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Theater of the Deaf Faces Pressure from Feds
The National Theater of the Deaf, already struggling due to the loss of a federal grant two years ago, is feeling pressure from both the National Endowment for the Arts and the Treasury Department to repay a $75,000 debt it owes as a result of past mismanagement, according to the principals involved in the dispute.
Since the end of 2004, because of financial difficulties, the theatre in West Hartford, Conn., has had to furlough workers, end its summer training program for actors, and limit production to its Little Theatre, a touring concern that performs children shows throughout the eastern United States.
After The New York Times published a report this spring, detailing the theatre's loss of an annual Department of Education grant, the theatre seemed to regain its footing, thanks to greater-than-expected donations from the private sector and $200,000 in state aid. However, just when NTD thought things were stabilizing, the inspector general for the NEA sent a letter to the theatre's executive director, Paul L. Winters, reminding him of the theatre's debt.
Winters sent back an email to the inspector, Daniel L. Shaw, that reiterated the theatre's situation: It is not able to repay the debt at this time. He stated in the missive that he'd be upset if "the NEA was the one that drove the final nail in NTD's coffin," Winters recalled to Back Stage.
The NEA, in a news release issued to Back Stage, indicated that it is not unsympathetic to NTD's financial problems, which have existed for more than a decade. Four times the federal agency has rescheduled the theatre's debt, according to the news release, and each time at NTD's request.
"We have great regard and respect for NTD and the work it does," the release stated. "So much so, that we continued to fund other NTD grant requests concurrent with working out a repayment plan for the grant in question."
The theatre is now legally in default, so the NEA is required to turn the matter over to the Treasury Department, which would retain any funds that are collected — not the NEA.
Full-Throated Support
Lt. Gov. Kevin B. Sullivan of Connecticut, who helped engineer emergency funding for the theatre, told Back Stage that he is working with Reps. John B. Larson (D) and Nancy L. Johnson (R), Sen. Christopher Dodd (D), and other politicians from the state to come up with a long-range fundraising plan for the theatre. The Eugene O'Neill Theatre, in Waterford, Conn., also expressed interest in helping, Sullivan said.
The lieutenant governor expressed outrage at the NEA for what he sees as its intransigence. Instead of maintaining that its hands are tied, Sullivan said, the NEA should, as a federal arts agency, advocate for the theatre.
"This is ridiculous what the national endowment is trying to do," he told Back Stage. "They could put the final nail of the coffin in the National Theatre of the Deaf, which would be a humongous tragedy. …They should be saying, 'We believe so strongly that, at this very moment in time, this claim should not be pressed, if not forgiven altogether.' "
NTD was founded in 1967 and established itself as one the preeminent deaf-culture institutions in the country. In 1988, it received a challenge grant from the NEA, stipulating that the theatre would receive $1 for every $3 it raised, to help establish a permanent endowment. NTD received $150,000 from the program.
Things began to slip in 1994, when the executive director at the time, Charles M. Roper, was fired after an audit discovered financial irregularities. He pleaded guilty three years later to embezzling $105,000, which he spent on cars, antiques, and trips. He served about a year in federal prison.
Because of the financial setbacks, Winters said, the theatre had to dip into its permanent endowment to stay afloat, thereby negating the NEA grant. Thus, the theatre is obligated to return the $150,000 to the agency. It has repaid half.
Winters joined the theatre's board in 2001 and became its executive director in 2003. In late 2004, he was told by federal officials that NTD would no longer receive its annual grant from the Education Department, which totaled $687,000. (NTD's counterpart in California, Deaf West Theatre, suffered a similar fate, losing its $800,000 annual grant, also from the Education Department. Lawmakers in Congress are working to restore funding for both theatres. If the measure is approved, each would receive about $600,000 annually, according to Winters and Ed Waterstreet, the artistic director of Deaf West.)
Shortly after losing the Department of Education grant, NTD stopped making payments to the NEA.
Whatever It Takes
Bill O'Brien, the outgoing managing director of Deaf West, in North Hollywood, Calif., will assume the directorship of the NEA's department for theater and musical theater in September. He will have no jurisdiction over this particular issue, and he stressed that he is not in a position yet to speak for the NEA. However, he said he sees both sides.
"Certainly, there is pressure [on the NEA] to deal with every organization that they enter into contracts with equally and fairly," O'Brien said. "It seems like there has been a number of attempts to get this resolved in the past. Unfortunately, NTD has been hit with a number of challenges recently."
No matter what happens, Winters has established himself as a person who will do whatever it takes to keep the theatre going. After furloughing employees, he has assumed the jobs of vacuuming the carpets and cleaning the toilets.
"I told my board, I'm going to continue with the opening of the theatre [this season]," he said. "Some of the bills are not going to get paid right away. I'm not going to let a 40-year history go down the tubes."
Even though Winters is not receiving a salary this summer, he goes to the office three to four times a week. "Technically, I'm not here," he said during a telephone interview recently, "so, really, you're talking to nobody."
O'Brien said it's important for the National Theater of the Deaf to survive.
"NTD has been a tremendously significant organization in terms of creating a legacy for deaf theatre," he said. "It steps beyond just theatre. It has contributed to the inclusion that the deaf community as a whole has obtained over the last 30, 40 years."
The National Theater of the Deaf, already struggling due to the loss of a federal grant two years ago, is feeling pressure from both the National Endowment for the Arts and the Treasury Department to repay a $75,000 debt it owes as a result of past mismanagement, according to the principals involved in the dispute.
Since the end of 2004, because of financial difficulties, the theatre in West Hartford, Conn., has had to furlough workers, end its summer training program for actors, and limit production to its Little Theatre, a touring concern that performs children shows throughout the eastern United States.
After The New York Times published a report this spring, detailing the theatre's loss of an annual Department of Education grant, the theatre seemed to regain its footing, thanks to greater-than-expected donations from the private sector and $200,000 in state aid. However, just when NTD thought things were stabilizing, the inspector general for the NEA sent a letter to the theatre's executive director, Paul L. Winters, reminding him of the theatre's debt.
Winters sent back an email to the inspector, Daniel L. Shaw, that reiterated the theatre's situation: It is not able to repay the debt at this time. He stated in the missive that he'd be upset if "the NEA was the one that drove the final nail in NTD's coffin," Winters recalled to Back Stage.
The NEA, in a news release issued to Back Stage, indicated that it is not unsympathetic to NTD's financial problems, which have existed for more than a decade. Four times the federal agency has rescheduled the theatre's debt, according to the news release, and each time at NTD's request.
"We have great regard and respect for NTD and the work it does," the release stated. "So much so, that we continued to fund other NTD grant requests concurrent with working out a repayment plan for the grant in question."
The theatre is now legally in default, so the NEA is required to turn the matter over to the Treasury Department, which would retain any funds that are collected — not the NEA.
Full-Throated Support
Lt. Gov. Kevin B. Sullivan of Connecticut, who helped engineer emergency funding for the theatre, told Back Stage that he is working with Reps. John B. Larson (D) and Nancy L. Johnson (R), Sen. Christopher Dodd (D), and other politicians from the state to come up with a long-range fundraising plan for the theatre. The Eugene O'Neill Theatre, in Waterford, Conn., also expressed interest in helping, Sullivan said.
The lieutenant governor expressed outrage at the NEA for what he sees as its intransigence. Instead of maintaining that its hands are tied, Sullivan said, the NEA should, as a federal arts agency, advocate for the theatre.
"This is ridiculous what the national endowment is trying to do," he told Back Stage. "They could put the final nail of the coffin in the National Theatre of the Deaf, which would be a humongous tragedy. …They should be saying, 'We believe so strongly that, at this very moment in time, this claim should not be pressed, if not forgiven altogether.' "
NTD was founded in 1967 and established itself as one the preeminent deaf-culture institutions in the country. In 1988, it received a challenge grant from the NEA, stipulating that the theatre would receive $1 for every $3 it raised, to help establish a permanent endowment. NTD received $150,000 from the program.
Things began to slip in 1994, when the executive director at the time, Charles M. Roper, was fired after an audit discovered financial irregularities. He pleaded guilty three years later to embezzling $105,000, which he spent on cars, antiques, and trips. He served about a year in federal prison.
Because of the financial setbacks, Winters said, the theatre had to dip into its permanent endowment to stay afloat, thereby negating the NEA grant. Thus, the theatre is obligated to return the $150,000 to the agency. It has repaid half.
Winters joined the theatre's board in 2001 and became its executive director in 2003. In late 2004, he was told by federal officials that NTD would no longer receive its annual grant from the Education Department, which totaled $687,000. (NTD's counterpart in California, Deaf West Theatre, suffered a similar fate, losing its $800,000 annual grant, also from the Education Department. Lawmakers in Congress are working to restore funding for both theatres. If the measure is approved, each would receive about $600,000 annually, according to Winters and Ed Waterstreet, the artistic director of Deaf West.)
Shortly after losing the Department of Education grant, NTD stopped making payments to the NEA.
Whatever It Takes
Bill O'Brien, the outgoing managing director of Deaf West, in North Hollywood, Calif., will assume the directorship of the NEA's department for theater and musical theater in September. He will have no jurisdiction over this particular issue, and he stressed that he is not in a position yet to speak for the NEA. However, he said he sees both sides.
"Certainly, there is pressure [on the NEA] to deal with every organization that they enter into contracts with equally and fairly," O'Brien said. "It seems like there has been a number of attempts to get this resolved in the past. Unfortunately, NTD has been hit with a number of challenges recently."
No matter what happens, Winters has established himself as a person who will do whatever it takes to keep the theatre going. After furloughing employees, he has assumed the jobs of vacuuming the carpets and cleaning the toilets.
"I told my board, I'm going to continue with the opening of the theatre [this season]," he said. "Some of the bills are not going to get paid right away. I'm not going to let a 40-year history go down the tubes."
Even though Winters is not receiving a salary this summer, he goes to the office three to four times a week. "Technically, I'm not here," he said during a telephone interview recently, "so, really, you're talking to nobody."
O'Brien said it's important for the National Theater of the Deaf to survive.
"NTD has been a tremendously significant organization in terms of creating a legacy for deaf theatre," he said. "It steps beyond just theatre. It has contributed to the inclusion that the deaf community as a whole has obtained over the last 30, 40 years."