A: Our last plan was done in 2006, when the main thrust was combining the Arts Center Foundation and the Victoria Theatre Association together into one entity. When I got here in 2009, we started thinking about the next phase of where we were going. We had a lot of conversations internally, with the trustees and staff, and with various stakeholders, such as donors and customers. Past boards had renovated the Victoria, built the Schuster Center, renovated the Metropolitan and so forth; we asked, what was the legacy for the staff and trustees of this generation?
Q: What did you consider?
A: We did a comprehensive study of all our facilities, where they were in their life cycle and determined where they'd need to be in 10, 15, 20 years — and the cost of keeping those buildings in the condition they will need to be in. They're in good shape, but they're getting older. We also looked at the Miami Valley region — the eight-county area we serve from northern Cincinnati up to Sidney, and from Springfield over to Richmond, Ind. — and how it's changing, demographically, technologically.
Q: What did you end up with?
A: So the plan adopted by the board has four core initiatives. The first is to become a more active advocate for downtown Dayton and the Miami Valley region. We think we contribute a lot to the quality of life in this region, and we want to make sure that anybody who thinks to come and live here not only values our place in the region, but also values all the arts in this community. The second initiative is to really look at how these changes in the community truly affect our programming and the educational opportunities we offer, and how we need to change to keep attracting new communities and remain relevant. Third is really trying to communicate better who the Victoria Theatre Association is in the community. People know about the Schuster, the Victoria, but the VTA is a bit amorphous. We want people to know who we are and how we interact with the community. So it's a branding initiative. Fourth is to raise the money so we can do all this. Our goal is $20 million over 10 years. That will get us to an endowment of about $30 million. You try to key your endowment to twice your operating budget, and we have about a $15 million annual budget.
Q: How’s it going so far?
A: We're in the very early stages of the campaign, but we've had some positive feedback. People seem to like the idea that we are planning ahead for the future care of our buildings.
Q: Where do your customers come from, mainly?
A: Interestingly, our fastest-growing segment is in northern Cincinnati. We track our customers pretty closely, and the feedback we get from people is they think it's easier to go to Dayton than to downtown Cincinnati. Our shows are similar, we're more affordable, parking is easier. So West Chester Twp. and that area is really coming to us, that's our target audience.
Q: The plan builds on the fact that the Schuster is 10 years old. What if it had never been built?
A: The Schuster has positively affected the growth, both artistically and in terms of audience, of not only the VTA, but also the Dayton Philharmonic, the Dayton Opera, the Ballet. The Philharmonic is an absolute beneficiary. At Memorial Hall, it just didn't sound very good. The Schuster gives everybody in the arts a boost — and if the art is better, more people will come. We wouldn't be able to book "Phantom," "Les Miz," "Wicked" or any of these big Broadway shows without the Schuster. We found that 40 percent of the single-ticket buyers for "The Lion King" had never been to the Schuster before. So we're growing an audience — for us, and for everyone else.
Q: But also, the Schuster is a little like the area’s living room.
A: I think the beauty of the Schuster Center is that it's such a multi-purpose facility, and genius of it is the Wintergarden. We can be doing the Philharmonic one night, "The Addams Family" the next night and then do somebody's wedding, or a banquet, or a corporate sales meeting. That's the way you build community; it's about shared events. That's what we're doing.
Q: You had an open house last weekend to mark the 10th anniversary.
A: We had 3,000 people. We gave back-stage tours, and people seemed thrilled to see the dressing rooms, talk to the stage hands, go up on stage and look into the auditorium. It was spectacular.
Q: Folks here like to think Dayton’s got a great art scene. Does it?
A: I think Dayton has a good, though small, arts community. For its location and size, it has a good amount of assets — its own orchestra, opera, ballet company, a modern dance troupe, a small but thriving professional theater company, some good community theater that's also pretty well attended. That's about right. I mean, if you look around around, everybody made it through the recession, things are on the upswing, audiences are building. In a city this size, you wouldn't want to have, say, three or four professional theater companies; the population couldn't support it, and that wouldn't be a good thing here. Dayton has somehow right-sized itself, through some kind of evolutionary process, to have to the right number of amenities it needs. Where Dayton would struggle is if it tried to bring in too many assets. I worry about all the talk lately about new venues in the works, such as the new outdoor amphitheater in Huber Heights, because we have a precious ecology. If you mess with the ecology, that will be problematic. I don't think the community needs another 4,000-seat outdoor venue.
Q: You’ve been here about four years, after working in Vancouver and Buffalo. What surprised you most about the area?
A: How welcoming the people here are. Boy, we felt absolutely embraced by the community when we got here. And also how people embrace and support and appreciate the arts. That's not the case everywhere, believe me. Plus, it's a great place to live. We really like living here.
Q: What’s one thing you’d change?
A: Well, I wasn't crazy about the weather this week. Seriously, I don't know. It's pretty close to perfect, in my world.
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