The Florida Theatre and Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts in Jacksonville and the Thrasher-Horne Center in Orange Park are among 33 performing arts venues in Florida that have joined an effort called “Red Alert.”
The venues want to convince the federal government to provide them financial aid to compensate for losses caused by the COVID-10 pandemic shutdown.
At 9 p.m. Sept. 1, the live performance theaters will light their exteriors in red for three hours to encourage Congress to approve the Reviving the Economy Sustainably Towards A Recovery in Twenty-twenty (RESTART) Act and the Save Our Stages Act as quickly as possible.
“Performing arts venues are closed because we know that COVID-19 spreads within intimate, closed spaces, which of course perfectly describes a theater or club. We were the first to close and will be the last to open. We’re happy to do it, but we are without income, and need help,” said Numa Saisselin, president of the Florida Theatre.
The bills being considered by the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives would provide economic relief to the live events industry, which has been shuttered since March. The venues also advocate for extending pandemic unemployment assistance to those without work because of COVID-19, including designers, technicians, programmers, stagehands and others.
While some movie theaters are reopening, with reduced seating and social distancing, Saisselin said that’s not an option for the 1,900-seat Florida Theatre and other live performance businesses.
“We could legally be open right now at 50% of our capacity as long as we also maintain social distancing requirements, but if we keep people six feet apart in the auditorium, that reduces our capacity to 487 seats. That’s not financially viable. For an average night, we need to sell at least 800 tickets at an average price of $48.50 to be financially viable. Put all that together and we are closed until this is over.”
Saisselin said that since the shutdown went into effect in March, 106 shows have been canceled at the venue.
“It takes my breath away. That’s a lot of entertainment that didn’t happen, and a lot of work for a lot of people that didn’t happen. We have over 100 show workers out of work because of it, and that’s easily 1,000 hours of work for a production person that didn’t happen this year, and that’s just our venue. Magnify that across all the other Jacksonville venues and cultural organizations and that’s a significant loss of work for a lot of people,” he said.
The Florida Theatre is replacing all the original seats in the auditorium, part of a $10 million renovation ahead of the historic venue’s centennial celebration in 2027. The project schedule was amended because live venues won’t open until the state enters the third and final phase of pandemic recovery, Saisselin said.
“We decided to accelerate the seat replacement project planned for next summer and do that work right now. That will be done by Nov. 20. So whatever happens with the Florida recovery plan, we will be ready, willing and able by Nov. 20.”
According to the Florida Professional Presenters Consortium, organizer of Red Alert, its 60 member venues create a total annual economic impact of $495 million, which supports the full-time equivalent of 15,425 jobs; $377.7 million of household income; $21.8 million of local government fees and taxes; and $26.1 million of state government fees and taxes.
