Passion drives local theater groups in Butler County
Butler County’s nonprofit theater groups would not be where they are today without the support of dedicated volunteers and patrons.
There is more than meets the eye to putting on a production. It takes everything from stage designers, directors, play reading committees and actors to, of course, financing, according to local leaders of these organizations.
But in spite of how challenging making those things work might be at times, the show must go on.
Butler Little Theatre is entering its 83rd season. Its origins can be traced back to the 1920s, according to Dennis Casey, chairman of the theater’s board of directors.
“We believe we are the longest continuously operating community theater in the state of Pennsylvania,” Casey said. “Even during the pandemic, we were able to produce a play that we presented online.”
Known in the theater community as BLT, the nonprofit specializes in classic play productions, from comedies to dramas, such as “Arsenic and Old Lace” and “Ripcord.”
Deciding what plays to produce can take several months in the prior season, Casey said. All candidates get discussed by the group’s play reading committee, according to Nedra Casey, a BLT board member and Dennis’ wife.
“We have five shows a season,” Nedra Casey said. “We have a play reading committee and they read a variety of shows. Then they present them to the board, and the board reads them also. Then the board approves the slate of shows.”
It takes a village to put on a production, she said. It requires not just actors, but ushers, stage and costume designers, and so much more.
“I always tell people that the ratio is about four people that the audience never sees for every one person that is onstage,” Dennis Casey said.
He said the theater, at One Howard St. in Butler, has two sources of revenue: ticket sales and donations from local theater patrons.
Money that comes in is spent on, not just the productions, but also base expenses such as heating, lighting, insurance and other needs. Those things cost the theater about $31,000 a year, he said.
The price to put on a production can vary depending on what it is and everything that goes with it.
Barb Osche, president of the board of directors for the Musical Theatre Guild of Butler, said a hidden cost that most patrons might not think about is music royalties, which can range from $3,000 to $5,000 per production.
As its name suggests, Musical Theatre Guild, at 100 Memorial Drive in Butler, focuses on musical productions.
“Then we pay the orchestra, that could be up to $2,000,” Osche said. “Then you have your materials for scenery and paint for the set. If we put on the show at Butler County Community College, we pay them rent, too. To do a musical at the college it’s pushing $10,000 in total.”
The cost of royalties depends on how many performances of the production are held, as well as the size of the venue.
Osche said local and state grants are other revenue streams that help nonprofit theater groups with basic expenses and keep the lights on.
“Say we go to the college to perform, that seats 440, and we only sell 200 tickets, we are still paying royalties for 440 people,” Osche said.
Musical Theatre Guild also picks its shows through a play reading committee, but over the years, the organization has had to change the way it selects shows because of the lack of participation.
“Sometimes we pick a show then don’t have enough people who audition and then we have to change it,” Osche said. “Back in the day, when we had auditions we had 50 to 100 people come. Now sometimes we can’t even cast a show.”
Ken Smith, artistic director of Hobnob Theatre Company, 134 S. Main St. in Butler, said the organization moved into a “semipermanent” space on Main Street last year, which has helped with space and allows them to be able to teach classes to the next generation of actors.
Generally, the nonprofit tries to focus on more than just classical works, which have been a main focus for a long time, but other forms of theatrical entertainment.
“We do four main shows,” Smith said. “Then throughout the rest of the year, we have other events. We have the 24-hour play project, ‘Radio Play’ and we have planned for three or four children’s shows.”
For example, in August, the organization hosted a 24-hour play project, which consisted of people meeting at the theater on a Friday night, dividing into casts and then writing a script based on an item they picked out of a hat, according to Elizabeth Smith, president of the board and wife of Ken.
“They wrote a script overnight and everyone reconvened in the morning to rehearse all day. Then at night, we performed in front of an audience,” she said.
Ken Smith said the organization has also produced some shows written by local playwrights to help give them a chance to see their work come to life onstage.
“There just happens to be a lot of talented people who are passionate about the arts in the community,” he said.
For more than four decades, Comtra Theatre on Route 19 in Cranberry Township hosted plays, comedy shows, drag shows, musicals and summer camps.
But that run came to an end in early January, when officials announced Comtra would permanently close after being unable to meet ongoing financial demands.
“Unfortunately, we can no longer sustain the operational costs and demands required to maintain our operations,” a portion of the post stated. “We extend our heartfelt gratitude to all who have supported us throughout the years, including our loyal audiences, dedicated volunteers, talented actors, directors, musicians, costumers, set builders, choreographers and many others who have contributed to our theatre.”
The theater was run by Paragon Studios, based in McCandless, Allegheny County, which rented the Comtra for the past four years.
This article first appeared in the January edition of Butler County Business Matters.
