J.L. “Lynn” Singleton, president of the Providence Performing Arts Center, has had to overcome hurdles since joining PPAC nearly four decades ago. The COVID-19 pandemic may be one of the biggest hurdles yet. Even though live performances haven’t taken place at the 3,100-seat theater since last spring, Singleton remains optimistic about its future.
It’s been months since PPAC was open to the public. What has your team been up to? We had to immediately cancel and postpone hundreds of performances. The ironic thing is that we were like, ‘OK, we can’t have the Blue Man Group come in the middle of March, so we’ll just move it to Memorial Day weekend.’ That’s just how naïve we were. But we are currently replacing much of the terracotta on the front of the building. It’s the original, and this is just about the best time to do it while we are closed. It’s the largest renovation restoration project PPAC has ever done since moving the back wall in 1994. The total cost of the project is about $2 million.
How have you been reaching out to the community for the last nine months? We’ve continued a lot of our community outreach programs. We’ve also created this program called Experience PPAC, which has a goal of bringing every high school sophomore in the state of Rhode Island to see a Broadway show. We won’t just provide the tickets, but also pay for the buses. Until we can bring kids back, we’ll start livestreaming these performances for students.
What staffing changes have taken place at PPAC? We initially furloughed some people, thinking they would be able to return in six weeks. We immediately laid off a lot of our part-time event people and part-time employees who work during the day. We normally have seven operations people to clean the building. Presently, we have one. In addition, our full-time staff typically consists of 50 people. Now, we are operating with 20, and they have had a 20% to 50% pay reduction. The people who are remaining have really done a good job, and it has been difficult. But I’ve been at PPAC for 38 years and I’ve had some bumps along the way. But no matter what happens, I’ll always be the person that moved the back wall 12 feet so we could do “Phantom [of the Opera].” I tell my staff [that] their legacy is that they helped PPAC get through the pandemic. Right now, we are in a war, and we must do what we have to do to get to the end of it.
How has PPAC been able to remain financially stable throughout the last nine months, even while closed? We’ve eliminated about two-thirds from our operating budget of about $5 million. We’ve had some short-term reserves and used those. Hopefully, we don’t have to exhaust our reserves to get through this crisis.
What are the biggest challenges that the art sector is facing right now? From a 500-foot view, the effects that COVID-19 has had on arts, entertainment, cultural events and even sports have been catastrophic for business. Given the current capacity restrictions, which rightfully exist, it will take a while to come back.
How are you preparing now to reopen in the future? We started to go down the road of protocols when we can reopen to the public, investigating everything from touchless bathroom fixtures, touchless credit card systems, new ventilation system that has [ultraviolet] lights. Because [even with] the vaccine [being] distributed, the public – rightfully so – will look for a higher level of protocols to give them comfort.
Are you seeing any proof that people want to return to live performances in a post-COVID-19 economy? We initially realized that after a short period of time that our fall Broadway shows were going to be postponed, and we held our breath to see how people were going to react. But we renewed our Broadway series [subscriptions] at nearly 80%, and I was stunned. It’s one of those things where people know us, people trust us and solidified that we are not going away. But I was very personally and professionally gratified by the loyalty of our patrons. People want to come back to events.
What should the audiences of PPAC expect when the curtain goes up again? As we bring back staff, it’s not like turning the light switch on. We’ll have to do local events first, and some one-nighters. You’re not going to roll in a month of “Frozen.” And, candidly, 75%-80% of our net revenue is generated from national tours and Broadway. People are going to be late to the party, and they’re going to be reluctant. People are going to have to feel safe and secure. We will not sacrifice safe for soon. We have been around for 92 years, and we’re going to be around for 92 more. But we’re going to do it right.
