Change is in the air. The future is profoundly less certain than at any time in recent memory. How are global economic woes affecting historic theatres that have been important catalysts for the economic and cultural development of many neighborhoods and communities? What future can we envision for historic theatres and their communities? What strategies and tactics are they developing for these turbulent times?
Hosted locally by PlayhouseSquare, the League's 2009 conference convenes in one of the most collaborative cultural districts in the United States, a community with superior long-term civic planning and venerable arts organization, which are sources of pride in a city that has overcome many challenges over decades. Cleveland is a great city for League members to confront difficult challenges with creative solutions and envision the future of historic theatres.
How can historic theatre owners and operators avoid playing into the fear of these challenging times? How can we summon the courage and energy to demonstrate leadership through innovation, investing limited resources in new ways and developing new alliances or collaborations? What do our communities need most from us during these troubling times?
Join your colleagues in Cleveland, OH this summer for the League's 33rd Annual Conference and Theatre Tour, Focus 20/20: Your Theatre, Your Town.
For more information, go to http://www.lhat.org/conference_theatre.asp
Why should you attend?
Challenging times require new strategies, renewed energy and resolve. The collective knowledge of the League's network of historic theatres and those who provide services and supplies to sustain them can help you leverage diminishing resources to greater advantage, think strategically, develop strength as a change agent within your organization and community, and improve your organization's capacity to adapt quickly to changing circumstances.
Explore downtown Cleveland and Playhouse Square . . . tour extraordinary theatres . . . learn how others are meeting recession-related challenges . . . network with colleagues from throughout North America. Focus on the future of your theatre, your town!
The League of Historic American Theatre's Annual Conference and Theatre Tour is the largest gathering in the country of historic theatre professionals and community leaders interested in revitalizing their communities through historic theatre rehabilitation.
New This Year . . .
- More Tools & Techniques! All sessions will be repeated, so you can attend twice as many sessions this year.
- Expanded Expo! More exhibitors and an extra hour for you to learn about goods and services that historic theatres need most.
- Night Caps each evening! Treat yourself to a nightcap at one of Playhouse Square's gathering places to unwind and re-cap the day with colleagues.
PlayhouseSquare, our local host . . .
Playhouse Square is Cleveland's theater district. Playhouse Square's venues — the Allen, Hanna, Kennedy's, Ohio, Palace, State, 14th Street and the Idea Center — comprise the largest performing arts center outside of New York City, and represent the world's largest theatre restoration project.
In a newspaper poll, civic leaders hailed "the saving of Playhouse Square" as the leading triumph on a list of the top 10 successes in Cleveland history. It's easy to see why! Playhouse Square attracts over 2,000,000 patrons annually to a wide variety of arts and entertainment events, injects over $40 million each year in new income, and has initiated a renaissance of redevelopment in the district with an annual impact exceeding $300 million.
The theaters of Playhouse Square were built during a two-year period between February 1921 and November 1922 and originally hosted a wide array of silent films, legitimate theater, and vaudeville acts. Falling into decay in the 1950s and 1960s as many Clevelanders abandoned downtown for the suburbs, the theaters were revived and restored in the 1980s and 1990s with over $40 million dollars of private and public funds. Recently, following a $20 million renovation, the Hanna Theatre reopened in the fall of 2008 as the home of the Great Lakes Theater Festival.