Guthrie Theater to trim budget by nearly $4 million

The Guthrie Theater will cut its next fiscal-year budget by 14 percent, from $28 million to $24.1 million. In an interview Wednesday, Director Joe Dowling said the reductions will be made through wage freezes, salary reductions among senior management, furloughs and by reducing expenses in production. The package mirrors cuts at other nonprofit arts organizations that have been affected by reduced endowments, donations and patronage.

"We're living in the real world," Dowling said. "We're planning a season as full as we can make it, and we're going to do internally what needs to be done."

Dowling said he would reduce his salary by 10 percent and that four senior managers will take 5 percent cuts. Actors Equity and the Stagehands union have both agreed in principle to wage freezes (awaiting ratification). Independent employees will experience wage freezes and a mandatory one-week furlough.

The Guthrie has 150 full-time employees. During productions, up to 350 people are working in the theater. Dowling said both of those areas will be reduced, though he would not give specifics.

"We'll undertake the reduction in force in a way that both reflects our respect for the individual people involved and makes certain that we can do what we set out to do," he said.

Trish Santini, director of external affairs, said she was not authorized by board president Randall Hogan to release Dowling's salary. The Star Tribune reported in January that Dowling's 2007 compensation was $682,229 (which included a $100,000 bonus). Dowling disputed that Wednesday, but did not offer specifics.

"The focus on me and my salary, which has been inaccurately reported, and I would say somewhat with ill-informed research, has led to a considerable amount of discussion in the community," Dowling said. "Let's take the heat off that and talk about the fact that here's an organization where people are willing all through the organization to make sacrifices."

In April and May, the Guthrie embarks on an ambitious festival of new and existing work by playwright Tony Kushner. That slate is part of the 2008-09 artistic season, but it will fall at the beginning of the 2009-10 fiscal year, which begins April 1.

"Those are extraordinary expenditures," Dowling said of the Kushner productions. "And they're part of the fiscal year that we now have to budget at a 14 percent reduction. So there are casualties of that."

Dowling said that had he "known then what I know now" about the economy, he still would have pushed ahead with the Kushner fest 18 months ago.

"It's the right thing to do for the organization, and we're going to do it again in the future with different writers," he said.

Real-world projections

The box office is smarting somewhat, though Dowling would not put numbers on it.

For years, he said, the theater has been selling about 90 percent of the seats in a season. "We're not really anticipating that we'll be able to sustain that," he said. "And if we do sustain that, we will do so at different levels of discount and deals. That's the real world. The income will be judged at a level that we feel we are likely to achieve. Or, the expenditure will be cut to match that."

From the current season, "Little House on the Prairie" sold at better than 100 percent capacity. Director Ethan McSweeney's "A View From the Bridge," which Dowling praised artistically, was a disappointment at the box office.

"That one was a direct result of what was happening in the economy at the time," he said.

The belt-tightening at the Guthrie is in line with that announced recently at other major Twin Cities arts institutions. The Guthrie's endowment is off about 30 percent, typical among local nonprofit groups. The draw from that fund makes up about 9 percent of the annual budget.

"You're hearing the story everywhere; we're no different," Dowling said. "I'm actually tired of hearing people talk about what they're not going to do. There's way too much negativity in terms of we're going to cut this, we're gonna cut that. I say this with great respect to the media, there's way too much focus on let's talk about the pain of all this. We're going to make the adjustments and efficiencies in order to fulfill our mission."

Graydon Royce • 612-673-7299