ENTERTAINMENT October 18, 1984 Page 6 The University Daily KANSAN Cost of producing entertainment not so entertaining By ERIKA BLACKSHER and CHRIS CLEARY Staff Reporter Staff Reporter Enjoying the finer things in life costs a lot these days — whether it be the Rolling Stones playing "Satisfaction" or Mihkail Barshynkov dancing in the "Nutcracker" While ticket-buyers may think that they are paying a pretty penny for their entertainment, producing the concerts or performances isn't cheap. Professional ballets, operas, symphonies, rock concerts and KU productions cost anywhere from $2,000 to $300,000 to produce. And while the classic arts often make only a minimal profit, rock concerts frequently rake in a substantial profit. "THERE IS MORE ROOM for profit in rock because there are more kids with discretionary income — such as allowances — to spend on concerts," said Ted Mankin, vice president of New West Presentations, a Kansas City. Mo., production company. "Rock concerts are more mainstream entertainment," he said. "The classics are specialized entertainment, catering to a specialized group." For example, when a big-name performer like Michael Jackson performs in Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Mo., it costs $300,000 tickets, ptrifts far exceeded show costs. "The place, the time and the band all come into play when you're talking about profits," he said. "A $3,000 club show with a local band is going to make little or no profit." THOSE SAME VARIABLES influence the costs and the profits made by a classical arts production. An opera cost anywhere from $100,000 to $175,000 to produce, and that is only direct stage costs such as costumes, lighting and the crew, said Ed Kander, development director for the Lyric Opera Theatre in Kansas City, Mo. Ticket prices, which were raised about 30 percent this year, range from $5 to $25 a show. "These prices are far too cheap." They still do not cover the annual budget. The Lyric spends between $250,000 and $300,000 a year to put on its productions, he said. Other professional groups such as the Kansas City Ballet Company and the Kansas City Symphony spend $1 million or more to produce shows for one season. WHILE FINANCIAL GRANTS and state funds help bring classic arts companies to KU, the companies usually do not make the profits that rock bands do. When at home, a concert costs the Kansas City Symphony about $50,000, and to produce percent of the fee is paid by the Mid-American Arts Alliance and 50 percent of the remaining fee can be paid by Hallmark Inc. in Kansas City, Mo. "KU's actual cost is only about $3,000," she said. "We try to come out on a break-even basis," she said, "but we're not even quite breaking even." ENTERTAINMENT COSTS
Cost per showTicket price
Kansas City Ballet$60-90,000$6-20
Lyric Opera$100-175,000$5-25
Kansas City Symphony$50,000$8-18
Hoch Auditorium production$15-25,000$9-10
University Dance Co.$2,000$3-4
all 20 concerts, the symphony will spend about $44,600, said Susan Fernano, operations manager for the symphony. Even so, ticket prices range between $8 and $18. WHILE THE CLASSICAL arts barely break even staying at home, traveling to campuses remains profitable for rock groups. The University of Kansas can get popular entertainers for less than the normal rate if it works through a promoter. The symphony's 1985-96 touring fee is $15,000. Fernano said that through grants, 35 It's cheaper for a university to get a group through a promoter such as Contemporary Productions in St. Louis or New West Presentations in Kansas City, Mo., Mankin said. "Universities get a deal," he said. "They rent us a room at a low cost and give us Fran Macferran, director of special events for Student Union Activities, said that the promoter pays KU to do a lot of the work and helps students get on to campus, which mally helps keep ticket prices under $10. The promoter, therefore, benefits because of low costs, minimal work and strong ticket sales. KU benefits because it doesn't put up any money, and it receives a percentage of "You're going to see this happening more and more," he said. "The group Chicago is going to be making more money in Manhattan than in Kansas City," he said. Greg Smith, chairman of special events at Kansas State University, said that the university will end up paying about $15,000 for the band Chicago through a promoter rather than spending $60,000 trying to book the group independently. Chris Magerl/KANSAN Jay Karnes, Stillwell, Okla., senior, leans back at his desk while talking with Mark Nash, Charlotte, Vt., senior, in a scene from "Deathtrap." In another scene, Karnes, a distraught writer, holds a gun on Nash while he tells Nash to handcuff himself to a chair. They are two of the five cast members in the first production by the University Theatre, which also stars in the Prover Theatre in Murphy Hall. Performances will run through Sunday. Reserved tickets are on sale in the Murphy Hall Box Office. Theatre for young people not child's play for prof Staff Reporter By ERIKA BLACKSHER Smack in the middle of the Midwest sits a gold mine of children's theatre expertise. Jed Davis, professor of theatre and director of the Kansas University Theatre for Young People, is known nationally for his work and influence in children's theatre. His list of credits include writing the definitive text in children's theatre, "Theatre. Children and Youth," published in 1962; serving as the first president of the American Theatre Association; and initiating the founding of the Association of Kansas Theatres. DAVIS, WHO HAS three children and three grandchildren, said recently that one reason he got involved in children's theatre was to find out more about his children. "They are a good test of audience." he said. Davis, who came to KU in 1960, received his undergraduate, master's and doctorate degrees in theatre at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis during the late 1950s. In 1973 he offered that KU offered a doctorate degree with an emphasis on children's theatre. Davis said After dealing with children's theatre for almost 40 years, one of its main problems, Davis says, is that it needs to relay a message to the child. "He can be given increasingly complex plots in terms of motivations and moral choices." Davis said. "Entertainment is certainly a part of it. But it will ultimately be the way that I direct teaching he will carry away and it will become a part of his total value system." RICK AVERILL, who was Davis' graduate assistant in 1978 and 1979 when he returned to KU to get his master's degree in children's theatre, said he came into the program thinking he was a "muverick" in children's play. During the two years that Averill shared an office with Davis, he was persuaded to write a hour-long children's drama for his thesis. The hour-long drama directly opposed Averill's idea of good children's theatre at that time. "He came in and helped open tons and tons of concents for me." Ayerl said. Davis said that the Seem-to-be-Players, founded by Averill, did not tour much before Averill was exposed to the KU Theatre for Young People when he was doing his master's thesis. As Davi's graduate assistant, one of Averill's duties was being company manager for the KU Theatre for Young People THE KU THEATRE tours extensively in the spring and minimally in the fall. "I think this broke something loose in him in terms of his ability," Davis said, "which is a good thing." Despite Davis' traditional convictions about how children's theatre should be done, his students feel he is open to new ideas. Laurie Vander Plo-Hosek, the director of the Summer Youth Theatre in Lawrence, said she came from South Dakota to study under Davis. She started working on her master's thesis in children's theatre in 1981 and then taken a few years off to have two children. Vander Pol-Hosek says she has had some "wonderful" arguments with Davis. "He's one of those very good teachers who allow the students to learn for themselves," she said. Children's group looks at theatre in new way By ERIKA BLACKSHER Staff Reporter While the character of Nymfr no longer accompanies the Seem-to-be-Players, a children's theatre group based in Lawrence, colorful characters like her still live in the imaginative scripts and live music that are part of the colorful style of the group. Nyfrm the Sprite bumped into the seem-to-be sisters one day during her cosmic travels. Nyfrm is a tiny, quick-moving and clever female alien, and the seem-to-be sisters are her elusive kim who can change into any form at any moment. Rick Averill and his wife, Jeanne, started the group as an alternative to the children's activity. "AT THE TIME we started it, we felt that traditional children's theatre had become extremely weighted down by large costumes, large sets and moralistic values," he said. "It was very heavy-handed and essentially boring." The company uses few props if it uses any. The idea behind keeping the costumes and props simple is to let the child's imagination work throughout the show. Averill said, THE ONE-HOUR PLAY was one of the first traits of traditional children's theatre that the Averill's did away with. The group performs two 20-minute plays with sing alongs in between and after the shows. But recently, Averill has introduced some For instance, "Baba-Yaga, the Bony-Legged Witch," which will open their 11th season on Oct. 26 at the Lawrence Arts Center, 9th and Vermont streets, is an hour long version of a 20 minute script. He wrote the script based on a Russian folk tale. "We didn't need elaborate props, sets or costumes," he said. "What we needed was fast, good action, interesting stories and good drama." Averill is in charge of the interesting stories and good drama. He writes most of his work as a journalist. some of the traditional theatrical elements it originally set out to avoid. dramatic scripts, which last one hour, into their programs with success. While the group likes to use innovative theatrical devices, the Seem-to-be-Players has evolved to the point where it now uses He said one reason for introducing the plays that last an hour was to have all thetheatrical options open to the group. "When we started out we thought kids wouldn't sit through a full one-hour-long play and be able to enjoy without getting tired or jitter," he Jennifer Glenn, $932_{2}$ Rhode Island St. screams as he is mobbed by Vicki Douglas, left, 2804 Oxford Road, and Mike Fugett, right, 1900 W. 31st St., who are pretending to be trees. They are members of the Seem-To-Be Players production company. "BUT NOW, that's the challenge to take all of the experience we 've had and the style that we're building with it." Both the Averillis received their undergraduate degrees from the University of Kansas, and Rick Averil returned to KU in 1978 and 1979 to get his master's degree in children's theatre. His exposure to Jed Davis, professor of theatre, director of the Kansas University Theater for Young People and a traditionalist in children's theatre, influenced his decision to try writing hour long dramas for children. I shared an office with him for two years." Averil said, "and he challenged me to write a full length play and to make it an artistic effort." DESPITE THE CHANGES, the Seem to be players maintain their originality with Averil continuing to write all of the scripts and music. Jeanne Averil's participation in the group is minimal now because she has taught and debate at the Lawrence High School. Their first attempt in children's theatre failed in two years because of a lack of money and experience. "We started out doing children's theatre thinking it would be fairly simple and make a lot of money," he said. "The exact opposite was true, of course. It's a lot of hard work and it's hard to make a go of it." Willie Dixon still singing those blues By P.M. LEWIS Staff Reporter Everyone feels the blues sometimes. Willie Walsh needs them feeling for years, but Billy's still a little too much. "The blues are all the same," said Chicago bluesman Willie Dixon. "They represent the true facts of life in song." He should know. Dixon has been writing and singing the blues for more than 50 years. DIXON IS GOING to appear at 9 p.m. next Friday at the Lawrence Opera House, 642 Massachusetts St. Tickets for the show are available at Pennylane Records & Tapes, 817 Vermont St., Exile Records & Tapes, 15 W. 9th st., and Lawrence Custom Radio, 2319 Louisiana St. They cost $6 in advance and $7 the day of the show. The opening act for the show, which is being produced by Redline Productions, has not been announced. "You know people want to hear you do some of the old along with the new," Dixon said. "It is the root of all American music." So the singer will preform some material from his latest album, "Mighty Earthquake favorites," as well as his old blues favorites. Dkxon traces his musical roots to the Mississippi farm where he was born in 1915. He started playing the bass fiddle for the church, and that's how he got started in music. But, he says, he honestly can't remember his first performing break. DIXON STARTED WRITING music around this time, too. His first songs started as poems that he wrote for school then set to music. He sold them to traveling country-western bands for $15 to $20 but received no royalties and little recognition. But his first big hit he does remember "You Call Yourself the Jungle King, but You Ain't a Doggone Thing" sold about 40,000 copies when it was released in the 1940s. He has been writing ever since. The 69-year-old Dixon has written some of the best known songs in blues and rock'n'roll His compositions include "The Little Red Rooster," "I Just Want To Make Love To You," "Can't Quit You Baby," and "You Shook Me." Artists ranging from Fleetwood Mac and the J Gelis Band to Muddy Waters and Count Basie have recorded Dixon's song. Many of their songs can trace their roots back to Dixon's roots. WHEN HE WAS 17, Dixon moved to Chicago because it was the home of the blues. he said. But once he got there, he said, he did not see any of the blues of Mississippi and the Chicago blues. "The only difference is down there you hear the acoustic sounds. In Chicago you hear the city's own." The stage was not the only place where Dixon learned to perform. In 1937, James Dixon won the Golden Gloves Heavyweight but his was a short lived boxing career. "I only fought to about 21." Dixon said. "I had a couple of pro fights. I lost one and won four but got out of it because there was no enough money in it. "NO, MUSICWAS not much better. At that time you didn't get much recognition. You were a star." Recognition and records are not problems anymore. Dixon, originally a bass man, has been putting more time into his writing and he writes a song about every day or two. "Ideas hit me at midnight, on a plane anywhere. I just get something to write on, a book of matches, a napkin, anything," he said. Dixom, who still tours about six months of the year, said he has seen a big change in the local economy. When he starting his music career, big bands, not blue bands, were popular among whites. They were able to tour extensively. Dixon said. "The big bands were going everywhere. Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Louis Armstrong." Now days, there are more younger audiences, more white audiences. 1