[NEohioPAL] Berko feature story: Gina Vernaci, PHSquare's Senior VP of Theater Operations

[Roy Berko]

*Gina Vernaci, the guiding light behind the Broadway Series and lots more*



Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association and Cleveland Critics Circle)

--Released to ArtsAmerica.com--



You’re sitting in the Palace Theatre in Cleveland’s PlayhouseSquare
district.  The lights dim, the overture starts, and the curtain rises on
the likes of MEMPHIS, NEXT TO NORMAL or THE MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET.  Have
you ever asked yourself how that show got on that stage or what it takes to
make this local hub of professional theatre tick?



Lots of people are responsible for putting a touring Broadway show
together--writers, producers, directors.  They get the show ready for the
tour.  Locally, the person most responsible for getting that exact show, on
that exact stage, at that exact time is the PHSquare’s Senior Vice
President of Theater Operations.



As you can imagine, this is one massive stress-centered task!  It takes one
heck of a dynamo to get it done, and done well.  That person is (drum roll)
Gina...the petite, creative, dependable, personable Gina Vernaci.



The product of a small town just outside of St. Louis, she’s responsible for
programming the shows, working with the organization’s large paid staff,
coordinating 1600 volunteers, managing a 30-million dollars in gross sales,
coordinating the sales, education, and marketing, dealing with the laborers
who put up and take down the sets, bring in the local musicians, and even
hire and supervise the people who sell the refreshments and the tickets.



She makes sure that the 21,000 Broadway series subscribers, who compose the
third largest group of advance ticket buyers in the country and all the
individual purchasers, get the best that Broadway touring shows have to
offer. Cleveland is only outnumbered by the subscription totals of Los
Angeles and Seattle.



Planning the season starts about three years out.  Yes, the 2012-13 season
was basically thought about in 2008, and finalized by last November.  On
March 27, next season’s offering will be announced.  Vernaci is now working
on the 2013-14 schedule.



How are the shows picked and signed? She indicates that quality of the
production is the most important item.  She has to know the capabilities of
each of the producers since she has to work so far into the future that
many of the shows aren’t yet being performed.  She knows the producers
personally, so many of the contacts and the deals are forged by personal
interactions.



Cleveland is a very desirable market, so her phone is constantly busy.
 Producers
want to bring their shows here.  According to Vernaci the city has an unusually
high ratio of subscribers relative to the market size which  speaks
directly to the high interest in the arts in this community.  It is also
accepted that the area provides discerning appreciative audiences. The
physical quality of the theatres also attracts the producers.  In contrast
to many cities, such as Columbus and Cincinnati, which depend on outside
bookers to bring in productions, PlayhouseSquare itself brings in all the
Broadway series showings.



What about the other shows that appear on the 10 PhSq stages?  Some are
produced by resident companies such as Cleveland Play House, Great Lakes
Theater, Cleveland State, DanceCleveland, and Cuyahoga Community College,
as well as a PhSq-Baldwin Wallace College connection.



In addition, producers of music, comedy and niche audience shows, rent
theatre spaces.  In total there are over 800 performances annually.  This
usage is a great financial boon to the area, rendering tax income,
restaurant usage, and hotel occupancy, among other stimuli to the economy.



Vernaci, who is member of the Theatre Wing and Broadway League, is a voting
member for the Tony Awards.  (Yes, she gets to go to the ceremony.)  These
memberships are only granted to about 800 members on an invitation and
elected basis.   Her connections with Broadway movers and shakers gives her
a leg up on getting prime shows here, usually early in their tours.



Gina is aware of the needs of her subscribers and ticket purchasers.  She
tries to answer all the emails and phone messages she gets.  She listens
and takes the comments into consideration.  This is a woman with not only
great business skills and theatre-awareness, but a people-person who knows
all about the importance of relationships.



So, next time a curtain at the Palace or Ohio or State or any of the other
venues goes up, think about Gina, the slightly over five-foot dynamo who is
the force behind the scenes!
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