COD candidates: Bring back theater group

Editor's note: Due to the large number of candidates in the COD board race, we're not always able to include all their positions in every election-related story we publish, but we encourage them to post comments at the end of this story to provide their views.

The College of DuPage should rekindle its relationship with a professional theater group that long entertained audiences at the Glen Ellyn campus, according to several candidates in the board of trustees race.

Last May, COD officials terminated their association with the Buffalo Theatre Ensemble, which had been in residence at the community college since 1987.

But this week, some of the 12 candidates vying for three seats on the COD board in the April 7 election said Buffalo Theatre Ensemble should return to the McAninch Arts Center stage.

"I would be for bringing back the Buffalo Theatre," candidate Dan Bailey said during a forum. "I think there may have been too much of a focus on a business model for a college. A college is not a business. It has an educational and cultural mission. And I think that the arts are part of that cultural mission."

The other candidates in the COD board race are Claire Ball of Addison, Charles Bernstein of Wheaton, David Carlin of Naperville, Matt Gambs of Naperville, Roger Kempa of Darien, Deanne Mazzochi of Elmhurst, Frank Napolitano of Bloomingdale, Sandra Pihos of Glen Ellyn, incumbent Kim Savage of Darien, incumbent Nancy Svoboda of Downers Grove, and Joseph M. Wozniak of Naperville.

When they announced the Buffalo Theatre Ensemble would no longer perform at COD, school officials said they were working to develop ideas for live performances that are financially sustainable.

During its time with COD, the ensemble received half its revenue from ticket sales and the rest through contributions that included support from the college.

But the group had to end its 2013-14 season early because it was facing the possibility of losing about $80,000 if it did the remaining shows.

COD officials decided not to bring back the ensemble after looking at the numbers, including the rising costs associated with each production.

"At one point, arts programs were given a blank check," Savage said.

But after the MAC as a whole lost $314,000 during fiscal 2013, Savage said the entire operation was retooled.

The New Philharmonic orchestra was nearly shut down, too, but Savage said it launched a successful pledge drive to augment its ticket sales.

She said the ensemble was given the same opportunity, but its fundraising efforts failed.

"They still are looking at other ways to bring that back," Savage said. "The arts are important, and we need to keep them."

Svoboda agrees that providing cultural experiences is part of the college's mission. She said steps taken by the orchestra can be a model for bringing back the Buffalo Theatre Ensemble.

"We're trying to take care of the tax dollars that come our way," Svoboda said. "So the arts are important, but we want to make sure they are not drawing too much off our resources."

With COD having an estimated $180 million in reserve cash, Gambs said there should be a way to use some of that money to keep arts programs off the chopping block.

"We have to have the arts," Gambs said. "We have wonderful facilities at COD that can be the magnet for all the places around us to have. And we should be providing the best in this category."

Meanwhile, Bernstein said the college already is subsidizing other enterprises.

He said the Waterleaf, an upscale restaurant that opened in October 2011 on the COD campus, continues to operate despite losing more than $500,000 a year. He also mentioned the recent revelation that administrators used taxpayers' money on meals and drinks for themselves at the Waterleaf.

"We got rid of the Buffalo Theatre because they were losing money," Bernstein said. "There is something very, very wrong here.

"The Buffalo Theatre contributes - contributes substantially - to the education and to the culture of the College of DuPage," he said. "I am not exactly sure what a $250 bottle of wine multiplied many, many times contributes."

Pihos said the ensemble has been "sorely missed" by the community.

She said ensemble members were role models for aspiring actors. In addition to watching the ensemble perform, she said, COD students got real-life theater experience by working as crew members or assistant stage managers during shows.

Like Pihos, Napolitano supports the possibility of having the ensemble perform again on campus. He said it could be accomplished by seeking potential sponsorships, private donations and eliminating waste.

Wozniak said the college should keep "a few good standby groups" that patrons have enjoyed, including the Buffalo Theatre Ensemble.

But Ball said she doesn't support bringing the ensemble back.

Instead, she said COD should work with multiple groups from throughout the area "as opposed to a select, and well-connected, few."

"I support everything from large ensembles to the local coffeehouse solo artists and feel that COD should branch out and give all the struggling people out there a chance to fill seats and entertain without having to break the bank," Ball said.