Netflix, Bright House, watching TV on your computer." "There are so many choices, especially for young people. "I know young people who have never been to a play before," Broskette said. And securing the "rights," or permission to put on someone's work, can climb as high as $10,000. Broskette closed the 50-seat theater in 2014 after reaching an impasse with her landlord over increased rent.Įlectric bills can be especially high. "People don't understand how much it costs to run a theater," said Corinne Broskette, 69, founder of Venue Theatre in Pinellas Park. Community theaters compete at a disadvantage on every level, from the size of grants they can secure to the financial risks assumed. What happened shows how fragile a theater's budget can be.
"Her sin, if any, was keeping this hidden from the board until we had a crisis on our hands," Bruce Cook said. In forcing her resignation, theater leaders said that Byrne's charges all went toward legitimate theater operations. Apart from an original comedy planned as a fundraiser, as of late July the theater also had no fall season - "which is probably that first time that has ever occurred, I don't know," said Sharon Cook, the theater's current president and Bruce's wife. With just $5,000 in the bank and grant funds not in hand, there was not enough money to pay directors.īyrne resigned in May, following a vote of no confidence by the board. As Cook was learning the extent of the debt, the summer camp loomed. "She admitted that what she had said was untrue, that there was a balance," Cook said. In a private meeting with Cook and another board member, Cook said, Byrne came clean about the credit card debt. "I think she was trying her best and she didn't want to bring it to the board."īyrne, 36, did not return several phone messages from the Tampa Bay Times requesting comment. "As things got worse and worse, she became more secretive about it," he said. Cook said Byrne never reported the extent of the debt, which by April totaled $45,000. The theater had been charging its operating expenses. In fact, he would learn, credit card debt alone totaled $26,000. "I received everything but the credit card statements," Cook said. During peak years of the 1960s, its high school auditorium size seemed about right.Ĭook said he asked Byrne for copies of all of the theater's bills. In 1958, it opened the first show at its current location, a new building on 31st Street S. Petersburg Little Theatre, but confidence was never a problem. The thousands of residents who have crossed its stage or worked behind the scenes include soldiers in training during World War II, retired soap opera actresses and a young Angela Bassett. Petersburg City Theatre bills itself as the "oldest, continuously operating community theatre" in Florida. "Almost every one of my really good, close friends, I met there," said Schuh, 80.Īt 91, St. Petersburg Mayor Charles Schuh, served a couple of years as vice president.
Petersburg City Theatre and written its newsletter. Jean Schuh has acted in more than 50 productions at St. The term also happens to describe these theaters as social hubs surrounded by a purpose, similar to church communities. "In the fundraising world, we have this discussion a lot - where is the next generation?"Ī community theater is loosely defined as one that does not normally pay actors, although directors, choreographers and musicians might be compensated. "The generation that would have supported community theater is disappearing," said John Collins, who directs the St. The number of community theaters in Tampa Bay has fallen off since the 1990s, when there were more than two dozen.