It was two years ago that the arts community shut down as the coronavirus pandemic began to spread across the country, resulting in closed doors, furloughs and the start of a period of uncertainty.

Today, with vaccines in arms and the severity of the many COVID-19 variants that have developed lessening, leaders at theaters and venues big and small say they are returning to pre-pandemic levels. In some cases they are surpassing levels not seen since 2019 as more acts have returned to the stage and patrons are eager to return to in-person performances.

 

The Business Record discussed the recovery of the arts and entertainment sector with:

• Jeff Chelesvig, president and CEO of Des Moines Performing Arts
• Chris Connolly, general manager of the Iowa Events Center
• David Kilpatrick, executive director of the Des Moines Playhouse
• Curt Simmons, president and CEO of the Science Center of Iowa 
• Robert Warren, CEO of Hoyt Sherman Place

Their responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.

 

Has programming at your organization returned to pre-pandemic levels?  

Chelesvig: We began programming back in September of 2021 and we were very clear that we would not be returning for the most part with social distancing for most of our ticketed events, so we were able to return to full capacity from the very beginning, and it’s gone very well. We had a little bit of a ramp-up … so by the time February hit we’ve been kind of running at a full pace now.

Kilpatrick: Programming and attendance have returned to pre-pandemic levels. I believe in part because individuals discovered they need outside connections and must share moments beyond what is experienced isolated in a living room.

Connolly: On the arena side, programming has returned to pre-pandemic levels, and in many cases it has exceeded those pre-pandemic levels. Live entertainment and touring shows have come back strong, and it’s as busy as I’ve ever seen in terms of the volume of touring acts scheduling dates to be back on the road. On the convention center side, programming has also returned to pre-pandemic levels and continues to pick up. We’re not quite at pre-pandemic levels yet … but we do believe the attendance for those types of events will continue to build. 

Warren: We returned to offering full-capacity shows in July of 2021 and continue to do so ever since.  

Simmons: The Science Center was closed for four months when the pandemic first hit and has been steadily increasing the number of days we are open during the pandemic period. We started out being open three days per week, are now operating four days per week and will be open five days per week beginning in the summer. We anticipate being back to pre-pandemic levels of operating within 12 to 18 months.

Have audiences returned to levels needed for shows/performances to be profitable?

Simmons: Attendance levels have been running about 75% of normal level, and because we have trimmed expenses, the Science Center has been operating in the black during the pandemic. We continue to see our audience levels increasing and anticipate the summer will approach pre-pandemic levels of attendance. 

Connolly: The demand for entertainment is strong, and we are starting to see strong attendance numbers for most of our events in the arena and convention center. 

Kilpatrick: Yes. Our productions in our children’s theater have sold out, even when we add extra performances. Our challenge is that we can’t always add performances as we are dependent on volunteers. But demand has returned for productions individuals want to see.

 

Warren: For the most part all of the performances have been profitable. The first six months after reopening we saw about a 15% drop in attendance overall as compared to pre-pandemic levels. However, since January of 2022, especially with shows that appeal to the younger audiences, our percentages are back to normal with near-capacity crowds for most events.   

Chelesvig: We had some people who chose not to come to some of our earlier shows, but each of the shows we’ve done now — for Broadway shows — the actual number of people who show up has been increasing percentage-wise each time. Our attendance and our concerts and our comedians have been really terrific, so we’re very happy with where we are. 

What role does virtual programming play in your current plan, and do you foresee that becoming permanent?

Connolly: The demand is not really strong for virtual programming for most of our local/regional conferences and conventions. We do anticipate a need for virtual programming on some national types of events that come to the Iowa Events Center, but not a large demand. 

Warren: We intentionally did not offer virtual programming and do not intend to do so in the future. The beauty of Hoyt Sherman Place is the physical space and the perfect acoustics. And the magic comes from like-minded audience members sitting shoulder to shoulder enjoying their favorite artists in the same place at the same time. The joy of live performances cannot be replaced by a virtual appearance.  

Kilpatrick: Unfortunately, those who control the rights to our productions are pulling back on virtual programming. We recognized that our streaming options were primarily for our friends and relatives who were unable to attend a show either for health or distance. Streaming was not a major income source, rather more of a service. However, without permission we can’t even provide the service. I see it disappearing from our programming. 

Simmons: As a “hands on” museum experience we have been fortunate to be open throughout most of the pandemic period. We produced digital versions of our audience-favorite programs and demonstrations and made those available virtually to stay connected with audiences. We have been conducting teacher trainings virtually, which has worked out well and will be an option we continue to offer. We plan to continue developing virtual content as a way to extend the on-site experience and to remain in more regular contact with our participants. 

Chelesvig: Most of the virtual programming we have done is in the educational area, but we’ve also seen the interest in that start to wane. Because we are a live performance venue it’s very hard for us to do livestreaming of our events. The Des Moines Symphony does still livestream their performances for their subscribers and we will be streaming our Iowa High School Musical Theater Awards Showcase in June. We haven’t really thought about what virtual programming is going to look like, but if it happens it will likely just be in our education and family offerings.

What lessons were learned over the past two years that will be incorporated permanently in your organization’s operation?

Simmons: Creating a high-quality visitor experience with personal customer service continues to be the key to success. Over the last two years we have been reminded how important it is to make personal connections with our participants, which enhances their exhibit and programming experiences. We increased the number of small group program interactions, which has been very well received and something we will continue to emphasize into the future. 

Warren: We updated our business continuity plans to include scenarios where the entire operations are shuttered for up to 24 months and how we would keep the facility maintained with a drastic decline in earned revenue. We also learned how to incorporate remote working into our strategy and made sure every employee could work remotely if another crisis occurs. But most importantly, we learned the true value of having a permanent endowment fund for such rainy days. As part of our “Next 100 Years” celebration we have set a goal of increasing our endowment from the current $5 million level to $10 million. We could then use the interest only from the endowment fund to care for and protect this magnificent facility if revenue is halted for any reason, for a very long time.    

Chelesvig: The main thing we’ve learned is that, yes, people can work from home. I think because of the nature of our business a lot of our people prefer to be in the office. They like that team environment. We do still have some people working remotely. I would say most people like being here in person, but the fact we invested in the technology so that almost everybody could work from home, I think we’ve learned there are a lot of times when people can work from home and choose to do so, and that’s good.

Kilpatrick: The show must go on, but we have to be creative in our process to accommodate changing needs and demands by both audiences and volunteer performers. Flexibility and creativity are hallmarks of our industry, but have even more applications.

Connolly: Flexibility! The pandemic has taught us that just about every day is different and the need to be flexible in our planning and coordination with clients, vendors, promoters, tenants is absolutely critical. 

 

Have staffing levels returned to normal?

Chelesvig: We do still have some open positions we are trying to fill. We are still not quite where we want to be with our guest services staff, but it’s much better as time marches on.

Kilpatrick: Yes. We have shifted some duties and titles, but the staffing count is where we were pre-pandemic. We have also increased salaries appropriately. We maintained benefits throughout the entire period, offering at times 100% coverage for those who took pay cuts.

Connolly: Our full-time staff has returned to normal pre-pandemic levels. However, there is a strong demand for part-time staff to get back to where we were before the pandemic started, but there just aren’t enough capable/willing candidates to fill the need for part time staff vacancies. We are currently relying heavily on temp workers to get us through our various events.

Warren: We were fortunate to be able to keep all of the full-time staff employed throughout the COVID pandemic by shifting work to focus on the Hoyt Sherman Place mansion and art galleries, which remained open while the theater was shuttered. As of June of 2021 all of our part-time employees have been recalled and we have since added three new full-time positions to help us keep up with the demand for events. Additionally our contracted service employees (stage hands, valet parking team, security crew, caterers, etc.) are all back on the job.

Simmons: We are not quite where we were pre-pandemic, but getting very close to those levels.

What challenges, if any, remain?

Connolly: Our biggest challenge at the moment is the lack of part-time staff in just about all of our departments. We have to gradually build up that part-time staff base.  

Warren: Inconsistency with messages about COVID protocols still continues to create extra work on a daily basis, but well worth the effort to make sure everyone on stage and off are comfortable gathering. The extra cleaning protocols and the expenses involved remain high, but again well worth the expense. The occasional protests from those who want masks and those who don’t want them will continue but are less aggressive than when we first reopened.  

Kilpatrick: Our first concern is will this happen again? Could we survive a second situation where we can’t have audiences? We think so, but we also hope we don’t have to find out. The second major concern for a volunteer organization is where are all the volunteers? They got out of the habit and we have to work double time to get them back, and many are not going to come back ever. So we are looking at the development and training of volunteers.   

Simmons: Hiring staff to fill open positions has been a challenge in this current employment market.

Chelesvig: I think staffing will continue to be a challenge. We are a pretty labor-intensive industry, so that is something we will continue to work on.

 

Explain the role donors have played in helping your organization navigate the challenges of the past two years.

Chelesvig: They’ve been fantastic. Our donors stayed with us and supported us through the pandemic. Without them, we would have not been able to make it through that. We also saw very little attrition from the people who had tickets for shows that were postponed. Even though we were willing to give people a refund, very few took us up on that.

Kilpatrick: Without our donors, the Playhouse would not have been able to remain as active as we were for the last two years.  

Connolly: In our world at the Iowa Events Center, just about all of our sponsors and premium seat holders stuck with us during times when we simply weren’t able to provide the same level of entertainment or content that they have been accustomed to in the past. Their support truly put us in a position to hang on and get through the roughest part of the pandemic.

Warren: Donors were a critical part of our COVID lifeline, including the state and federal governments with emergency disaster loans and the Shuttered Venues Operators Grants that we lobbied tirelessly to receive. The fact that we maintained our loyal members even without the ability to offer them [live performances], proved their loyalty to the organization and the staff. And those key donors that stepped up in the middle of all of the COVID uncertainty to support the mansion restoration was heartwarming. To be out of the woods without a log pile of debt was nothing short of a miracle.       

Simmons: Donors continued to financially support the Science Center and they understood that we would need to cut back on programming during this difficult time. Donors have also been consistent in their recommendations for SCI to stay focused on our core business and to execute our plan well.