PPAC stop on road to Broadway?

BRIGHT LIGHTS: Lynn Singleton, president of the Providence Performing Arts Center, says a new tax credit aimed at luring pre- and post-Broadway productions gives the state more tools to enhance the theater scene in Providence. / PBN PHOTO/DAVID LEVESQUE
BRIGHT LIGHTS: Lynn Singleton, president of the Providence Performing Arts Center, says a new tax credit aimed at luring pre- and post-Broadway productions gives the state more tools to enhance the theater scene in Providence. / PBN PHOTO/DAVID LEVESQUE

Could Weybosett Street be the next Broadway?
Probably not, but the market is right to bill Providence as New England’s next best thing to New York’s famed theatrical strip, say supporters of a new tax credit meant to lure pre- and post-Broadway musical and theatrical productions here in order to create jobs and stimulate the state’s still-struggling economy.
“This just gives us one more item where it gets us elevated where [producers will] go, ‘Oh, this really works,’ ” said Lynn Singleton, president of the Providence Performing Arts Center.
In fact, the tax credit – an amendment to the existing film tax credits approved under the fiscal 2013 budget last June – already has proved fruitful.
Aided by the new law, which gives certain musical and theatrical productions a 25 percent tax credit against the total production, performance and transportation spending of the show, Singleton was able to convince NETWorks Presentation, a Maryland-based theatrical-production company, to bring the technical test run of its “Elf the Musical” national tour here last November, instead of a smaller theater in upstate New York.
The national tour of “Evita, ” produced by industry bigwigs Half Luftig and Scott Sanders, will launch at PPAC next August.
Singleton expects to announce within the next month two other major national tour launches at PPAC in fall 2013. One of those in discussion is a larger NETWorks production that Singleton estimates will bring in excess of $1 million in local labor bills.
The law garnered mixed reactions when it first passed because it was piggybacking on the already heavily debated film tax credit, because it applies almost exclusively to productions staged at PPAC and its subsidiary-managed Veterans Memorial Auditorium, and because it is a largely unpracticed tax incentive.
Rhode Island is only the third state in the country to offer such a tax-credit program. Illinois enacted similar legislation in December 2011 and by this past fall was home to the pre-Broadway run of “Kinky Boots,” a Hal Luftig production that Singleton said could find its way to a national tour launch in Providence in fall 2014.
Louisiana welcomed its first qualifying show, the national tour launch of the “Addams Family,” in September 2011. The legislation gives the tax credit to productions that either preview here before moving to Broadway within 12 months or those that are playing here as the first stop on a national tour directly following a Broadway run.
Those productions must happen at a venue that seats at least 1,500, which rules out the state’s smaller theaters, including Providence’s Trinity Repertory Co. and the Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre in Pawtucket.
The minimum production budget for qualifying productions is $100,000 and the maximum tax credit is $5 million, like the existing film-production credit.
“PPAC is uniquely positioned to do what the legislation intends, which is establish a foundation for which [those shows] could operate. And the advantages for the state are significant,” said Randall Rosenbaum, executive director of the R.I. State Council on the Arts. “The thinking is that if you string [these projects] together it builds a [workforce] sector.”
Theatrical credits are folded into the $15 million cap on the film tax credit program, which has a mixed utilization history.
For the fiscal year ended June 30, 2012, $11.3 million in film tax credits were issued, according to the state division of taxation. But there were only $2.3 million in credits issued the year before that. The number was $8.11 million for fiscal 2010.
“It’s basically on a first-come, first served [basis],” said Michael Canole, chief of examinations for the R.I. Division of Taxation. “This is a way to ensure that the full value of what has been authorized is used.”
Singleton estimated that “Elf the Musical,” which spent two and a half weeks in Providence working on its technical production before doing a dress rehearsal and a week of performances, was given a $175,000 tax credit. He also estimated PPAC took in $900,000 in ticket sales for the show.
The goal is to have two national tours launch and one Broadway-bound show preview here in a theater season, which generally runs from September through May.
According to an economic-impact report conducted by The Broadway League, a trade organization based in New York City, touring Broadway shows had a $20.9 million impact on Providence and show producers spent an estimated $4.7 million here in the 2008-2009 season. The report, released in December 2010, also showed that the average Providence attendee spent an estimated $68 in addition to a show ticket for each theater-going experience.
“Providence has been a terrific theater town for years and has positioned itself to really take advantage of this. … I think you’ll see a lot of producers take advantage of its proximity to New York,” said Al Nocciolino, vice chair for the road for the Broadway League.
Providence isn’t a stranger to national tour launches. Previous to “Elf the Musical,” it was host in the 2008-2009 season to launches for “Legally Blonde the Musical” and “Grease.” But Boston has historically played a larger industry role and Singleton has found himself negotiating with producers who fear playing in Providence first will damage their tour.
Many industry leaders say securing bigger, longer-running theatrical productions for Rhode Island would result in additional jobs for set designers, carpenters and craftsmen.
“I don’t think there’s any question that [PPAC and the Vet] do bring in larger shows, for longer periods of time, that employ more people,” said Edward M. Mazze, the distinguished university professor of business administration for the University of Rhode Island, whose 2010 economic impact study showed that for the years 2005-2009 Rhode Island recouped $8 for each dollar it spent through issued film tax credits.
Sen. Josh Miller, D-Cranston, the lead sponsor of the original Senate bill, said that there has been some interest in expanding the program to include lesser-capacity venues. The Dunkin’ Donuts Center reportedly wanted to be included in the original bill by opening it up to musical concerts. A spokesman for the center did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trinity Repertory Company Executive Director Michael Gennaro would like to see the program amended so that he can use it for leverage the same way PPAC can, but he supports the initiative no matter.
“It’s good for everybody, especially the city,” Gennaro said. “Would I like to see it amended for 600 seats and under? Yes [but] I’m really not sure right now how many people would want to use that to come [to Trinity].” •

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