Cultural Organization finalist: Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall

Mary Bensel has dedicated her life to the performing arts. She has been on every side of the business, and four years ago settled into her job as executive director at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall.

Frank Lloyd Wright and his team of architects built the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, which opened to the public in January 1970. The performing-arts hall is located on Sarasota Bay, and to many people is known for being the “purple theater.” It was painted purple due to the fact that Wright’s wife was in love with the color purple that was on a seashell she found in Japan. The architect and his team used the odd shell as their inspiration and made the building purple and scalloped.

Bensel loves the building’s uniqueness.

“There are so many theaters here, but when I say the ‘purple theater,’ everybody knows it’s the Van Wezel,” she says.

Since taking on the role of executive director at the purple theater, Bensel has had to work hard to keep the theater going even in a poor economy. Having to cut 64% of her full-time staff almost as soon as she got here was difficult, but because the building is under government regulations, she was forced to tighten up the spending. During that time she also instituted new ways of keeping track of daily box office reports along with profit and loss statements. After implementing these changes, the theater did manage to need less subsidy money from the government.

“Last year we actually turned a small profit without even any city subsidy,” noted Bensel, “and I believe that will be the case this year as well.”

Bensel believes that this past season was so successful due to the amount of talent and great shows and performances that came through, including the final act of the season, Harry Connick Jr.

“We opened the season with Crosby, Stills and Nash, and we had Diana Krall, Diana Ross and Manheim Steamroller all sell out in November,” she says. “We don’t usually have sold-out performances until at least January.”

The large theater right now holds 1,709, but this summer the performing-arts hall hopes to add at least an extra 40 seats.

“We have the Geoffrey Ballet and the Cleveland Orchestra coming back, Josh Bell, Rock of Ages, ‘Shrek the Musical’ ... that is what I love about the Van Wezel, its diversity,” says Bensel. “There is something for everybody. It could be theater for kids one night and a rock ’n’ roll concert the next night.”

Although Bensel works long hours at her job, she finds it rewarding and gets great joy out of being in the theater business. She loves to see the look on the faces of the audiences during shows. When it comes to the education program, she feels that it is her responsibility to make sure that the children enjoy the experience.

“I’m kind of selfish about it (the education program),” Bensel says. “If you don’t see it (theater) when you are little, you’re not going to come when you’re older. I’m helping to perpetuate the next generation of theatergoers.”
 

AT A GLANCE

Address: 777 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota

Start date: Dec. 7, 2007

Number of employees now: 11

Advice: “You need to define your mission, find a very specific niche for your product, have a very good business plan and then target your marketing,” says Mary Bensel, executive director at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall. “Make sure this a is a community looking for your product, and be prepared in this economy to work really hard.”

Biggest challenge: “The economy has to be the biggest challenge … also we have a lot of government rules and regulations as well as being under the Sunshine Laws, which a lot of the other art institutions don’t have.”

Best place for a power lunch: “Well, it’s hard to narrow it down to one. Americano is a great place to go, people love to go to Caragiulo’s, and when you bring people from out of town, Marina Jack is a fabulous place.”

First day on the job: “I remember being very nervous. I went home and took a deep sigh at night and looked at the dog and said, ‘Well, we made it through the first day.’”

Another job for the day: “Barbara Streisand. I always said I wanted to be Barbara Streisand when I was growing up. I have a master’s degree in acting and directing, and I wanted to be Barbara Streisand. I used to practice her songs at home. But, of course, it takes talent, luck and all those sort of things — and the job was filled. But, if I could have it for a day, right on, and it better be a day where she’s performing somewhere really good — I don’t want it to be a day where she’s sitting at home doing nothing. Well, that might not be so bad, because her husband is James Brolin, and he’s awfully cute.”

Business hero/inspiration: “I look up to Norbert Munchin … I worked for him for about 10 years, and even though I moved on, we still keep in touch, and I value his opinion very much. I always thought we were a really great pair, because he was always more optimistic and I’d be a little more pessimistic, so we made a nice balance. I often throw things off against him, and I think he has a really shrewd head for business. And the thing I also like about him is, in the entertainment industry you run in to a lot of people who are out for just ‘me, me, me’ and are unethical. He is anything but, which means a lot.”

What have you had to do differently in this economy? “When I got here I was told the city would subsidize any difference that we had in terms of income. Then, of course, that October came along when everything crashed, and suddenly everyone was asked to tighten, tighten their belts. Literally, we reduced the (fulltime) staff by 64%. The other thing we did was target marketing. There were certain business practices that when I got here I didn’t see. There weren’t the kind of daily box office reports that I liked, profit and loss statements, so I put us on that kind of a track because I believed in that and I learned from that. Last year we actually turned a small profit without even any city subsidy, and I believe that will be the case this year as well.”

What is one advantage of having your business in Sarasota? “One great advantage is that the people in Sarasota love the arts. This was a town built by entertainers, hence the Ringlings and everything. People relocate here because of the arts climate. Immediately you have an audience that is thrilled by the arts. And, of course, selfishly I think Florida is the most wonderful place to live. The arts is the fourth- or fifth-largest employer in Sarasota County, and we also bring an enormous economic impact to the county. The Van Wezel alone is $30 million of economic impact.”

Contact Rachel S. O'Hara at [email protected].