There’s a certain scene in the 1990 film adaptation of Stephen King’s novel Misery involving a sledgehammer that fans of the movie still find irresistibly cringy 33 years later. Watching that scene unfold in Theatre Baton Rouge’s staged version of Misery, running tonight through Sunday, is about as edge-of-your-seat as it gets. It also reminds audiences why they go to the theater in the first place.
Mere feet from ticket holders, in a space void of CGI and cinematic trickery, Misery’s cast relies on their talents, the sets and props around them, and occasionally, sleight of hand, to do some serious world-building. The show about a writer “rescued” by a deranged super fan is performed in Theatre Baton Rouge’s 92-seat Studio Theatre, a space that delivers the kind of claustrophobic intimacy this script requires. Keep an eye on audience members immediately in front of the stage. Their jaws may or may not drop visibly during much of the second act.
Misery, which sold out last weekend, has been a bright spot in an otherwise rough two weeks for Theatre Baton Rouge. On Oct. 12, the nonprofit’s board of governors called a town meeting to discuss a dire financial situation stemming from the lasting impacts of COVID-19, inflation and the rising costs of staging shows. Its leadership said the 77-year-old local theater organization needed to raise $100,000 in 60 days or risk closing its doors.
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“When you build a set, you have to buy plywood, and that’s three to four times more expensive than it was before,” TBR board president Beth Bordelon tells 225. “Like everybody else, we are feeling that crunch. The fact of the matter is that our ticket sales once were able to cover the cost of a show, but that’s no longer the case.”
Following the town meeting, word of the troubles spread quickly through TBR’s legions of fans, and the community began stepping up. Today marks two weeks since the Light the Stage campaign was announced, and the organization has raised almost $50,000. TBR had earlier pumped the brakes on auditions for its annual holiday show, A Christmas Carol, but those have resumed. The performance will take place as planned, along with the rest of the 78th season, Bordelon says.
“We are incredibly grateful. Our motto, our belief, is that we are theater for the community and by the community, and these last two weeks we have witnessed that,” Bordelon says. “People in this community have stepped forward to help us right the ship.”
Theatre Baton Rouge isn’t out of the woods yet, nor is it alone in its post-pandemic financial struggles. Since the summer, numerous national news stories have reported on the challenges faced by nonprofit theaters across the country, which are fighting a two-front war that includes lagging ticket sales and soaring production costs.
The National Endowment for the Arts has stated that two to three nonprofit theater organizations have been closing every month nationwide. In late September, Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda and actor Phylicia Rashad, dean of Howard University’s College of Fine Arts, explained the situation to a congressional committee and asked for $2.5 billion over five years to help imperiled theaters.
TBR’s $100,000 campaign will help stabilize operations and allow the organization to regroup, Bordelon says. In an Oct. 19 letter, the board wrote that it “takes full accountability for the current financial state of the organization and is unified in our commitment to putting in place sustainable, corrective actions to ensure significant accounting and operational changes are made to avoid these issues arising again in the future.”
Ticket prices haven’t gone up, but Bordelon says that nothing is off the table. TBR is connecting with its peer institutions nationwide to compare notes and learn their best practices, she says.
The organization also expects to rely even more heavily on volunteers, Bordelon adds. TBR is looking for additional volunteers who can help sew or mend costumes, build sets, serve as ushers, help backstage and work in numerous other capacities.
TBR has also suspended its search for a new artistic director until it’s in a better place financially, Bordelon says. The position was vacated this summer when longtime managing artistic director Jenny Ballard took a position as an assistant professor of theater at Cumberland University in Tennessee. For now, the organization will retain just one full-time technical director who oversees sets and stage operations, Bordelon says.
Directors of shows usually receive stipends, but TBR’s scores of actors have always been volunteers. They dedicate several hours a day of rehearsal over an eight-to-10-week period to put on each show. TBR is known for staging high quality performances that take advantage of south Louisiana’s rich regional talent, Bordelon says.
That’s certainly apparent in Misery.
TBR regular Chrissy Basso Bienvenu, last seen in TBR’s Doubt, delivers a masterful performance as psycho fan Annie Wilkes. It’s a blast to watch her walk the razor’s edge between demented and prudish, and to hear her creepy refrain, “I’m your number one fan.” Meanwhile, TBR newcomer Justin Grier’s portrayal of captive writer Paul Sheldon will have audiences wincing with sympathy pains. The two are great together in a show that demands both pressure cooker restraint and buck-wild physicality. The cast is rounded out by William Coppersmith as town sheriff, Buster.
“Baton Rouge is amazing, when you think about how many talented people there are in one place,” Bordelon says. “It’s a wonderful, wonderful experience for creatives to be able to collaborate on this level.”
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Bordelon, a music educator, says that TBR will maintain its theater education programs, a revenue generator for the organization. She says she’s hopeful about meeting the $100,000 fundraising goal in full by its 60-day deadline.
“We’re just not going to be one of the statistics. We’re going to be one of the success stories,” Bordelon says. “In the next 75 years, we’re going to still be moving forward and being a trendsetter in community theater.”
Get tickets to Misery this weekend, and for TBR’s next show, Rent, Nov. 10-12 and Nov. 16-19. Visit Theatre Baton Rouge to find out more about the 78th season.