Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre Case Study

Analysis of Productions 

-Marissa, Michelle and Rachael

Pittsburgh Ballet Theater’s mission is “to perpetuate excellence in the art of ballet through performances, superior training of student dancers and community engagement initiatives.” This mission is quite broad – PBT is mostly describing what their activities are. And the general expected outcome of “perpetuating excellence” is mostly determined in the eye of the beholder (and the critics).

Moulin Rouge was a ballet that appealed to many people – everybody knows about the Moulin Rouge, and many have seen the 2001 film starring Nicole Kidman – and it was programmed during Valentine’s Day weekend. It is not particularly well-known in and of itself, nor is it very critically acclaimed. Since it is a “boxed show”, and PBT had to rent everything – from the sets to the costumes to the music – from the original producers, there wasn’t much room for creativity or interpretation.

This show was programmed as a money-maker and perhaps an audience builder, but it doesn’t seem like their overall goal was to “perpetuate excellence in the art of ballet”. Through their audience engagement program with the Carnegie Library, film screenings, and the presentation of the ballet itself, it is evident that artistic quality was not the primary concern.

According to multiple reviews of both Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s and other companies’ versions of Moulin Rouge – The Ballet, the production fell somewhat short of evoking the bawdy and glamorous spirit of the famous cabaret.  

Choreographer Jorden Morris applied his characteristically traditional point of view to his interpretation of late 19th-century Paris.  Although this classical ballet-oriented style undoubtedly showcased the virtuosic talent of the company, many critics and bloggers believed that this disciplined, even tame, artistic presentation did not do justice to the provocative subject matter it dealt with.  

One critic, writing for the Atlanta area arts website ArtsATL, felt that the show suffered from the overuse of clichés of Moulin Rouge mythology and Parisian culture.  So, while the ballet may not have been the ideal language in which to communicate the essence of Moulin Rouge, the work succeeded in its role as a vehicle for the dancers’ individual and collaborative artistic excellence.

The financial success of the show cannot really be determined yet, given that the financials have not been released for this year. However, the forecasted cash flow sheets provided by Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre provide some insights.

Moulin Rouge was one of the most costly shows of the season, with estimated direct production expenses at $360,000. This is second only to the Nutcracker, and nearly the same cost as their upcoming production of Cinderella. Yet the risk of that investment was projected to be covered in ticket revenue and sponsorships for the show. Moulin Rouge again had some of the highest project ticket sales revenue, again second to Nutcracker and practically equal to Cinderella. The $200,000 sponsorship for Moulin Rouge, the largest appearing on the balance sheet, puts the show in the black however, making it one of the highest projected profits of Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s season at $103,000.

The addition of an extra weekend of performances suggests the show exceeded expected ticket sales. It’s safe to assume that Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre had a decision making process in place for choosing to schedule these extra performances; they probably examined the number of single and subscription tickets tickets purchased before the run began and found that they had reached a high enough threshold to justify these shows.

Even if actual ticket sales did not meet expected ticket revenue, it is safe to assume that Moulin Rouge met or exceeded its original financial goals. The large sponsorships from UPMC and PPG attached to the production and the fact that these performances were added suggest a healthy, financially successful production.

 

Analysis of Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre - The Organization 

-Eric, Jessica, Jessie

Mission Analysis and Programming success from a non-financial perspective[1]

Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre mission is:

“Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre is a community based and internationally recognized professional ballet company that performs traditional and contemporary ballets and develops innovative works. It seeks to perpetuate excellence in the art of ballet through performances, superior training of student dancers and community engagement initiatives.”

PBT has traditional season programming and additional education and engagement programming in order to achieve their mission. When looking at the 2011-2012 season, there is a production that covers traditional, contemporary, and innovative ballets. For example, the Nutcracker is arguably THE quintessential traditional ballet piece. This was notably a success for PBT because single ticket sales surpassed the goal by 9%. In regards to contemporary work, PBT performed “Streetcar Named Desire”, originally produced in 1993. The first production of 2011 was a production of Peter Pan, which was an innovative production because it mixed traditional storytelling with brand new choreography created for this production.

Their education program, PBT Theatre School “perpetuates superior training of student dancers”. In the 2011-2012 season, education programs grew by 13%. The PBT Ballet Theatre school’s success is measured by their student’s post school prospects to advance their careers and to dance professionally. In the past year, two students (JoAnna Schmidt, Corey Bourbonniere) went on to join the PBT Company after graduating from PBT Theatre School. Additionally, education enrollment grew in the past season (according to their annual report). Additionally, PBT had their students collaborate with Viktor Plotinikov in the 2011-2012 to create a new work, which has the dual effect of providing superior training and fostering the love and art of ballet. This perpetuates education and engagement in a younger generation of dancers.

From the annual report and when hearing Harris Ferris speak, it seems that PBT is fulfilling their goals set forth in their mission through effective program planning both in the community and on stage. However, whether or not the quality of a production meets the term “excellence” is purely subjective, does that mean it is excellent by Terrence Orr and Harris Ferris’ standards, the critics who work for publications, or the community? The use of excellence is murky and should be further extrapolated. The organization is providing excellent education and training, but in terms of their actual performances, there is no correct opinion on the matter. It could mean that excellence is defined strictly monetarily. For Ferris, it may be ticket sales, but is it the same for Orr?

Programming success from a financial perspective.[2]

The Program Service Ratio for PBT in Fiscal Year 2011/2012 is 84.3%. We found this by dividing the Total Functional Program Expense of  6,851,699, and dividing it by the Total Expenses for the organization of 8,125,617. The result,  84.3%, is wonderful. The benchmark for this is 60-65% minimum. As a result, we can see that 84.3% of Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s expenses go towards their programming. Because programming is how a non-profit organization achieves its mission, we can understand that PBT is efficiently using a high amount of their overall expenses to fulfill its mission.  

We also see that Program Service Revenue is 47.5 % of total Revenue for the organization. We arrive at this ratio by dividing Program Service Ratio by Total Revenue for the organization. Program service revenue includes Performance Ticket, School Tuition, Costumes + Set Income, Ballet Company Touring, and Program Advertising. The total amount of Program Service Revenue for PBT in the fiscal year 2011/2012 was $ 3,550,650. Total Revenue was $ 7,476,216. This is a good sign of a healthy organizational financial position because it demonstrates that PBT is not depending solely on “soft” revenues or contributed revenues, but rather is able to earn “hard” revenues through its programs. It is important for an organization to have a portfolio of income-generating sources, with both soft and hard revenue streams, so that the organization is not depending heavily on any one source of income that may fluctuate such as grants and individual donations.

Organizational structure or systems of operation[3]

Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre organizational structure is split between their professional ballet corps and school. On the ballet side, they employ some 41 administrative and production staff, led by Board Chair Shelley M. Taylor, Artistic Director Terrence S. Orr, and Executive Director Harris Ferris.  In our session with Harris, we learned that he and Terrence serve a check and balance system, balancing artistic and institutional goals, as well as developing a balanced season. As discussed later, PBT’s programming maintains a balance between artistically innovative works and crowd pleasers.  PBT’s performance arm is split again between administration and production. In addition to executive staff, marketing, development and education, they employ an artistic/ballet staff and an extensive production crew and costume team.  Similarly to the fixed costs of an orchestra or theatre, PBT’s dancers and productions require an extensive team to make performances possible.

On the school side of the organization, PBT employs a separate 10 person administrative and operations staff, with 17 teachers and 9 musicians, including PBT’s Ballet Master and Mistress, and a consulting psychiatrist. With PBT school dancers participating in large PBT productions like The Nutcracker and moving on to dance professionally with the company, it makes sense to provide continuity between the two organizational arms, as well as create more work for positions that might be limited in scope by a five main stage production season. The income generated by this arm of the organization contributes to PBT’s high Program Service Revenue percentage.

Theory of Change

The purpose of the programming at PBT is to spark the love of ballet arts in both youth and adults alike. This love or appreciation is the impact that PBT hopes to achieve. In order to understand this better, one has to go through the steps of how to achieve the impact, so one needs to understand what the inputs, activities, and outcomes are in order to achieve the impacts. The inputs are the resources that go into creating these programs, ie the human capital of the staff and employees, the infrastructure of the organization, and the financial resources necessary to create the programs. The activities are both traditional programming (the ballets: traditional, contemporary, and innovative in their season) the activities that are educational (community engagement and enrichment), as well as teaching a new generation of ballerinas. For example, ballet talkbacks post production, school programs, bussing activities, and the PBT Theatre School are examples of the activities that they have in place to affect the outcome of increasing participation numbers in their programs. All of these steps lead to the impact of fostering an appreciation and love of ballet in returning and new audiences.  

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[1] Source: Pittsburgh Ballet’s Annual Report: http://pbt.org/sites/default/files/page_uploads/pbt%20annual%20report.pdf

[2] Source: Pittsburgh Ballet’s 990: http://www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2012/237/101/2012-237101094-08c32eba-9.pdf

[3] Source: www.pbt.org

Conclusions about the program planning process and measures of success

-Rebecca Fink, Audrey Kwong, Kelsey Small

Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s programming addresses its mission through three components, its season of ballets, its education and community engagement programming and its school, the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School.  Based on the 2007-2010 strategic business plan’s executive summary, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre defines artistic excellence in the three following ways: developing and presenting ballets of high artistic quality, attracting and educating talented students in the art of ballet, and enriching the community through engagement with the art of ballet, dance and movement.  Each component is evaluated through its own individual measures of success.  By meeting these measures of success, PBT demonstrates its commitment to the mission of perpetuating excellence in the art of ballet.

Production Company
Planning Process In planning the annual season, PBT’s goal is to produce a season of shows with balanced artistic value and revenue potential. PBT uses a mission matrix to determine what ballets to produce within these parameters. There are three strategies the organization uses to select a diversified season incorporating the benefits offered from each strategic combination of artistic value and revenue.  

The aspirational goal is to produce shows within Strategy 1, shows with high artistic value and high net revenue potential. Strategy 2 are shows with high net revenue potential but low artistic value, often considered their blockbuster productions. Lastly, Strategy 3 produces ballets that they believe will have high artistic value but low net revenue potential. To meet its goal of producing shows within Strategy 1, the organization aims to improve the artistic quality of Strategy 2 shows, and reduce costs while attracting more donors and audiences from Strategy 3 shows.

To achieve a balance of the three available strategies, PBT selects the ballets to produce from four grouped categories. The first category is full-length ballets - including Swan Lake, Giselle or Cinderella to name a few. The second category is contemporary full length works, examples are works from Twyla Tharp or Mark Morris. The third category includes pieces from 20th and 21st century choreographers, for example Desmond Richardson. The last category is one act ballets and new commissions. PBT selects a mixed repertory season to match the goals of each strategy from the mission matrix.

Measure of Success The most important measures of success PBT utilizes to monitor its programming plans is setting a revenue goal to annually meet 76% of their budgeted expenses with revenue from performances. The organization uses this target to assess the strength of ticket sale revenue to cover direct production and advertising expenses for the entire season. A second measure of success is measuring the number of tickets sold annually, categorized by subscribers, single ticket buyers, groups, students and the total amount. The organization forecasts a projected number of tickets sold for each production and then compares this to the actual number sold. PBT benchmarks this figure across past seasons, and also evaluates Nutcracker performances separate from all other performances.

Another measure of success is the number of new works the organization is able to commission or acquire the rights to produce. For example, in the 2011 season, PBT defined various success metrics as being the first American company to perform Streetcar Named Desire, the company achieved a goal by performing its first Mark Morris piece, and produced a world premiere piece. The organization measures success in its seasons by evaluating its ability to produce renowned classics and introduce new works into their company’s repertory.

A final measure of success is the use of live music in the company’s performances. PBT values the use of live music to strengthen and advance the artistic quality of their work. The organization aims to produce two performances with live music a season. If the organization meets this goal of producing at least two shows with live accompaniment, they consider this an artistic and programming success.

Arts Education and Community Engagement
Planning Process PBT’s goals are to develop community and engagement programs that increase the role of dance in Pre-K and K-12 education and to develop programs that engage and enrich Pittsburgh communities. They accomplish this by deploying artistic resources from the company and the school within the community, as well as leveraging partnerships and collaborations.

For example, for Moulin Rouge - The Ballet, they produced a program called “After Hours @ the Library” within their partnership with the Carnegie Library, “Know Before You Go”. The event featured live music, alcoholic beverages, tours, a furniture auction, and French activities which helped PBT celebrate the origin of ballet in France and build audience excitement for the show.  In addition, as part of their In Motion Film Series (a partnership with Point Park University and the John P. Harris Film Society), they showed the film Moulin Rouge which was a major influence for the ballet’s creation. This community event was meant to increase comprehension of the story line in preparation for the live performance.

PBT also engages in extensive pre- and post-performance activities. For Moulin Rouge - The Ballet, they hosted “Afterthoughts”, a post-show discussion about the performance led by Artistic Director Terrence Orr. They also presented “Insights”, a pre-show program by a visiting scholar who provides context and commentary for the performance. Finally, they hosted “Talks with Terry”, allowing the audience to watch the Company in their warm-up class on stage and talk to the Artistic Director. PBT also offered a production guide with background material, information on choreography, music, and costumes, the synopsis of Moulin Rouge, and extra activities, patrons could access online. This type of community engagement programming is representative of what Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre offers to compliment each production of its season.

Additionally, throughout the season, the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater holds two student matinees and Family Pointe, a pre-show discussion and demonstration of the ballet performance for children.  Neither of these programs were incorporated for the Moulin Rouge Show.

Measure of Success Success for PBT’s education and community engagement programs is measured by attendance at their various events. Total attendance for PBT’s various programs is tracked from year to year allowing PBT to understand the trends in attendance. Additionally, they measure engagement through the use of surveys, which are used to fund future education programing. Surveys also help to inform PBT about which programs are making the largest impact, and help focus their programing to make sure they capture the widest breadth of engagement. At the end of this year, Ms. Alyssa Herzog Melby plans to reassess all of the education programming evaluation strategies.

In conclusion, PBT’s executive director Harris Ferris summarized the organization’s planning process as follows: start by articulating a specific vision, formulate a business plan and then evaluate how the idea translates to the market. The organization starts all their program planning process with a clear vision of why each of their programs are important and relevant to both the organization’s success and to the community it serves.