Brunswick-based Maine State Music Theatre, which had its highest grossing season to date, is already on its way to selling out its 2017 season.
The organization — which this summer showcased “Ghost,” “Evita,” “Fiddler on the Roof,” and “Mama Mia!” — sold out in every week but one.
Artistic Director Curt Dale Clark said that the theater’s record season is in part attributed to the record number of ticket subscriptions. Folks begin subscribing for season tickets — giving them access to all four shows of the next season — for the upcoming year at the final show of each season. Large crowds throughout the season inspire others to buy tickets in a cause-and-effect system that seems to multiply as the crowds grow.
“There’s an old adage,” said Clark, “if you have a great show and nobody comes, all the audience mentions is that nobody came. If you’re sold out, everybody wants tickets.”
Clark expects an even better 2017.
“We can tell based on the percentage of subscriber renewals that happen during the last show of the year what will be happening next season,” said Clark. “If we didn’t sell any more tickets for 2017 at this point, it would still be our fourth best season ever.”
MSMT has topped its previous annual gross each of the past three seasons.
Additionally, MSMT was named “Best Theatre in Maine” by BroadwayWorld.com for the third year in a row.
“We’ve tried to elevate our game and fight the fight,” said Clark. “It becomes scary, and you think: ‘How are we going to top it?’ But the reality is we have a great staff here. All of the success charts show things peaking and we are doing our best to make Brunswick a destination.”
Clark pointed out that transforming Midcoast Maine into a theater destination hasn’t been easy, and there is still work to be done.
“MSMT is an economic driver for the state, but on a government level Maine still has trouble making that happen,” Clark said.
Clark said Maine government doesn’t allow him the funds to advertise out of state, so the theater doesn’t have any way to help bring in money from other states, including Massachusetts and New York.
“And we need that desperately,” Clark said. “The ridiculousness of it is if we advertised down there now, people would come up. That’s the kind of money our state needs.”
Even though out of state money would strengthen an already stellar music theater, Deb King, executive director of the Brunswick Downtown Association, said that MSMT has left its mark on the community.
“They have a real economic impact on Brunswick,” said King. “It’s so cool in the summer to see so many people eating at our restaurants and popping in at ‘Music on the Mall’ on their way to Pickard Theatre. They are truly part of the reason why Brunswick has become a destination.”
Meanwhile, Clark and his team have had a busy offseason.
“The winter is a crazy time of year for us — staffing everything for next year, recruiting in New York,” said Clark. “This is when the work is done. I compare it to a game of Jenga. The offseason is building up the structure, and in the summer we knock off the pegs.”
bgoodridge@timesrecord.com
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