Also this issue:

There's No Place Like Home
After two years in New Hope, a Tin Man finds the heart of the gallery scene in Philly.
-Juliet Fletcher

Ashes to Ashes
-Susan Hagen

The Magic Fire
-Steve Cohen

The Golden Dreydl
-Mary Armstrong

Here's to the Ladies
-David Anthony Fox

Hometown Phavorites
-Deni Kasrel

Full Speed Ahead
-Toby Zinman

Good Boy Network
-David Anthony Fox

November 27-December 3, 2002

artsbeat

compiled by Debra Auspitz

The Philadelphia Cultural Management Initiative (PCMI), a project funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts and administered through Drexel, recently awarded its second round of grants since it was founded in April 2001. PCMI is dedicated to helping local arts organizations get, well, organized, with funds allocated toward new managerial hires, physical expansion, technology updates and anything else that affects the non-artistic side of the arts biz. The nine recipients this year were given a total of $430,560 and were chosen from 28 applicants by a panel of administrators and development experts from cultural institutions all over the country.

Many of the grants went toward improving the infrastructure of well-established organizations, like Fleisher Art Memorial ($55,200 for technological improvements) and The Village of Arts and Humanities ($55,200 to create a finance and administration director position).

The Wilma Theater received $48,300 to hire a facilities manager to take charge of the Avenue of the Arts theater space and an apartment building at 331 S. 12th St. that the Wilma bought about two years ago to house visiting artists. Wilma Director of Communications Carrie Gorn says she is not aware of other theaters in the city who own property specifically to house out-of-town casts, but she notes that the Bucks County Playhouse owns a large farmhouse about four miles from the theater that they use as an artist dormitory. The Wilma's building has five one-bedroom apartments and two studios. "I think it's kind of unique," Gorn says. "It's part of the way we make the Wilma experience special."

InterAct Theatre Company is using its $41,400 grant to create their own box office. InterAct uses the Adrienne Theater as its home, but previously handled ticket sales through UpStages, a community box office located at the Prince Music Theater. InterAct Managing Director James Haskins says the home-base box office is expected to open in August of 2003, after extensive improvements are made to the space in the Adrienne's lobby where the office will be housed. "We've had a bit of an identity challenge, in that we're in a building called the Adrienne, there's all these other companies [using the space] and our tickets are sold through UpStages," Haskins says. "Many people refer to us as the Old Wilma,' and we need it known that we are InterAct. This is one step toward making that happen."

Haskins says the company hopes to eventually use their box office for all of the Adrienne's shows, which would include 1812 Productions' season and the numerous small companies that are produced through Theater Catalyst. With the constant activity at the Adrienne, the InterAct box office could become a hub for a significant part of the local theater scene.