Exit stage right

By Cindy Landrum  

AUGUST 25, 2011 9:30 a.m. (12)

Over the years, the Arts Partnership of Greater Spartanburg brought the legendary Glenn Miller Orchestra, cutting-edge political satirists Capital Steps and the Golden Dragons, a team of Chinese acrobats, to the Chapman Cultural Center.

But it was a losing proposition financially.

Last year’s CenterStage season lost $43,000, said Jennifer Evins, the Center’s president and development director.

This year, the Arts Partnership won’t be bringing in national and international performing artists and instead will focus on promoting locally produced entertainment from its nine partner arts organizations.

“We were spending money we didn’t have,” Evins said.

Even if an event filled the 500-seat David Reid Theatre, the Chapman Cultural Center would still not break even. CenterStage shows sold, on average, between 200 and 300 tickets, losing between $3,000 and $5,000 per show, Evins said.

“It was not enough to make it sustainable,” she said. “It wasn’t a hard decision to make. It is not in our mission to be a presenter of events.”

Instead, the Arts Partnership will help the Artists’ Guild of Spartanburg, Ballet Spartanburg, Carolina Foothills Artisan Center, Spartanburg Art Museum, Spartanburg County Historical Association, the Spartanburg Little Theatre, the Spartanburg Science Center, the Music Foundation of Spartanburg and the Spartanburg Repertory Company promote their events.

In addition, the David Reid Theatre will be available for other organizations and individuals to rent out for programs, Evins said.

The only events on the 2011-12 season that aren’t sponsored by one of the organizations are a Spartanburg High Chorus concert on Sept. 26, an Oct. 25 performance of the Lezginka Dance Company from Russia, the Goodfellows Follies and “Magic of the Miracle,” a show sponsored by the German Consulate in Atlanta and the German School of Spartanburg featuring Martin Lubcke, the reigning German champion for card magic.

Evins said she hoped the corporate sponsors of CenterStage would continue to underwrite performances at the Chapman Center.

“Our focus this year is on locally produced entertainment,” said Chapman marketing director Steve Wong. “That is what we are known for and that is what we do best. This year, we will give Spartanburg what it wants – really good family-centered entertainment produced by our own artists.”

That entertainment includes the popular musical, “Annie,” presented by the Spartanburg Little Theatre in September. The theater will also present Alfred Hitchcock’s “The 39 Steps,” the country music revue, “The Honky Tonk Angels,” “Titanic: A New Musical” to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the ship’s sinking, and “On Golden Pond.”

The Spartanburg Youth Theatre will present “Charlotte’s Web,” “Junie B. in Jingle Bells Batman Smells,” “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie,” and “Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp.”

“This is one of our most exciting seasons yet,” said Spartanburg Little Theatre Executive Director Jay Coffman.

Ballet Spartanburg will once again present “DanSynergy,” an event that in four years has come to be known as a signature performance showcasing the diverse dance talent in Spartanburg, said Gene Conroy, the organization’s executive director.

Ballet Spartanburg will also present the holiday favorite, “The Nutcracker.”

The Music Foundation of Spartanburg will present a 9/11-tribute concert by the Spartanburg Philharmonic Orchestra on Sept. 10 at Twichell Auditorium. The concert will feature somber and patriotic selections, including the world premier of composer Kenneth Fuchs’ song cycle for baritone and orchestra titled, “Falling Man.”

The Music Foundation will also continue its “Music Sandwiched In” lunchtime music series at the Spartanburg County Public Library Headquarters.

The Spartanburg County Historical Association will have exhibits on Christmas in Spartanburg, a three-day African-American symposium, the celebrities of Spartanburg, Spartanburg Methodist College and the women’s suffrage movement in South Carolina.

At the Spartanburg Art Museum, exhibits will feature Laura Sprong, one of South Carolina’s best-known non-objective painters; an exhibit featuring reliquary figures and statues from Western and Central Africa and an exhibit of prints made for the Rolling Stone Press.

It will also hold its art and antique show in February.

The Spartanburg Artists’ Guild will feature exhibitions by Carole Tinsley, Spartanburg youth, Robert Urban, Dorothy Chapman Josey, Amy Holbein and Patty Wright, a juried show and an art grab bag exhibit.

The Spartanburg Repertory Company will present “The True Story of Cinderella” and one of Gilbert and Sullivan’s most popular operettas, “Her Majesty’s Ship Pinafore.”

A complete schedule is available at www.ChapmanCulturalCenter.org.