It’s been a rough second quarter, no doubt, especially after how insanely good our first quarter was. You can get spoiled with a certain amount of success, to be sure, and it’s harder to take the valleys when the peaks can get so high.
Last night I ended up crunching some numbers, just to see where things stood overall for the year, and I’ll admit I was surprised.
Very surprised.
Anyway, I drafted up this quick release to send out to the media. I figured at worst it never hurts to get that final push in the paper with Kitefliers having one weekend left after this, and since two of the three local papers couldn’t be bothered to review us.
Check it out:
Tampa, FL – Despite an erratic shift from a wildly successful first quarter (Oct.-Dec.) to a slightly disappointing second quarter (Jan.-March), Jobsite Theater has managed to once again break their records and consistently post positive growth as Downtown Tampa’s only professional resident theater company.
From 2004 – 2006, Jobsite increased their overall attendance by an astounding 55% – a remarkable accomplishment for any non-profit arts organization. What’s more astounding is that they did it with no meaningful corporate or government financing, and without a single full-time paid staff member.
As of this morning, Jobsite just broke their mainstage attendance and gross sales record from last year. Now at over 5,000 tickets sold (in a theater that they on average seat 105 per night in) with 33 curtains still remaining in the 06-07 season, Jobsite could potentially reach over 8,500 patrons with their mainstage season and top well over $100,000 in ticket sales – which would be a first for the company. Jobsite has kept their prices well below what is considered average in order to attract audiences. They started the company in 1998 with a $12 ticket and currently their average ticket price is $20.75.
Jobsite believes their success comes from producing engaging, challenging work such as The Pillowman and The Goat alongside readily accessible, crowd-pleasing shows such as those in the (abridged) series or A Girl’s Guide to Chaos. Jobsite has always had a knack of connecting with a younger, more diverse audience than the typical theater and is constantly striving to find new ways to develop audiences and demystify an art form that hasn’t always had an easy time appealing to regular people with so many diversions already at their fingertips.
Still a very small company from a budgetary and operations standpoint, Jobsite has been incredibly goal-oriented from the very beginning, insisting they improve what they do and how they do it with every successive production and from one season to the next.
As Jobsite approaches their 10th anniversary in the 08-09 season, the artist-run company is eyeing what it takes to gain a semblence if permancy – an aggressive fundraising campaign.
Ticket sales still account for 93.5% of their revenue, with an additional $20,000 coming to the company in in-kind goods and services from season sponsors.
Jobsite’s current production of The March of the Kitefliers, a return of a smash-hit from 2005 that has already attracted producers from New York and Chicago, runs through April 15. Still remaining on the season is Alan Aycbourn’s Woman in Mind (June) and David Rabe’s Hurlyburly (August). Jobsite is the official resident theater company of the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center’s Shimberg Playhouse.
For more information on Jobsite Theater please visit https://www.jobsitetheater.org.
