium talents names to Augusta must have all been worth it, huh? I never understood why the organization would spend money like that when the talent pool here is so wonderful. Can you imagine the money saved if local folks were used? No need for accomodations, plane fare and expenses. There is too much talent here in Augusta.....and by not using them, the Augusta Opera wrote checks it couldn't cash.
Have to agree with Does_it, Augusta Opera needs to shoot for something they can reach and hang on to over the years. Anything they can do with local talent and more modest productions will be a whole lot better than nothing.
bone, I'm not cheering the collapse of any of the arts programs. I'm cheering the revamping of the opera to an organization that is not totally reliant on taxpayer support and more reliant on reliable donors and gate receipts.
"high priced medium talents?" which ones are those? local musicians were used (i was one). mark flint was an AMAZING music director and, in my opinion, no one even comes close in the area (maybe les reagan). bringing national-caliber trained voices for productions really makes a difference: having performed for years with ft. gordon, augusta players, and the augusta opera, i can tell you with absolute certainty that the quality of the performances was greatly enhanced by having strong vocalists from out-of-town. i won't debate that there a good local singers that will be used now that funding is an issue and that there are smaller-scale productions that could be run. losing mark flint & the singers he brought to town, though, is going to diminish the quality. pt, i am a taxpayer, too: i'd rather my tax dollars go to public funding of significant cultural institutions - opera, ballet, symphony, jazz, etc. - rather than redistribute my earnings so some bozo will get a better welfare check.
Well Bone, it is a non-issue now...can't wait to see your name in the program!
if they use the same agent to book musicians as they have in the past, you'll see my name for sure. if they use the symphony to book musicians, i won't get a call (talk about a group that doesn't use local musicians....)
Being somewhat in the loop, it is not how talented you are....but who you know when it comes to getting gigs here in Augusta. Trust me on this one.
It a shame to see the Opera going under. They have provided superior entertainment to the CSRA for years. Using local performers is a great idea. But I guess it wasn't the same for The Augusta Ballet. When they were using local performers for productions, they had a much better following because the people of the CSRA went to see those that they knew. When they rejected the ideas that made it great is when they tubed. I for one would rather see the Old Balet. And it seems that the loss of Local talet like Ed Bradberry and others spells doom for these organizations.
i agree, does it really: knowing the correct person gets you the gig in this town. talent does go a long way to securing repeated engagements, though...
I think the message here really is....support your local arts by attending the performances - all of them - not just the ones you've heard of - and do whatever else you can to ensure their success. And local is better in my opinion. Being from out of town doesn't automatically infuse you with great talent! I sat through both Sweeney Todd (with out of towners) and Jekyll and Hyde (with locals) and was WAY MORE impressed with Jekyll and Hyde! The locals are in it for the love of what they do and it shows in their performances. If you are saddened by the departure of the Opera then look around at what other local arts groups are doing and throw support for them. The Symphony has ongoing productions and so does the Augusta Players. Fort Gordon dinner theatre has a current show and so does Le Chat Noir. Support the arts in Augusta! Or like the Ballet and the Opera, they too, will be gone.
It is a terribly sad situation for the number of communities currently losing their beloved regional opera company to the issues related to the economic crisis. Large and small, these companies are slipping away after many years of tenacious, grass roots development of all the support required to sustain an organization whose work, like the ideas and issues it explores on its stage, is so monumental; so meaningful to its constituents. I don't know much about Augusta or its opera company, but I knew Ed Bradberry. After reading the comments following the article on the Augusta Opera, I can more than imagine how saddened (and, frankly, [filtered word]) he would be. If the provincial, mean-spirited attitudes of the majority of those responses is typical for Augusta, I suggest the immediate, serious development of a passing acquaintance with the power of the arts to shift our focus from human to humane. Otherwise, the way you all have given personal bitterness the upper hand . . . well, sounds like the opera company is leaving YOU! It's not about YOU; not while the cultural health of your community needs your ego-free/no-whining-allowed attention. (Hurry before it abandons you altogether.)
The Augusta Chronicle ©2012. All Rights Reserved.
