Hartford Stage Nearly Halfway Through $20 Million Campaign

With theaters nationwide still staggering from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hartford Stage announced today it is nearly halfway through the largest non-capital fundraising campaign in the theater’s 61-year history.

The $20 million campaign’s aim is to stabilize its finances and improve programming as it continues to slowly recover from losses sustained over the years, accelerated by the pandemic, according to the news release.

With the goal of reaching $20 million by the end of next year, the “Set the Stage” campaign, which is now in its public phase, would target $15 million to the theater’s endowment — which would bring its present level to $21 million.

The other $5 million would go to support plays, educational programs and operational expenses over the next five years. So far more than $9 million has been raised in gifts or pledges, according to the news release.

This endowment/productions campaign was initially being planned just before the pandemic shut down theaters nationwide in March, 2020. Theaters nationwide began to reopen — including the downtown Hartford theater — in the fall of 2021 but with dramatically decreased audiences.

“The pandemic pointed out how precarious all arts institutions are,” Melia Bensussen, artistic director of the theater, said. “This campaign couldn’t come at a better time.”

Audiences and earned income from ticket sales still haven’t returned to pre-pandemic levels, managing director Cynthia Rider said.

Rider reported full season subscription levels are now at 50 percent compared to what they were before the pandemic. While single ticket sales for the perennial holiday show, “A Christmas Carol” are back to 2019 levels, single ticket sales for the other shows are only about 70 percent back to earlier levels.

The theater, which has an annual budget of about $10 million this year, is now largely supported from contributions, which makes up 60 percent of its income. Only 40 percent now comes from earned income.

“Those numbers were reversed in the past,” said Rider. “Now we’re relying more on contributions at a time when contributions — particularly from corporations and foundations — have decreased significantly over time. It was happening pre-pandemic, but it’s happening even more now.”

“This campaign is incredibly important. Without it (Hartford Stage) would struggle to survive. The organization is in OK shape right now but ticket sales are still down,” Don Allan, campaign chair and president/CEO of Stanley Black & Decker, said.

Allan said two-thirds of the campaign so far have come from corporations, but individuals are expected to be the principal donors in the second phase of the campaign.

Without the additional funds Bensussen said artistic choices “would be incredibly different. A strong endowment and financial base would allow the theater not to be dependent doing only doing small productions or commercial work and would let us continue to do the shows that have put this theater on the map.”

She pointed to past Hartford Stage productions of fully produced Shakespeare works and plays from leading American writers, as well as the development of new works, many of which have gone on to win Pulitzer Prizes and Tony Awards and fill stages around the country and the world.

Hartford Stage produced in 2012 the musical "A Gentleman's Guide To Love and Murder" which went on to win the Tony Award for best new musical in 2014. The theater commissioned Quiara Alegria Hudes' show "Water By the Spoonful" and produced it in 2011, it later went on to win a Pulitzer Prize in 2012.

This latest fundraising follows on the heels of the theater’s $6 million “Raise the Curtain” campaign during the pandemic. The 2021 campaign sought emergency funds which — along with federal relief dollars — allowed the theater to continue to deal with its deficits, and produce without tapping into its endowment. The emergency federal funding offered to arts organizations during the pandemic has ended.

Rider called the new campaign “absolutely vital” for the future of the theater. “If we’re still going to be the Hartford Stage that our audiences have come to love and respect — and that new audiences haven’t even discovered yet —we’ve got to have a more solid revenue base.”

“The last few years have been hard on the staff as we see theaters close around the country. We lost 70 percent of the staff but now we have a new group," General manager Emily Van Scoy, who has worked at the theater for 28 years with four separate artistic directors, said. "This campaign is intended help us build a strong foundation to continue to do really extraordinary work. It makes us hopeful for the future.”

Leading gifts for the campaign are from Stanley Black & Decker, Travelers, The Hartford and The Richard P. Garmany Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, according to the theater's website.

The theater opens its 61st season this week with previews for “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” The theater produces five works and a perennial holiday show.

For more information on the campaign, visit hartfordstage.org/set-the-stage-campaign.