Palm Beach Theater Guild taps Bradford Kenney as artistic adviser

Wednesday, October 22, 2008
By JAN SJOSTROM
Daily News Arts Editor

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The Palm Beach Theater Guild has appointed Bradford Kenney its unpaid artistic adviser as it rallies its forces in preparation for a Nov. 12 meeting at which the Town Council will consider landmarking the Royal Poinciana Plaza.

Kenney is the executive artistic director of the 75-year-old John Lane's Ogunquit Playhouse in the summer resort town of Ogunquit, Maine.

"He does the kind of work we would like to do, too," said Patrick Flynn, the guild's president and chief executive officer. "Programming is the most important thing in this if by some miracle we happen to get the theater."

The guild is campaigning to take control of the 50-year-old Royal Poinciana Playhouse in the plaza. The 878-seat John Volk-designed theater has been shuttered since 2004, when Clear Channel Entertainment pulled out, saying it was no longer viable as a Broadway roadhouse.

The Ogunquit Playhouse bills itself as the producer of "Broadway on the Beach." Recent seasons have featured Sally Struthers in Fiddler on the Roof, Andrea McArdle in Les Miserables and Lorenzo Lamas in The King and I.

The Royal Poinciana Playhouse and the Ogunquit Playhouse have a shared history. John Lane pioneered theater in Palm Beach before the Royal Poinciana Playhouse opened and directed both properties in the 1970s.

During the three years Kenney has run the 688-seat Ogunquit Playhouse, its annual operating budget has swelled from around $1 million to nearly $4 million, he said. About 90 percent of its income is earned, and it carries no debt, he said. The season has stretched 10 weeks to 21.

He's optimistic that the Royal Poinciana Playhouse can undergo a similar revival.

"There are fantastic tools already in place, given the facility and the nature of the community itself," Kenney said.

He sees a "synergy" between his theater and a reopened Royal Poinciana Playhouse in which the similarly sized venues, and perhaps others across the nation, could share shows.

Kenney has not toured the Playhouse and said he's only "passed through" Palm Beach. But he has talked with people who have worked there, he said.

He declined to comment on the report done by consultant Duncan Webb for Sterling Palm Beach, the developers seeking to redevelop the plaza. Webb concluded that the Playhouse would be too expensive to renovate and not economically viable.

"I would not be comfortable commenting on the report until after I've been on site and looked at the status of the building," Kenney said.

Sterling Palm Beach has proposed demolishing all but the Playhouse's eastern facade and building a 350-seat multi-use theater elsewhere on the property.

Brian Kosoy, one of the partners in Sterling Palm Beach, said the company stands behind Webb's findings.

"We fully understand Mr. Flynn doesn't like the conclusions reached by Duncan Webb," he said. "While that's unfortunate, the facts remain what they are, and our plan for the plaza reflects a versatile, appropriately sized performing arts venue that answers needs expressed by the residents of the town."

An 878-seat theater could be viable under the right leadership and would have a positive cultural and economic impact on the community, Kenney said. When asked about competition from the Kravis Center, which is starting a Broadway series this season, Kenney said there's room for both theaters.

Kenney said he was not aware of Palm Beach's town-serving rule that requires larger businesses to draw at least 50 percent of their patrons from the town. Most of the Ogunquit's patrons are not the town's affluent residents but tourists or people living within a 70-mile radius, he said.

The Ogunquit also rarely rents its space to other cultural groups — something the guild says it wants to do with the Playhouse — and it has no theaters nearby offering the same kind of programming.

Kenney plans to visit Palm Beach to assist the guild in gathering support. During that time, he will attempt to inspect the building and review the guild's business plan for the theater, he said.

He also will meet with guild board members and honorary trustees and participate in public meetings arranged by the guild, Flynn said.

The guild's board did not vote on Kenney's appointment as adviser.

"It isn't a voting matter," Flynn said. "I polled everybody and they know about it."

Flynn saw The King and I at the Ogunquit. Arlene Dahl, who serves on the guild's Committee of Stars, is Lamas' mother. Kenney's appointment has been in the works for about a year, Flynn said.

"All along, we knew full well we needed an artistic adviser or director and an organization in depth," said R. Douglas Hulse, a guild board member and Palm Beach resident. "It was getting old and tired to say we could find somebody when we get control of the theater. We decided to start putting these people in place."

Flynn said he'd like the guild to establish a long-term relationship with Kenney if the guild's plans come to fruition and Kenney is available.

Kenney said it would be a shame to let a historic property like the Playhouse be torn down.

"The community leaders should cross every 'T' and dot every 'I' before they even consider letting something like that in your community go," he said.