Business of the Arts: Born to Enrich

It was the height of the Great Depression. More than 1 in 5 Americans – 11.3 million members of the workforce – were unemployed, according to U.S. Census Bureau statistics.

Factories closed. Foreclosures forced families from homes. Hunger was rampant.

And in Springfield, lovers of performing arts decided it was a perfect time to establish not one, but two, arts organizations that would become enduring fixtures in the community.

Against all odds, 2024 is the 90th anniversary of the Springfield Little Theatre and the Springfield Symphony Orchestra.

Why found a symphony during a depression?

“They needed some cheering up,” says Jennifer Cotner-Jones, SSO’s executive director.

And the symphony has continued its efforts to lift patrons up with a comfy, come-as-you-are vibe.

“We want people to be like, I enjoy this. I want to hear beautiful music, have a great date night or a great experience,” she says. “You can wear nice jeans, a nice dress or get as fancy as you want. Everyone is welcome at the symphony.”

Music Director and Conductor Kyle Wiley Pickett has given the matter some thought. His organization was founded when a group of Springfield High School students approached their music teacher with the idea of forming a civic orchestra, according to the SSO website.

“What else was going on in 1934? Not a lot of good stuff – the Dust Bowl, for instance,” he says. “It feels counterintuitive, but it’s not surprising. There was a huge flourishing of the arts in the middle of the Great Depression, and the most significant reason was that people needed it so much.”

Pickett cites the Golden Age of Hollywood and the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Theatre Project to illustrate his point.

“There’s an enormous desire for people to have an outlet that is not grounded in the economy and the political situation,” he says. “Intuitively, it seems like a tough time to start an orchestra, but it’s also a good time.”

At the Springfield Little Theatre, Executive Director Beth Domann is someone who appreciates a good laugh. She also appreciates the origin story of her organization, which also began with a group of kids who had just graduated from what is now Central High School. They had been doing theater in school, and they had a simple desire to continue.

“They produced shows all over Springfield,” she says.

It wasn’t until 1970 that the organization was able to purchase a theater.

“They looked at the Fox, the Gillioz, the Landers,” Domann says, noting the Landers is the only one that was built as a theater for live performances – the other two were movie houses.

“It had a legitimate stage, a fly system – it was on the Orpheum Circuit when it was built,” she says.

The Orpheum Circuit – vaudeville, in other words. That’s something else that was still hanging on as the two arts organizations were born, in an age when live entertainment was quickly being supplanted by radio.

Through tough times
Both organizations are doing well, say their leaders – and that’s quite a feat following the COVID-19 pandemic, which continues to impact live venues across the country, according to the Wallace Foundation, a philanthropic organization that works to support the arts. Challenges cited for national performing arts organizations include inflation, the lingering effects of lost revenue during theater closures, staff burnout and broken audience habits. When seasons were canceled, faithful audiences were forced to turn to other sources of entertainment and enrichment, and arts organizations have been working hard to draw them back.

Domann experienced that at SLT, but she is happy to say that audiences now are almost at full strength.

SSO audiences never faced a break in the action, Pickett says.

“We played through the pandemic,” he says. “We continued and performed, and we found ways to do it safely.”

Those ways included a reduced orchestra size, masking and spacing in the audience and virus testing.

“We didn’t lose momentum like so many arts groups in the country did,” he says, noting only 16% of orchestras in the United States played a full season during COVID. “We were one of those. Our donors stayed, our ticketholders stayed – we didn’t have to start over.”

People are creatures of habit, Pickett says.

“If you go away, they’ve got to get back in the habit of supporting you and attending and watching things,” he says.

Cotner-Jones says the symphony’s budget has grown this year to $1.4 million from $1 million a year before – something the organization achieved through creativity in reaching out to audiences. As one example, the Seniors at the Symphony program offers reduced ticket prices and rides for older music lovers.

“My goal was to have like 25 people,” Cotner-Jones says. “Last year we served almost 1,000 seniors in that program.”

Domann reports that SLT’s annual budget is about $3 million, and she says that over the past several years, $5 million has been invested in the restoration and upkeep of the historic Landers Theatre.

“It takes a lot of money to maintain,” she says, ticking off ventilation, painting, plaster repair and more.

And that, she says, will be that, at least for a bit.

“It’s all sealed up and taken care of, and it should last for quite some time,” she says.

SLT board President Corey Kilburn says the organization maintains two historic buildings, the other being The Judy, which is the Judith Enyeart Reynolds School of the Performing Arts, housed in a 1908 elementary school.

Historic architecture requires special care, he notes.

“You can’t just go to a local hardware supply,” he says. “You have to have somebody come in who understands the same kind of craftsmanship and detail work to restore it to its original quality. It costs extra because it takes more time.”

The performers
SSO and SLT operate by very different models, with the orchestra mounting most of its performances at Missouri State University’s Juanita K. Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts.

When SLT actors take the stage, most are volunteers. So are most of those who make the costumes and design the sets. Its website lists an administrative staff of 17, not all of whom work full time, and there are more than 700 volunteers involved each year.

SSO, on the other hand, is a professional orchestra, Pickett says, but it’s not like the New York Philharmonic, where every player is a full-time employee. Instead, he says, SSO is a per-service orchestra, with musicians who are independent contractors paid for each joint rehearsal and performance – 45 per year for the regular concert series.

Cellist Kathy Love has been playing with the orchestra since 1989, and she rounds out her professional life as music director at her church and as the leader of Play and Sing His Praises, a music school for 320 homeschool students, which she established in 1988.

But she notes playing in the orchestra is something she loves.

“It’s just the excitement of performing – it lifts your spirits. Some people really crave it,” she says. “It’s my passion. It makes me very happy – both teaching and playing.”

Kelle Long is a volunteer and a life trouper for SLT. That’s a name given to veterans of the Youth Entertainment Series – people who studied theater as children.

Long says SLT is a unique organization, with a high level of professionalism and an inclusive vibe. It also builds lifelong relationships, she says, nothing two fellow life troupers were in her wedding.

It makes perfect sense that she would continue with SLT as a volunteer.

“I love to come back to pass that on to the next generation,” she says.