By TIM ZATZARINY JR.
Courier-Post Staff
WASHINGTON TWP.

When the Washington Township Center for the Performing Arts opened at the high school in 1998, school officials touted it as a venue where community groups could sing, dance and act in a professional-caliber theater.

The center would offer "unlimited opportunities to the kids and our community," said then-Superintendent Robert Kern.

But for most area nonprofit groups that have used the theater, the stage has gone dark: A change in the fee structure and required new ticket surcharges have priced them out of the center, they say.

The taxpayer-funded $7.2 million theater, it turns out, is so big and expensive to run that officials say they can't afford to operate it at prices community groups deem affordable.

So groups that once enjoyed deeply discounted rates now must pay premium prices.

The Spotliters Inc., a township-based choral and acting troupe, is among the groups that say they must look elsewhere.

"I think they could have (built the center) smaller and better and wiser," said Ken Van Dyk, president of Spotliters. "It's a financial bind that they're in."

With 2,500 seats, including a 600-seat balcony, the center is larger than most of Philadelphia's theaters. It features an expandable stage, a top-flight lighting and sound system, upholstered seating and superior acoustics.

"No one wants to see these organizations shut out of our facility, least of all me," said Rebecca Keith, the center' s manager. "But we can't take a loss to host their production."

The last time the Spotliters used the theater was for a production of Fiddler on the Roof in April 2000. Through a deal with the school district, the group paid about $6,000 to rent the theater for a run of four shows plus rehearsals. This year, the Spotliters wanted to use the theater again, but found the rates had sharply increased.

The rates changed after the school board, in April, signed a one-year management contract with the Entertainment Group Fund Inc., which is based in Miami. Entertainment Group Fund is the parent company of New Park Entertainment, a Philadelphia-based concert promoter.

Last year, before it got the management contract, New Park started bringing in national acts such as the Moody Blues and Trisha Yearwood to perform.

Under the new fee schedule, groups can no longer pay reduced rates for using just a portion of the theater.

Nonprofit groups had been charged $1,500 a day to use the full theater, which can be sectioned off using dividers. To use the lower half of the theater, they paid $1,125, and to use the front section alone, or 976 seats, $800.

Under the new agreement, nonprofit groups will be charged $ 2,850 a day in rent no matter how much of the theater they use. For-profit groups, which could rent the front section for $1,200, also can no longer rely on a scale; they must pay a flat fee of $5,000.

Rent pays for staffing the center's box office on the day of a show, pre- and post-show cleanup, a house manager and utilities.

For rehearsals, the school district used to charge $100 per hour to nonprofit groups. Now they must pay $1,000 a day. For-profits must now pay $2,000, up from $150 an hour.

What's more, the new contract requires all groups to sell their tickets through the performing arts center's box office, which uses Ticketmaster, a company that sells tickets at outlets, by phone and online. To use the service, groups must pay a fee of 25 cents per ticket sold.

In addition, groups are required to pay a "facility fee" of $2.50 per ticket for tickets costing $25 or more; $1.50 each for tickets costing $15 to $24.99; $1 apiece for tickets costing $10 to $14.99; and 50 cents each for tickets under $10.

Keith said a facility fee was in effect before the new contract was signed and is necessary to pay for utilities and upkeep.

During the year ending June 30, 2000, the school district spent $17,769 on utilities such as heating and air conditioning at the center. As of April 30 of this year, the district had spent $26,239 on utilities for the center, according to Business Administrator Margaret Meehan.

Last year, the center's total operating expenses were $28, 327.16 and it showed a profit of $8,251.38. Figures for this year were not available.

Keith said the new rates consolidate charges that were previously billed separately, like security, sound and lighting.

For groups that charge $10 or $12 per ticket and draw 300 or 350 people to a show, the rental rates are out of reach, said Ed Fiscella, president of the Mainstage Center for the Arts, a performance group based in Gloucester Township. The group includes children, teenagers and young adults from across South Jersey, including Washington Township residents.

Like many nonprofit performance groups, Mainstage does not have its own theater and relies on public venues to stage performances.

"I can't think of a single circumstance in which we could use the (center) at those rates," said Fiscella, a township resident. "The kinds of things we do don't generate that kind of income. If they think their rates are reasonable, they've been misled."

"As a taxpayer," he added, "I thought we were going to have this wonderful theater that brought in professional acts and would also be accessible to community groups. They got the professional part right."

Mainstage has put on eight shows at the center since September 1999, with the last one staged this past January. The group also uses the Dennis Flyer Theatre at Camden County College and the Glen Landing Middle School in Gloucester Township.

The college charges nonprofit groups $1,000 per performance to use its 635-seat theater.

In Monroe, the school district charges groups $1,200 per show to use the 1,000-seat theater at Williamstown High School. The district also allows groups to split ticket proceeds with the school in lieu of paying a flat rental fee.

The Washington Township school district benefits financially from its contract with the Entertainment Group Fund. The company pays the district $1 per ticket sold when New Park puts on a show at the center or it is rented out to a community group.

And the company has agreed to pay half of Keith's annual salary, which was raised from $37,000 to $50,000 after the agreement was signed.

In addition, the Entertainment Group Fund is responsible for paying all operating costs, including electricity, gas and telephone service, even when the center is being used by the school district or community groups.

Sid Payne, production manager for New Park Entertainment, said the company needs to recoup its expenses by passing on some of the costs to whomever rents the theater.

"It's business, and we're not there to make a whole lot of money on little dance recitals and stuff like that," he said. "We need to bring in as many people (to events) as possible."

Payne told the Courier-Post the company would be willing to lower its rates in the future if it sees that local groups are being priced out of the center.

"We're willing to change things, but not right now," he said.

Although Payne said New Park hopes to book about 50 shows a year at the center, it has only three shows booked there this summer.

About 15 nonprofit groups have used the center since it opened, Keith said. But the next confirmed date by an area nonprofit is a show by the Gloucester County Community Church Symphony in October.

The performing arts center was the final phase of a construction project that included a new cafeteria and renovations to the high school's 11-12 wing approved in a 1995 referendum.

Superintendent Tom Flemming said he has tried to work with local groups to come up with a solution to the increased rates, but said he hasn't been successful.

The school district uses the center for assemblies and performances by student groups.

Washington Township has Gloucester County's largest school district, with more than 9,700 students enrolled this year. A minimum of 100 days are set aside for school events at the center.

The Trinity Players, a community theater group based out of the Trinity United Methodist Church in nearby Mullica Hill, planned to use the center to stage its annual summer musical next month. But when the group's director, Chris Laning, saw the rental rates, he had to cancel a planned production of Godspell. Last year, the Trinity Players did four shows of Jesus Christ Superstar at the center, drawing a total of 1,200 people.

"It's a shame, because it's a beautiful facility," Laning said. "They really tried to work with us, but the (rate) scale has gone up to the point where it's out of range for us."

The high school has another theater, which dates back to the building's construction in 1962. But most groups don't want to use the auditorium because it is a quarter of the size of the performing arts center, and has wooden seats and no air conditioning.

Scott Mericle, a school board member, said the district's priority is to keep the center self-sufficient.

"As far as I'm concerned, the rates are pretty good," he said. "I don't really see how we're trying to hurt anybody. If we can make (the center) cost-effective and make it pay for itself, I'm happy with that."

Van Dyk, the Spotliters president, said his group will perform its next show, a version of Cinderella, at the Pitman High School theater this fall. The Spotliters will pay $600 per show to rent the 500-seat theater.

The Washington Township Center for the Performing Arts was pitched as something that would enrich the local arts community, Van Dyk said.

"This was supposedly built for the students and the community," he said. "I don't think it's any gift to the community."