PLAYHOUSE Lenhoff: 'We're right on schedule'

The Playhouse debt has been reduced by about $80,000.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Since Bentley Lenhoff returned to the Youngstown Playhouse in August, season ticket sales have soared, outstanding debts have been decreased and volunteer commitment to the community theater has skyrocketed.
"We're right on schedule. We still have some challenges, but we're doing very well," said Lenhoff, who was brought on board late last summer to lead the effort to turn around the nearly bankrupt Playhouse.
He said season tickets sales have risen to nearly 1,500 from a meager 280 just a few months ago, representing a 500 percent increase.
Lenhoff, who is working for $1 a year, had served as executive director of the Playhouse from 1965 to 1985. He came out of retirement from his home in Harbor Springs, Mich., at the request of the volunteer group, Save Our Stage. The group opposed the then Playhouse board of trustees and its handling of the organization.
Money matters
After the resignation of several board members last summer, Lenhoff was installed as executive director of the Playhouse where he faced a nearly $186,000 debt from the previous administration. He now reports that since August that debt has been reduced to just under $107,000. He said he is hopeful that the entire debt will be retired by next May.
In addition, Lenhoff said that all bills incurred from Aug. 23 have been paid in full or in major part with small balances to be cleared in the near future.
The executive director said challenges remain as they continue to sort out what capital improvements were implemented from a $1.9 million federal grant and which projects were left uncompleted before he arrived. Lenhoff noted that the current board has used $20,000 to complete some of those projects, such as improving the lighting in the parking lot.
He said he cannot take full credit for the substantial progress of the past months.
"It starts with the volunteers. If they've got the get-up-and-go, it becomes contagious," Lenhoff said.
Some 53 volunteers are currently working on a Community Support campaign seeking to raise $204,000 from major foundations and trusts as well as local corporations.
John Ballantyne, a member of the board of trustees and chairman of the Save Our Stage committee, said the Playhouse is in better shape than ever before with a new energy.
"Bentley did it before and he's doing it again. There are people that haven't been to the Playhouse in 15 years and they've come back. The actors, technicians and everyone have a better attitude," he said.
Lenhoff said significant inroads have been made in the productions. He noted that "Brighton Beach Memoirs" received rave reviews from audiences and that two of the scheduled performances for the upcoming "A Christmas Story," playing Dec. 3-19, have been sold out for almost a month.
More activities
He said the Playhouse will be a busy place in the next several months with activities that include: three breakfasts with Santa; brunches before every Sunday matinee; an Opening Night Dinner before each new production; and a cabaret presentation for the Jan. 7-8 weekend.
Lenhoff said The Youth Theatre has also been a priority with acting class enrollment full and performances booked to 70 percent capacity with receivables at nearly $30,000. Last week, he said, thousands of area schoolchildren attended standing-room-only performances of "Little House on the Prairie." He said that bodes well for the future: "When children go to the theater once, they're more likely to go again."
Also in his progress report, Lenhoff praised a hard-working staff of seven, who are paid $2.50 per hour and work 40 hours a week. He said he even has family members volunteering including his wife, Nancy, who answers the phone.
The business community had an opportunity to take a closer look at the renaissance of the Playhouse, which has been at its current location since 1959, last Thursday when the regional chamber held a mixer there. Lenhoff said that he was pleased with the attendance of more than 200.
"I'm an optimist. The audiences are building -- the future looks bright," he said.