🔒As theaters reopen, CEO David Fay looks to The Bushnell’s future, overcoming patrons’ ‘pandemic hesitancy’

Like most of the country’s sports and entertainment venues, The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts was hit hard during the pandemic.

The Bushnell — the state’s largest arts organization that has had 30 million people witness 20,000 performances in its nine-decade run — was forced to close its doors for about 18 months because of the pandemic. There were no shows, applause or artists on stage as the lights went out from March 2020 to its official reopening on Sept. 11, 2021, a commemorative event for the 20th anniversary of 9/11.

About half of The Bushnell’s 55-member full-time staff was furloughed during the pandemic and another 150 people who worked on shows in some capacity were laid off.

The Bushnell’s President and CEO David Fay said he was forced to evaluate and reevaluate what the global health pandemic would mean for the arts in Greater Hartford.

He was not alone.

Fay said he realized he was in the same boat as other arts venues, which led to a collaboration with the five other major presenting halls from across the state.

Fay said moving ahead during the pandemic without the support and shared interest of those other venues would have been nearly impossible. Together they lobbied for state and federal funding; The Bushnell will end up receiving $10 million in venue-saving federal money.

“We were hurting financially during the pandemic,” said Fay, who prior to joining The Bushnell worked for 20 years in management and theatrical production in St. Louis and Toronto. “There were [virtually] no earned incomes and we were laying people off left and right. You have no income and your only income is charity.”

While it might surprise some people, Fay said individual donations stayed steady during the height of the pandemic.

In fiscal year 2020, The Bushnell received a record $2.2 million in individual donations. Fay said he anticipated a 25% hit in fiscal 2021, but the theater wound up raising another $2.2 million.

“We did not see much of a fall off,” he said. “In fact, [donors] stepped up. Certainly, there were some donors who were faced with their own economic challenges, and some businesses, too. But, all of our major donors said they understood what was going on and they still gave.”

The Bushnell’s budget typically ranges from $22 million to $32 million annually, depending on the types of performances that are put on. When “Hamilton” premiered in fiscal year 2019, The Bushnell’s budget stood at $32 million, Fay said.

For fiscal year 2021, The Bushnell reported $15.9 million in revenue and a $7.5 million surplus, strong financial results considering the pandemic. But Fay said revenues were driven by legacy gifts to the endowment and overall growth in the endowment representing unrealized gains, not actual operating income. Federal aid also helped buoy the bottom line.

“We had projected an operating loss of well over $2 million for fiscal year 2021 before realizing any disaster-relief funding,” Fay said.

Looking ahead

As the pandemic recedes, Fay is now looking to The Bushnell’s future, with plans to present a new strategic plan to his board of directors in December.

Fay declined to share details, but said he was reaching out to the public and cultural and civic partners to hear their vision for the theater.

The plan will be aired publicly next spring, he added, after it’s approved by the board.

“More important than the plan is how we can adapt to change,” Fay said. “We’ve gone through massive changes the past two years.”

Technology is a big part of the recent past, present and future of The Bushnell, he said.

The not-for-profit arts venue delved into digital technologies back in 2014 and has some exciting plans in that arena, Fay said.

For example, on Oct. 30, The Bushnell formally unveiled 11 new digital display boards that are located outside of the courtyard and cut across the front of its iconic Capitol Avenue property.

The Bushnell will use the display boards, which are similar to ones seen in places like Times Square, for show promotion, sponsor recognition and storytelling, Fay said.

He noted that performances seen on signage boards will add to the experience of seeing a show at The Bushnell.

“We look forward to continuing to evolve and grow in the storytelling aspect of our digital signage,” Fay said. “We are always looking for ways to immerse our audience in the arts, and using digital media is one way of doing that.”

During the pandemic, The Bushnell also pivoted into digital presentations by putting on a full-length production of the “Hip Hop Nutcracker.” It was on a streaming platform and cost $25 to view. That event alone helped The Bushnell gross $183,000 via its website. The institution put on more than a dozen digital presentations during the pandemic, Fay said.

Fay said The Bushnell is developing events that combine both live and digital elements.

There is nothing, though, like live performances and sitting in one of The Bushnell’s two main auditoriums — the 2,800-plus seat Mortensen Hall and 900-seat Belding Theater — or smaller venues, Fay said.

The shows, performances, conversations, musicals, concerts and humorists are coming back.

The first Broadway subscription show after the closing was Jimmy Buffet’s “Escape from Margaritaville,” which ran from Oct. 7 to 12. There were eight performances in the week; they didn’t sell out.

“We have some hurdles to get over,” Fay said of getting people back into The Bushnell. “One is pandemic hesitancy and habit, habit, habit. For 18-plus months, people have been sitting in their living rooms watching Netflix and reading the Hartford Business Journal. We get them back by putting great shows on our stage.”

While a normal season will see just north of 200 event nights, Fay said he expects the 2021-2022 season will be shorter.

Some major blockbuster shows in the months ahead include performances by Jim Brickman in December; Russian Ballet Theatre (“Swan Lake”) in February; and the Hartford Symphony Orchestra (“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”) in April.

Sticking around

Kate McOmber, who has been interim CEO of The Greater Hartford Arts Council since Aug. 2020, said Fay is a significant influencer in the arts sector.

“He is very thoughtful and he tries to think about the long-term vision of The Bushnell and what the organization can do for the community, in addition to being an excellent performing arts venue,” said McOmber, who was a vice president of the arts council for six years prior to being named interim CEO.

McOmber said the Greater Hartford arts industry experienced a lot of headaches and pain over the last 18 months, but it will rebound.

“The arts sector, overall, has a very long road to recovery. There are good times ahead, but they will rebound with collective support,” she said. “It takes the entire arts community and government and corporate partners working together to help the arts sector rebound.”

Fay, who was raised in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., and lives in Rocky Hill, has led The Bushnell since 2001, a long reign for any chief executive. But he says he’s not leaving anytime soon.

In fact, he said he’s promised The Bushnell’s new board chair, The Hartford’s Chief Financial Officer Beth Costello, that he’d stay for her two, three-year terms.

Meantime, Fay’s best experience — by far — at The Bushnell occurred Oct. 4, 2020, during the height of the pandemic. That’s when he married at the theater his longtime partner, Peggy Fay.

David Fay, who posted a four-minute video of the day to YouTube, said the event was a small affair: Only six people, including the bride and groom, attended.

“We’ve been together for a long time and we always said that when we got around to getting married, we’d have to do it at The Bushnell. I couldn’t imagine getting married anywhere else,” David Fay said.