Tax credit boosts PPAC offerings

ACTING CREDITS: Dani de Waal and Stuart Ward are starring in “Once,” a production that came to PPAC in large part because of tax credits against total costs of the show. / COURTESY COREY MARTINEAU
ACTING CREDITS: Dani de Waal and Stuart Ward are starring in “Once,” a production that came to PPAC in large part because of tax credits against total costs of the show. / COURTESY COREY MARTINEAU

(Corrected, Oct. 9, 1:43 p.m.)

When “Phantom of the Opera” takes the stage at the Providence Performing Arts Center on Nov. 27, it will be the fourth show to be produced on Weybosset Street that benefited from the tax credit enacted more than a year ago.
Qualified production expenses for “Phantom” total more than $2.6 million, and enable the production company to qualify for $663,350 in tax credits, according to Steven Feinberg, executive director of the Rhode Island Film and Television Office.
The new law gives certain musical and theatrical productions a 25 percent tax credit against total production, performance and transportation spending of a show that either previews here before moving to Broadway within 12 months or plays here as the first stop on a national tour following a Broadway run.
Calling the relatively new tax credits, which so far have applied to tours following Broadway runs of “Elf,” “Evita,” “Once,” and now “Phantom,” critical, Norbert Mongeon, PPAC’s director of finance and programming, said these productions “wouldn’t have come if it hadn’t been for the tax credits. A lot of companies are opening down South because labor rates are inexpensive. Producers go where things are most affordable so the tax credit kind of evens the field a little bit.”
Making Providence more competitive has meant beating out Boston in attracting shows, Mongeon said.
“Boston in the past always has played before Providence, but this has allowed Providence to play before Boston,” he said. “[Before the tax credits], Boston would have gotten ‘Phantom,’ and then we would have gotten it two years from now. City pride aside, the markets do overlap, so we get the economic benefit of the first tour coming through.” Brett Sirota, booking agent for producers of “Evita,” “Once” and “Elf,” confirmed that. Sirota and his business partner, Stephen Lindsay, operate the booking agency The Road Company in New York City.
“We’ve always liked Providence,” said Sirota. “It’s always been a good idea for a ‘tech city,’ but the tax credit makes the difference. I can absolutely tell you: ‘Elf,’ ‘Once’ and ‘Evita’ would not have teched there without the tax credit. No question. It was a great development.”
After a show has debuted on Broadway, Sirota said, producers may look to work the technical side of production – the sets, lighting and such – in small, less-expensive markets, while bringing the show itself to a larger market.
“But you’ll go to Providence [now] to tech a show because of the tax credit,” he said.
Not only do the production teams enjoy working with the crew and team at PPAC, Sirota added, but as Mongeon is quick to admit, the prestige of opening a tour post-Broadway is huge.
“It definitely helps PPAC,” he said. “It raises our profile so that the next thing that’s out there, [theatergoers] are looking at PPAC. There’s something special about being the first audience or community to see that show.”
In fact, subscriptions have increased more than 10 percent, from 8,500 last year to 9,400 this year, he said.
PPAC’s fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30.
“It’s tough to get people’s attention and it’s tough to get people to commit in advance, so that’s a very good sign,” Singleton said.
Even though the tax credits would seem to be a boon to the theater itself, Mongeon was quick to add that, “to the state, overall it’s the economic impact of what they’re generating being here [that matters]. Now, you’re bringing in people from outside the community.” And those people eat at local restaurants and stay at hotels, he said, adding that, for all four shows, “there’ll be over a million dollars worth of stagehands, wardrobe and other local labor that wouldn’t have been employed otherwise in the August to December time frame.”
Sirota estimated that dozens of cast and crew members have stayed at local hotels during production.
“Phantom” comes in 19 trucks, Mongeon said, creates a set onstage, and brings in the cast.
The cast will rehearse from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Everything from sound, lighting and creative work by choreographers and directors are involved – and all those people have to eat and sleep somewhere for three weeks or so before a show that runs another week or two, he said.
“We’ve had cast and crews in since August, right through December,” said Pamela Baldwin, director of sales and marketing at the Providence Biltmore. “We’ve done really well this year. That means a nice base of business. Activity generates revenue in the restaurants, the spa and in restaurants around the city. And It continues to build awareness for PPAC and the city as an arts and cultural city.”
“Phantom” may be the biggest revenue generator so far, but the other shows that qualified for the tax credit are not far behind, said Feinberg.
“Elf” applied for $700,000 worth of qualified expenses and is expected to receive a $175,000 credit, he said. “Evita” applied for qualified expenses totaling more than $1.3 million, with an estimated credit of $343,750, he said. And “Once” qualified expenses total an estimated $1.1 million, with tax credits expected to come in at about $287,300, he said. •

A previous version of this article incorrectly identified Steven Feinberg as the executive director of the R.I. State Council on the Arts. Feinberg’s last name was also misspelled.

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