.bodytext {float: left; } .floatimg-left-hort { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right: 10px; width:300px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 10px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} The 2006/2007 Des Moines Playhouse season was the best that John Viars has experienced in his 25 years as executive director of the community theater, and he is looking for even better things this season.

“Disney’s High School Musical” sold out nearly every show during its July 13 – Aug. 5 run, bringing in $201,000 and setting a record attendance of 9,882. The previous record was the 2003 production of “Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story,” with 8,530 tickets sold.

For the 2006/2007 season, ticket sales reached $878,000, with every one of the Playhouse’s mainstage shows beating projections; this includes “Disney’s High School Musical” even though it is advertised as part of the 2007/2008 season. That was $1,000 shy of the total sales for the Playhouse’s 2005/2006 season, which included performances at the Temple for Performing Arts; the Playhouse dropped that venue in early 2006.

“Season ticket sales are up this year,” Viars said, “which is atypical. In most of the country, ticket sales are kind of dwindling. Season subscriptions are down and you really have to fight for the individual ticket sales. We’re doing well in both.”

Next up on the mainstage season is “Cats,” followed by “Tuesdays With Morrie,” “Enchanted April,” “High School Reunion,” “The Pajama Game” and “Leading Ladies.”

“Season tickets are about the anticipation of what’s to come, or it’s about how well they liked the previous season,” Viars said. “We have kind of a double whammy here, because we had a highly successful previous season and have a very intriguing upcoming season.”

Still, the seasoned director is not convinced that the hard times are over. The community theater business, Viars said, continually has its ups and downs. In the late 1950s and early ’60s, the Playhouse had around 6,500 season ticket holders, which Viars said would have filled nearly every seat for every performance. But by 1982, the year Viars joined the Playhouse, the number had dropped to 1,200. Today, the organization is approaching 3,000 subscribers for its mainstage and children’s theater.

Much of a season’s success is based on what new shows the theater company can obtain the rights to in a given year. The Playhouse’s main focus is on performing mainstream Broadway musicals.

“We had a lot of musicals in the season and people are really in tune with it,” said Ron Ziegler, who joined the Playhouse staff Aug. 1 as director of production services and directed “Disney’s High School Musical.” “We just hit the right formula. Sometimes there’s more luck than brains in that.”

Theaters across the nation have had similar successes with the musical, Viars said. “The girls are absolutely swooning,” he said. “It’s similar to the reaction that people had to the Beatles, but on a smaller scale. That’s how they can get so attached and in love with a particular performance.”

Last season, the Playhouse performed “Footloose,” “Swing,” “The Graduate,” “Metamorphoses,” “The Full Monty” and “Hank Williams: Lost Highway.” Viars points out, “The shows this year were challenging … and pretty sexy, too.”

Funding remains the biggest battle of any community theater, Viars said. Less than one-third of the Playhouse’s more than $2 million annual budget comes from contributions. For most community theaters, Viars said contributions make up 40 to 60 percent of their budgets.

“We’ve had a long history of ticket sales covering most of what we need,” he said, “but what happens is we artificially suppress some things,” such as building and equipment repairs. “Then we end up having to go out and say, give us a whole bunch of money, because everything we have is worn out,” he said.

The Playhouse is already discussing conducting a capital campaign in the next five years to renovate its more than 70-year-old building, located off Interstate 235 on 42nd Street in Des Moines. One of the biggest needs is for more classroom space, with many classes now being held in hallways.

The Playhouse has been the second largest community theater in the country based on revenues for the past decade, Viars said, with Omaha as No. 1.

“I think right now we’re in an upswing,” Ziegler said, “but smart organizations learn how to ride that roller coaster, and this is a very smart organization.”

One change the Playhouse made last year was to not sign a long-term contract to run performances at the Temple for Performing Arts. It had been putting on four to five professional performances a year, but found those shows did not make enough money to hire the additional management staff they required. In addition, the organization had to negotiate contracts to pay the actors, unlike a community theater, where the actors are volunteers.

“Overall it was a big project and required deeper pockets than we had to manage the ups and downs of it,” Viars said. “Ultimately I think that Des Moines can have that kind of small professional theater, but operating it requires more resources than we were able to give it.”

In the future, the Playhouse is looking to continue to improve its children’s education programs. The nonprofit set a record of more than 1,000 children in its summer programs. “We’re leaders in community theater education programs,” Viars said, pointing out that it’s one of the few community theaters in the nation to have a separate children’s program with a children’s theater attached to its main building.

At the same time, the theater is making tweaks to its education programs and working on teacher development.

To further its educational mission, the Playhouse is developing an internship program where six to eight interns can apply to work in production or education. The interns will get paid and have a great experience for their resume, said Zeigler, who is heading the program, and the Playhouse will fulfill its need for more staff.

Viars said the Playhouse also is looking to expand its school matinee program, bringing more performances into schools, as well as its “Entertainment to Go” program. The latter is in its second year of putting on performances, such as a Broadway show or murder mystery, for conventions and businesses.

The emergence of several grassroots theater companies in Greater Des Moines over the past decade has further boosted support for the Playhouse. More talented actors have become involved in local theater, and the Playhouse has had the opportunity to collaborate with other theater companies on productions, such as “Metamorphoses” with StageWest. However, the Playhouse occasionally has had to compete for some productions. “We try to stay within our niche, Viars said, “which is mainstream theater.”

Though Viars is skeptical that the Playhouse is in the black for good, he said, “We’re gradually getting there. The idea of development is it’s long term and so it’s not going to increase exponentially.”