THE GIFTS OF GIVING

Fundraising and thriving educational programs make for a bright outlook at Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa.

BY SHERRY STERN

IT GOES WITHOUT saying that audiences are eager to return to live music, dance and theater.

It does not go without saying that fundraising will sustain nonprofit venues such as Segerstrom Center for the Arts until that return is safe.

But the numbers are heartening, says Casey Reitz, the center’s new president. Its Raise the Curtain campaign, launched in spring, not only raised $1.5 million, but 300 of the campaign’s 1,800 gifts came from first-time donors.

“We didn’t know what would happen when we shut down,” says Reitz, whose tenure began three months before theaters went dark. “We didn’t know if everything would just squeeze down to a trickle or to nothing. So that was encouraging.”

Survey results add to Reitz’s optimism: “When they feel safe to return,” he says, “an overwhelming majority of people say they’re either going to donate the same amount or more, attend the same amount or more, or spend the same amount or more on tickets.”

As Orange County’s major home for Broadway musicals, dance, classical music, jazz and cabaret, the center relies heavily on traveling productions. Artists and shows at three indoor venues and one outdoors must be planned, even though dates can change.

Early 2021 highlights include My Fair Lady, Come From Away, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, the Calidore String Quartet and Broadway’s Tony Yazbek.

How it all plays out is a continual conversation between Reitz and his board of directors.

JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER ORCHESTRA

Depending on state guidelines and theatrical union rules, they might present events inside the 3,000-seat Segerstrom Hall or 300-seat Samueli Theater—the venue for jazz, chamber music and cabaret—with a downsized, socially distanced audience on site while others buy tickets for livestreams. The center’s international dance series could pivot to Southern California companies. They might offer intimate ticketed performances on the Argyros Plaza.

Its programming paused, the center is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on hygiene and safety upgrades.

Educational programs have moved to Zoom and thrived. The ABT William J. Gillespie Dance School added extra classes, while Studio D: Arts School for All Abilities saw a 200% increase in enrollment. “There’s more of a need for what we do in those areas than ever before,” Reitz says.