THEA 1314 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Roundabout Theatre Company, Choregos
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Theatre Business
Budget Lines for Theatre
• Rights / royalties
• Salaries
o Actors
o Designers
o Crew members
o Orchestra (musicians)
• Costumes
• Scenery / props
• Lighting / sound
*shows can be expensive, thus we can't forget theatre is a business
There's No Business…
• Theatre is part of the economy
• He who has the money, is the boss
• Your product must please the boss
• Products created to please the boss
Ancient Greece
• Choregos - wealthy Athenian citizen chosen by archon (chief magistrate)
o Honor and a duty
o Use of private wealth to fund public good
• Paid for everything but the flute player and principle actors
• Prize awarded to both playwright and choregos
Patronage
• Rulers, nobles, and very wealthy people paid for arts
• "commissioned" works for greater public
• Medici family of Renaissance Florence - turned Florence into hub of Renaissance
• Queen Elizabeth was patron of William Shakespeare
Types of Theatres
• Contemporary theatre : in charge of business / management side of a production
• Nonprofit theatre : executive director -- with help of Board of Directors
o Mission statement
• For-profit theatre : producer -- with help of investors and "angels"
o All about money
Money in Non-Profit Theatre
• Nonprofits rely heavily on volunteers, even when they have large budgets
o Roundabout theatre budget in 2013 was $60 million
• Money coming form three main sources
o Government subsidy / foundation funding
o Individual donors
o Ticket / subscription funding