Iowa City gives Riverside Theatre a break after slow summer

IOWA CITY - Ticket sales for this summer's annual Shakespeare Festival in Iowa City came in below expectations, prompting Riverside Theatre officials to ask the city for a break from its commitment to pass along $1 for every adult ticket sold and 50 cents for every child ticket sold.

Iowa City's Parks and Recreation Commission didn't give the theater company a complete break from its obligation to pass along a portion of the Shakespeare Festival proceeds, but commissioners on Wednesday agreed to let theater officials give half the usual amount for this year only.

That means the Riverside Theatre will pay the city 50 cents for every adult ticket sold and 25 cents for every child ticket sold during this summer's Shakespeare Festival, which ran from June 17 to July 10 and charged $17 to $39 a seat.

This year's festival - which featured “Ah, Wilderness!” by Eugene O'Neill and “The Two Gentlemen of Verona,” by William Shakespeare - received “excellent reviews,” according to Sarah Burnett, marketing director for the company. But the theater filled just half its seats on an average night, Burnett wrote in an email.

“Ticket sales this summer weren't as strong as we'd hoped,” she wrote. “In recent years - since the 2008 flood and beginning of the economic downturn - we have slowly been building our audiences back up.”

The theater company typically gives the city about $4,000 in Shakespeare Festival ticket revenue, and Burnett said her organization hasn't yet calculated how much it will pay out this year with the half-off agreement.

“The city's decision definitely helps our financial situation,” according to Burnett. “Half of our operating expenses are covered by ticket income, with the other half covered by donations. So, a year when one of our major ticket-selling opportunities comes in lower than we budget, it hurts us greatly.”

Iowa City and the theater, which uses the city's Lower City Park and Outdoor Festival Stage for free during the summer, entered into the revenue sharing agreement about five years ago, said Mike Moran, director of the city's Parks and Recreation Department.

“It was sort of a token of appreciation, if you will,” Moran said. “They felt they had to give the city back something for letting them use the park facility.”

Theater staff members helped construct the stage and fundraise to restore it and add seats after the 2008 flood, Moran said.

“So they have put some money into it,” he said.

But there is no ongoing rental fee for use of the performance space or the park shelters, and Moran said he expects the theater to resume giving the city $1 per adult ticket and 50 cents per child ticket next summer.

“They're expecting a deficit budget this year, and they were looking for some help,” Moran said.