Some theater groups feel left out of holiday campaign

George Stevens - President of Coastal Community Foundation

Keely Enright - co-founder of the Village Playhouse in Mt. Pleasant.

Jocelyn Edwards - Executive director of the Footlight Players

It can hurt to be excluded.

Especially when a project to ensure the survival of struggling performing arts groups in Charleston only emphasizes three organizations: Charleston Stage, the Charleston Symphony Orchestra and the Charleston Ballet Theatre.

The three groups were named as part of an initiative by Ellen Dressler Moryl, director of the city of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs, and George Stevens, president of the Coastal Community Foundation, a local philanthropic institution that connects donors with charitable nonprofit organizations.

The goal of the effort is a unified holiday campaign to attract audiences by advertising on the Internet, on cable television and in newspapers through a grant from the Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, a national philanthropic organization based in Chicago.

When Moryl was asked why only three groups were participating, she said, "I'm just assisting in an effort to help these groups because I knew they were in trouble.

"I didn't know other groups were also in financial difficulty, and I certainly didn't mean to leave anyone out," she said.

Moryl and representatives of the groups went several weeks ago to the Coastal Community Foundation, which agreed to apply for the grant. "The Office of Cultural Affairs selected the three groups," Stevens said. "We just carried forward their request."

Locally, Moryl said her office is marketing all local arts groups through copies of the city's December arts calendar distributed to hotels and other venues. They also post the calendar online.

"The Donnelley grant has not been awarded," Stevens said Friday.

"John Sands, the South Carolina representative of the Donnelley Foundation who lives on Pawleys Island, is confident we will get it. But we can't guarantee this will happen," he said. "The point is there is no money yet, and we won't know until next week."

Stevens said the three groups, all of which are in severe financial trouble, were named because they had come as a unit to ask the foundation for help. "I'm sure the Donnelley Foundation would want to make certain all groups were included," he said.

The Donnelley grant was surprising news to Keely Enright, co-founder and artistic director of the Village Playhouse in Mount Pleasant.

"It broke my heart when I read that editorial in The Post and Courier about the three arts groups to benefit from the Donnelley Foundation holiday campaign because it made me feel as if our theater just didn't exist," she said.

Enright, who with her husband Dave Reinwald founded the Village Playhouse eight years ago, said they received $12,000 from the Donnelley Foundation last year, so they know they have been recognized as a legitimate arts organization in the area.

"Every two years, since forever, the CSO has screamed that the sky is falling and everyone is supposed to give them money, while those of us who try to be fiscally responsible don't go to the media begging for help. We try to solve our own problems," said Enright, who earlier said the Village Playhouse is down 30 percent in ticket sales this season.

Jocelyn Edwards, executive director of the Footlight Players, said, "I must admit I was really surprised we weren't included when I read about this grant in the newspaper, as our ticket sales are down over 22 percent and, after all, we are the oldest theater group in Charleston — don't we count?"

Emily Wilhoit, director of the League of Charleston Theatres, a group of nine local theaters that share public relations resources, said she was not invited to the three or four meetings held at the Coastal Community Foundation.

"I'm not sure why I wasn't contacted, because the goal of the League of Charleston Theatres is to have all the theaters in town collaborate in an effort to be as visible as possible to the public so that everyone can sell tickets and gain support," she said.

Sharon Graci, president of the board of directors of the league, said she was shocked she wasn't contacted either.

"Why would other performing arts organizations be closed out just so three groups could get all the help, and that's exactly what is happening," Graci said. She, with her actor husband Rodney Lee Rogers, founded PURE Theatre with the mission of performing cutting-edge plays.

"We are staging a comedy set during the holiday season and it would fit right in with any holiday campaign to draw in audiences," Graci said. "The truth is all the performing arts groups are in trouble, and we need to find creative ways that are inclusive, not exclusive."

Reach Dottie Ashley at 937-5704 or dashley@postandcourier.com.