SEATTLE — One of the most notable regional theater companies in Seattle is making its biggest staff cuts in over a decade.
The Seattle Rep said it is laying off 12% of its staff by eliminating 13 full-time positions.
The Seattle Rep nonprofit theatre group has been serving Seattle for the past 60 years. In order to stay another 60, they said they need to adapt.
“You know, it's a different world than it was five, six years ago,” said Jeffrey Herrmann, the Seattle Rep managing director, who has been with the nonprofit for about 10 years.
Theater leaders said season ticket sales are down and fewer people are gathering since the pandemic. That's why they are implementing a strategic plan to focus on the on-stage productions to try to get people back in their seats.
But this restructuring for the future comes with staffing cuts now.
“The hardest piece of this is that 13 roles are eliminated and that affects people directly,” said Dámaso Rodríguez, the Seattle Rep artistic director, who started about one year ago.
Leaders of the nonprofit said some people will get contract opportunities or may work for a few more months. The layoffs include some artistic administrative and community outreach roles, or what they call “public works” type roles, but leaders said the layoffs are among multiple departments.
“You know, artistic, fundraising, marketing, administration, production, it was fairly spread evenly across the organization,” said Herrmann. “It's obviously difficult. These are people's lives. It's really hard to do these things.”
Data from the National Endowment for the Arts shows it's a nationwide issue, fewer people are making it to live theaters.
In 2022, only 10% of Americans said they attended a musical, which is down from 16% in 2017.
For plays, the statistics are even worse. Around 4% of Americans attended a play in 2022, compared to 9% in 2017.
“That statistic drives me, right?” said Rodríguez. “It calls me to keep working and keep telling the story of what we're trying to do.”
Some community programs could be impacted or changed, but they said on-stage participation by the community is still on.
“The spirit and the energy of having community members on stage at Seattle Rep, alongside professional actors, that's continuing,” said Rodríguez.
The Seattle Rep also hosts off-site theater classes in partnership with community organizations. Those will continue at least through the end of the year.
“Beyond that, we have to assess how many of those classes we can do and what kinds of collaborations we can do with these partner organizations to sustain those if we are able to, moving forward,” said Rodríguez.
They said these changes are hard but hope it will help them have more of an impact in the future.
“If people aren't coming to the theater, it's not their fault. It's our fault. We have to do better, and this plan is all about doing better,” said Herrmann.
The Seattle Rep also announced they are combining some roles with the Seattle Children’s Theater. This includes a new shared box office, which Seattle Rep leaders said would help with financial savings in the future.
ArtsFund, the Seattle organization, did not comment on this situation directly but its CEO and President Michael Greer said in general:
"The arts and cultural sector is still grappling with new audience behavior, post-pandemic. Combined with significant increases in costs, many organizations are making strategic adjustments to continue providing services to their communities. It is critical that we continue to support these organizations as they adapt to a new environment because the arts are a key part of a broader coalition of public, private, and nonprofit institutions that are reactivating our downtowns, our neighborhoods, and our main streets - improving the quality of life for everyone."