VPA enjoys best season

Last Sunday's awards banquet officially ended the most successful season in Valley Performing Arts' 27-year history.

This year, 8,601 people poured into the Fred and Sara Machetanz Theatre for VPA productions, a whopping 29-percent increase from the 2001-2002 season.

"This year, we did one more production. We went from six to seven, but still, our average per show as way up," said VPA Managing Producer John Fairfield. "There are a number of reasons for the jump. We're getting our message out there a lot better through our Web site.

"Our ability to attract good directors has been a big plus for us too, because good directors produce good shows," Fairfield added. "That has always been a problem in the past. Now, I think people are recognizing that VPA is a smoothly-functioning machine and not a rag-tag community theater organization."

Two years ago, VPA sold out seven productions. This year, only 26 occasions, people had to be turned away from the 170-seat theater because VPA was sold out.

"I'm quite proud of that, frankly," Fairfield said. "It's a measure of our audiences' awareness that we have a lively theater group here in the Valley. Every time we sold out, that was a time in which we could have sold more tickets had we had a bigger facility."

Growing the facility is part of VPA's long-term plans. Right now, there is a "Brick and Mortar" plan in place to raise money to build a new shop adjacent to the theater. That would allow set designers the flexibility to work on sets outside the theater, which in turn gives casts more time to rehearse.

"Right now, we have 19 days between striking the old set and opening a new production," Fairfield said. "It's a blur. The shop project would allow us to build sets while the current production is going on. When it ends, we can get right into rehearsals with the new set. It would give us a couple more days between every production."

Years down the road, Fairfield said VPA would like to build a new costume room, move the box office to the front of the building and put a roof over the entire facility.

Right now, they are working on adding about 10 seats to the theater, but a larger facility isn't on the radar screen right now.

"Colony High School has the largest theater facility in the Valley right now with 210 seats," Fairfield said. "Maybe 10 years down the road, I'd love to see a large performing arts center built. Right now, though, we are the max for our facility."

The success of Valley Performing Arts is in stark contrast to the problems community theater groups in Anchorage have been experiencing. In the big city, theater-goers are more likely to spend $60 for an off-Broadway roadshow, Fairfield said, than $15 for a top-notch community theater production.

"In Anchorage, they can't find audiences. It's a bit of a mystery," Fairfield said. "We're not having that problem here."

Another reason for success is the lineup of shows VPA presents each year. Scrooge! was a smashing success last year, as was Murder After Hours, an interactive whodunit. The productions captured the imagination of the audience, and people return to the theater after their experiences.

"It used to be that I'd have someone come up to me after every show and tell me that they've lived here 20 years and never knew about VPA and the quality of shows we are presenting," Fairfield said. "Now, I rarely get that. When I do, I just tell them, 'I'm glad you know about it now.'"

The 2003-2004 season opens with a bang. Already in rehearsal, The Sound of Music opens Sept. 12. The production is one of the most beloved and recognized in America, and it being chosen to lead the lineup was no coincidence.

"It is quite intentional," Fairfield said. "The board wanted us to open with something big and spectacular, to set the tone for the rest of the season."

Fairfield said he has been getting calls from season-ticket holders who want to buy more individual tickets for the production, which will run for five weekends instead of the customary three.

"We've already sold one night out, and I'm getting calls every day for tickets," Fairfield said. "We're already up over 200 season tickets, and we're two and a half months out."

At the rate VPA is growing, however, tickets will be harder to come by.

"People enjoy community theater and are coming to the theater to see what we're doing," Fairfield said. "It's been very rewarding for us."