In celebration of the 10th anniversary of Art at Work Month, our 10 in 10 series is spotlighting the best local people, ideas and events of the past decade.
Broadway Center Executive Director David Fischer
When the Broadway Center Board of Directors chose David Fischer as their new Executive Director, in 2006, Fischer took on a mandate to completely re-engineer the organization. And the results have been stellar: Under his team of revitalized staff, Board and volunteers, the Broadway Center has tripled its audience. It is the provider of Washington state’s largest, most dynamic arts education program, and its portfolio includes serving as manager of Tacoma’s Theater District and its historic anchor venues – the Pantages, the Rialto, and Theatre on the Square. The Broadway Center’s guiding vision has been “to lead and energize the renaissance of downtown Tacoma,” and to make the performing arts as accessible to the community as possible.
“[That focus] hasn’t wavered,” says Fischer, “to be relevant and meaningful to the broadest base of our community and make a difference to the social and economic fabric of Tacoma.” So impressive has been his leadership that this year the Tacoma Arts Commission created a new category of the AMOCAT Awards just to honor him; Fischer is the recipient of the first AMOCAT Arts Leadership Award.
The Pantages Theater
From the beginning, Fischer declared diversity and access to be the heart of the Broadway Center’s future. An important factor has been to achieve the difficult balance between bringing high-quality performances to town and offering “broad access to the community regardless of ticket price.” Though artist fees for Queen Latifah, Lyle Lovett, kd Lang and Buddy Guy demand that the intimate Pantages Theater ask for high ticket prices, a broader access was leveraged through a tiered pricing program ensuring that a minimum of 10% of every house be significantly reduced in price (usually 60% less than the top price).
In addition, the Broadway Center regularly offers many other programs at an average $22 per ticket. Access for the community is further enhanced by distributing free tickets. Since 2006, the Broadway Center has distributed, through its social service partnerships, more than 27,000 free tickets at a value of $1.1 million to those members of our community who could otherwise never afford to attend. Private philanthropy, individual donors and City government have all significantly increased their investments because of the Broadway Center’s authentic and earnest efforts to deliver on its promises. Continue reading
