Glens Falls Chronicle Serving the Glens Falls/Lake George region; Warren, Washington and northern Saratoga counties since 1980
By Cathy DeDe, Chronicle Managing Editor
Home Made Theater in its 39th year in Saratoga Springs announced that it will become an all-volunteer company, “releasing our entire paid staff as of the end of our fiscal year on June 30th.”
Laid off were three full-timers: Executive and Artistic Director Eric Rudy and the business manager and the tech director, plus a part-time administrator/volunteer coordinator.
Mr. Rudy told The Chronicle it was “a tough decision based on the finances,” or otherwise “to dissolve.”
He said Home Made operates on about a $350,000 annual budget.
The new board President Rick Wissler, a long-time company member who served several stints on the board, told The Chronicle he estimates salary costs were about $20,000 monthly.
During the pandemic, the 550-seat Spa Little Theater, Home Made’s home since 1986, was shuttered for difficulties meeting Covid protocols.
Mr. Rudy said the last pre-Covid production, Mamma Mia! in winter 2019, was “very successful. It helped us get through Covid,” and “when that money ran out,” they received a Shuttered Venue Operators Grant through the Small Business Administration.
Post-Covid, HMT moved to much smaller alternate locations: The theater at Saratoga Arts, downtown on Broadway; and outdoors at Pitney Meadows Farm on the west side of town.
“We budgeted conservatively based on the venues that we had,” Mr. Rudy says. “Just, we didn’t meet those budget goals, and we didn’t meet our fund-raising budget goals, and that’s due to the the simple fact that people just didn’t come.
“It’s not the first time that the idea has come up,” to go all-volunteer, Mr. Rudy said. “But now [the board] really had no choice…Funds were dangerously low, I would say, and they remain low, to the point the company is squeaking by.”
Mr. Rudy said, “I have been furloughed since early May, so I’ve been volunteering my time. The company has just been paying their portion of my health care. May 10 was the last time I received a paycheck, in an effort to help save money.
Board president Mr. Wissler said, “When we had the space at the Spa Little Theater, you kind of knew what your ticket sales were going to be, so you could project expenses. We had the ability to budget going forward, and it made sense for us to have a permanent, paid staff.
“With the closing of the Spa Little Theater, as a result of Covid, we lost the ability to have a large enough venue to generate the kind of revenue that we needed to justify full-time positions.”
Mr. Rudy counters, “It didn’t have anything to do with the size of the venue,” but rather, “the audience wasn’t coming.”
Mr. Wissler says finding a permanent home is key to Home Made’s success.
He said the cost to rent the Spa Little Theater for Peter Pan last winter, was “in the vicinity of $2,500 a week for the two weeks on site.” He didn’t have figures for the other alternate sites they’ve used, or for admin, scenic workshop and storage space they rent at Wilton Mall.
Mr. Wissler said he and the board came to appreciate the Saratoga Arts location: “You had access immediately to Broadway, downtown, the restaurants and other venues right there, in the heart of the city…. If we could, that would probably be the best move for us.” That location will be closed for renovations, however. “So we’re an itinerant acting troop in need of a permanent home,” Mr. Wissler says.
In their letter to supporters announcing the end of paid staff, the Home Made board requested “generous” donations and urged people to attend two planned fund-raising shows: A Mystery Theater at The Mansion in Rock City Falls on October 19, and a Holiday Cabaret, December 13-15 at the Saratoga Music Hall.
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