This Recession for One Theater

For a interesting and personal story of the impact of the recession on at least one theater and one theater-maker, read an op-ed piece in today's New York Times: "Recession Theater" by Ann Hood. The piece is a quick bio of Ed Shea, founder of the Providence, RI, Second Story Theater.  His own story is an inspiration about the motivating power of theater stories.  But now, in this recession, his formerly successful theater is in crisis. 

Hood's essay begins, "'That dark summer,' said Ed Shea, of the economic collapse. 'I thought for the first time, "Maybe this won’t last."' Ed’s Second Story Theater company had gone from selling out shows before the recession to struggling to fill seats.'

Government Support for the Arts, including Theater

Third Way bills itself as a moderate think tank of the progressive movement.  They recently published a tax receipt, an itemized list of what the average American household's taxes pay for.  It's a brilliant concept.  Funding for the arts, of course, are very low.  The only thing lower is the salaries and benefits for Congress.  Here's the receipt:

The National Endowment for the Arts spent just a little more than $3 million on theater in 2009.  Its budget that year was  $167 million plus $50 million in one time funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  For the tax receipt above, then, we estimate that one-third of a cent would be listed if the receipt itemized federal expenditures for theater.


But maybe more comparison's are needed to see how paltry the amount is that the federal government spends on the arts.  The typical joke is that the armed forces spend more on military bands than the federal government spends on the arts.  Exact figures for military bands are only available from the Marines, at $50 million per year.  The Washington Post estimates the total cost for all the armed services is about $500 million. The 2010 defense budget is $663.8 billion.  If the tax receipt broke out the costs of military bands, the figure would be $0.34, half again what the federal government spends on the arts.