Yes, Halloween is over, but this weekend, you can still be a superhero.
At the Brown County Playhouse’s 70th birthday celebration Saturday, Nov. 9, visitors will be encouraged to help “save the Playhouse” by donating to keep the doors open for another 70 years.
“We want to celebrate a rich history, but we also want to invite people to be heroes and help us keep it around, because it’s vital to our community,” said board member Lisa Hall. She’s organizing the celebration with fellow board member Christy Kemp.
Doors will open at 6:15 p.m. with a special surprise planned outside the Playhouse, Hall said.
Jenn Cristy and Eric Brown of One Pulse Entertainment will play music from different genres for the last time this season. “They are so talented, whatever they do will be great,” Hall said.
Cake and cupcakes will be served. Visitors will also receive superhero masks and temporary tattoos.
Karaoke also will be available before Brown and Cristy perform.
In 2020, the Playhouse will have at least two community theater productions. During the party, board member Mark Stolle will perform a vignette from one of those shows as part of the preview of what’s to come next season.
Overall, this season at the Playhouse has been going well, Chairman Bob Kirlin said.
“We hit some rough spots a couple of months ago, but thanks to some major donors that have stepped forward, we continue to hang in there,” he said of their financial situation.
“We are hanging in there, but the problem is come January, February and March when there’s not a lot of donations or not a lot of income.”
He said the Playhouse is working to build up a reserve fund for those months, but it hasn’t been able to get there yet.
“I’m sure, year ending, people like to give, and I think we’ll be alright,” he said.
Kirlin said since it is a 501c3, and due to its size, the Playhouse needs about 40 to 43 percent of its income to be donations and grants.
“The theater eats money, so last year that went very, very well. We had very little problems this year. We’ve we had some rough times as far as donations, but it’s picking up. We’re moving forward,” he said.
The Playhouse recently restarted its Millennium Club, in which donors pledge a certain amount for three years — “a three-year commitment of either $5,000, $1,000, $2,000 or $5, we don’t really care,” Kirlin said.
“It’s a three-year commitment, so that way we don’t have to keep coming back and vying for more money.”
Anyone interested in joining the club and making the pledge can contact Kirlin at 812-720-0222 or pick up forms at the Playhouse.
Kirlin said the Playhouse is also working to secure multiple grants, from organizations like the Office of Community and Rural Affairs, to help cover ongoing maintenance at the 50-year-old building, like the air conditioner and heating system.
“When it’s all said and done, what we want to do is probably about a quarter of a million dollars in grant funding,” he said.
The roof is metal and also needs to be changed. “Whenever it rains, it sounds like you’re in the middle of a rain storm,” Kirlin said.
Beginning in January, the Playhouse will begin matching donations 1 to 2 using $50,000 from a donor. “You put in $2 and we’ll match $1. Then, $1 of your match will go to the operating budget and the other dollar will go to maintenance on the building,” Kirlin said.
The 70th birthday celebration is a way for the community to begin donating to help the Playhouse build up money now.
“We just want the community to know that we’re alive and well. We’ve been here for 70 years and we’re going to be here for another 70 years,” Kirlin said.
Kirlin said it’s important for the community to make sure the Playhouse sticks around because it has a large economic impact here. People who attend Playhouse shows bring in an estimated $909,000 to the community annually by staying overnight, dining and shopping. The figure is based on an average over the last five years, Kirlin said.
“Every time we sell a ticket, we try to get zip codes, then we look at those zip codes and say, ‘OK, any zip code that is two hours away or more, we say they are going to spend the night.’ It’s been about 30 percent of our ticket sales,” Kirlin said.
Kirlin said the historical significance of the Playhouse is also important to the community.
“There’s just some quaintness and you walk into the place and it’s like, ‘Wow. This is what downtown Nashville is about and Brown County.’ It’s just the history of this thing that is overwhelming,” he said.
Hall said it’s important for the community to support the Playhouse because it cannot exist without that support.
“Whether you can give $10 or whether you can give $1,000, it just cannot exist if the community doesn’t support it. We’re looking forward to another 70 years,” she said.
“We’re doing all that we can do to maintain this gem that we have in the heart of our town. I think people would really miss it if it were to go away.”
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The Brown County Playhouse received a strategic planning grant through the Howard F. Hughes Foundation Endowment and used it to survey people about their vision for the future of the Playhouse.
Of the respondents, 34.5 percent were Brown County residents. Others were from Monroe, Bartholomew, Morgan and Johnson counties as well as Kentucky, Ohio and Illinois.
Of survey takers, 46.8 percent had attended a performance at the Playhouse and 38.1 percent were community members. Also, 84.7 percent said they buy a drink or a meal in Nashville or Brown County when visiting the Playhouse.
The largest age group to respond were people 60 years and older.
A total of 959 people took the survey. Here are the top answers:
What you want to see at the Playhouse:
- music and concerts;
- plays, musicals and other performances;
- movies.
Opportunities to bring greater success to the Playhouse:
- marketing and advertising;
- entertainment and programming;
- satisfaction of those who attend programs;
- community support.
Most important benefit the Playhouse can provide to the community:
- increasing tourism and enhancing economic development (41.2 percent of answers).
Primary motivation for donating to the Playhouse:
- the continuation of the Playhouse;
- providing stability and ensuring the Playhouse stays open;
- supporting the arts;
- supporting the cultural and historical value of the Playhouse.
Strengths of the Playhouse:
- small, intimate setting;
- a variety of programs;
- the central location in downtown Nashville;
- a friendly, helpful staff;
- the theater’s history;
- giving the stage to local performers who bring in community members;
- affordability.
Suggestions to improve the Playhouse experience:
- offering more community theater options;
- more parking spaces;
- improving acoustics;
- updating dressing rooms;
- adding a dance floor.
After receiving the survey results, the Playhouse Board of Directors had meetings to make a strategic plan.
“It’s been very, very successful,” Kirlin said of the survey. “There’s a lot of things that showed up that will help us with programming, that will help us with the donor base and that will help us grow our board of directors. We’re going from nine up to 15. It showed a lot of interesting things.”
Anyone who wishes to donate money to the Playhouse can send checks to P.O. Box 2011 or call Bob Kirlin at 812-720-0222 to discuss becoming a part of the Playhouse’ Millennium Club to pledge an amount of money for three years. Donations can also be made online at browncountyplayhouse.org.
Anyone interested in volunteering at the Playhouse can also sign up online or contact board member Patty Frensemeier.
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