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<p class="MsoNormal"><b style><span style="color:windowtext">Gina Vernaci, the guiding light behind the Broadway Series
and lots more</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext">Roy Berko</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:windowtext">(Member, American Theatre
Critics Association and Cleveland Critics Circle)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:windowtext">--Released to ArtsAmerica.com--</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext">You’re sitting in the Palace Theatre in Cleveland’s
PlayhouseSquare district.<span style> </span>The
lights dim, the overture starts, and the curtain rises on the likes of MEMPHIS,
NEXT TO NORMAL or THE MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET.<span style> </span>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?<span style> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext">Lots of people are responsible for putting a touring
Broadway show together--writers, producers, directors.<span style> </span>They get the show ready for the
tour.<span style> </span>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. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext">As you can imagine, this is one massive
stress-centered task!<span style> </span>It takes one
heck of a dynamo to get it done, and done well.<span style> </span>That person is (drum roll) Gina...the petite, creative,
dependable, personable Gina Vernaci.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext">The product of a small town just outside of St. Louis,
she’s responsible for<span style> </span>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.<span style> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext">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.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext">Planning the season starts about three years out.<span style> </span>Yes, the 2012-13 season was basically thought
about in 2008, and finalized by last November. <span style> </span>On March 27, next season’s offering will be announced.<span style> </span>Vernaci is now working on the 2013-14
schedule. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext">How are the shows picked and signed? </span><span style="color:windowtext">She indicates that quality of the
production is the most important item.<span style>
</span>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. <span style> </span></span><span style="color:windowtext">She
knows the producers personally, so many of the contacts and the deals are
forged by personal interactions. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext">Cleveland is a very desirable market, so her phone
is constantly busy.<span style> </span>Producers want
to bring their shows here.<span style>
</span>According to Vernaci the city has an </span><span style="color:windowtext">unusually high ratio of subscribers relative to the market size
which<span style> </span>speaks directly to the high
interest in the arts in this community</span><span style="color:windowtext">.<span style> </span>It is also accepted that the area provides
discerning appreciative audiences. The physical quality of the theatres also
attracts the producers.<span style> </span>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.<span style> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext">What about the other shows that appear on the 10
PhSq stages?<span style> </span>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. <span style> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext">In addition, producers
of music, comedy and niche audience shows, rent theatre spaces. In total
there are over 800 performances annually.<span style>
</span></span><span style="color:windowtext">This usage is a great financial boon to the area, rendering
tax income, restaurant usage, and hotel occupancy, among other stimuli to the
economy.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext">Vernaci, who is member of the Theatre Wing and
Broadway League, is a voting member for the Tony Awards.<span style> </span>(Yes, she gets to go to the
ceremony.)<span style> </span>These memberships are
only granted to about 800 members on an invitation and elected basis.<span style> </span>Her connections with Broadway movers
and shakers gives her a leg up on getting prime shows here, usually early in
their tours.<span style> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext">Gina is aware of the needs of her subscribers and
ticket purchasers.<span style> </span>She tries to
answer all the emails and phone messages she gets.<span style> </span>She listens and takes the comments into consideration.<span style> </span>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.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext">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!</span></p>