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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Guide Weather Subscribe Contact Us November 13, 2004 Downtown OSF's season comes to a close, but there's work to be done Andrew Scot Bolsinger Paul Nicholson bounds up the stairs of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival offices just a couple of minutes late for an appointment with seemingly boundless energy. His handshake is firm and his apology for the tardiness is swift, despite the fact his visitor has just arrived as well. Inside his comfortable, brick-walled office, he crosses one leg over the other, pulls his head back a touch and raises his hands above his head. "From the beginning we knew this was going to be the year of challenges," he says with an accent that sounds just a touch like Sean Connery. As he proceeds to list these challenges, it is very clear that after more than a quarter of a century of plays, the executive director of one of America's most successful regional theaters remains very ready to take them on - and succeed. End of the season Those associated with the theater live life very much like professional athletes and schoolteachers. Each year has a distinct start and end, and thus its own personality. Like a vineyard, each passing chapter is easily recalled by the vintage. It's why Nicholson doesn't miss a breath in recalling the festival's bumper crop. "2000 was a blockbuster year," he says, with just a small raise of the eyes at the memory of 95 percent capacity and record-setting attendance figures. This year was something of a disappointment, Nicholson says, pointing to a season-ending figure of about 81 percent capacity. Eighty-one percent of all available seats were filled this year, and it's something of a disappointment, which is a clear example of just how high the bar that Nicholson and his crew have set for themselves. For a theater company offering three theaters, 11 plays, six days a week for nearly nine full months, selling 81 percent of the seats seems astounding. The sheer number of people they bring into town, somewhere between 357,000 and 388,000 during this downturn, is enough to rouse a standing ovation from the local economy. But Nicholson knows the theater can do better. It needs to do better, he says. The standards are very high indeed. Energy and excellence Two nights before the end of the season, the festival actors show no sign of "playing out the string" - a phrase commonly heard at the end of a sports season where no playoff excitement looms ahead. A packed house on a Thursday night energetically files into one of the last performances of "Humble Boy," a sometimes witty and sometimes eloquent drama about a beekeepers son. The performers show no sign of fatigue, punching lines they have said night in and night out for months with renewed vigor. The anger on the set is real, the energy high - at least from the audience's point of view. The level of professionalism in all OSF performances is expected, yes, but also indicative of those same high standards Nicholson alluded to. Unlike the actors making their final performances of the 2004 season, Nicholson is less affected by the closing of yet another season. For starters, he has closed the book on one season, and opened it on another each year for a quarter of a century. Whereas for many actors or directors the closing of the play is a closing chapter of a brief association with OSF, Nicholson is a fixture. More importantly, the executive director is already deep into his plans for the next harvest, working over the budget to make sure the festival remains on its solid financial footing in 2005. Rather than recoil from the "challenges" that affect the bottom line - a sluggish economy at home, a troubled war abroad, an uncertain national election and always the shadow of a changed culture since the events of 9/11 - Nicholson and his staff confront them. Simple tightening of the belt around the finances helps the budget to remain static. Marketing and fundraising remain critical goals. Educating people about the value of a donation to the Oregon Cultural Trust is especially important as the calendar year ends and donations can still be applied to this year's taxes. It's a creative, interesting and yes, very challenging time to be in the theater business. Nicholson, looking excitedly toward 2005, is clearly at ease with those challenges, a thought that helps all those dependent on Ashland's tourism economy, directly or indirectly, rest a bit easier. DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Slippers Women's & Men's Slippers Ceramic Piggy Banks heloc libor rate Calenders 2005 Calender 2005 Accelerate Weightloss Products Memory Foam Mattress afsa studentloans home equity loans teleconferencing W2 Forms fasa student loans Matchmaking & Dating Scripts African Safari Conference Calls - $50/Month Security Systems student loan consolidation wholesale diamonds Currancy Exchange web conferencing Online Casinos Community Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams