At the moment, the downtown Madison stage, where high-kicking can-can dancers recently performed, is packed with stagehands checking every bit of Overture Hall’s rigging system.
The repair work, which will take Overture’s largest hall out of service for six to eight weeks, is the second phase of a project launched in 2023.
This is what Overture Center audiences don’t usually see: Behind the leaky roof, old boilers, aging floors and LED lighting is the focus of Overture’s recently announced $30 million capital campaign, “Overture Forever.”
“Let’s be honest, when people come to experience a show, they’re interacting with about 25 percent of the building,” says Emily Grunewald, Overture’s chief development officer. “The 75 percent behind the scenes is essential to making everything that happens onstage happen, but people don’t often see it.”
As the Overture Center for the Arts, at 201 State Street, enters its 20th anniversary season, the private nonprofit organization has launched an open fundraising effort to “address current capital needs and grow its endowment,” Grunewald said.
Overture is a place “to be educated, entertained and enlightened through the arts,” Grünewald said, “and to do that we really need a physical space and the facilities to support the performances that are going to be put on here.”
Lauren Decker plays Herodias in Madison Opera’s production of Richard Strauss’s “Salome” at Overture Hall.
Ross Zentner
“What’s really important is the symbiotic relationship between the center and the programming.”
Frauch’s Gift
More than 20 years ago, Madison philanthropist Jerry Frauch donated $205 million to build the Overture Center, and his foundation helped fund the campaign. Overture’s $30 million goal includes a $10 million kickstart from the W. Jerome Frauch Foundation.
The fund’s total is now at $21.8 million, including planned giving (bequests, insurance policies and retirement fund beneficiaries), Grunewald said, and “more than 80 individuals, corporations, foundations and grant-making agencies” have donated to date, according to a press release.
Grünewald and his team have been working on the campaign for seven years, since October 2018.
“We really wanted to talk to people and ask for donations for our campaign, and we created a beautiful brochure in 2020,” Grunewald said, “and then the pandemic happened.”
For several years, Overture has had to focus on just existing. The arts center is home to nine resident organizations, including the Madison Symphony Orchestra, Madison Opera, Madison Ballet and Forward Theatre Company.
Marcus Trzinski, center, stars as Marc Chagall in Forward Theatre’s production of “The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk” at Overtures Playhouse Theatre.
Ross Zentner
Many of these arts organizations were applying for government assistance while trying to keep artists employed and weather COVID-19 restrictions. Overture itself applied for and received grant funding, but it was on edge.
“How do we get through this period? How do we get out of the pandemic and restart and stabilize the business? It’s been a real ups and downs to get to this point,” Grunewald said.
A poster for the spring 2020 production, unveiled in December of that year, remained on the wall of the Rotunda Stage at Overture Center for the Arts.
Lucy Hauge
Overture is an independent, non-profit organization run by the Overture Center Foundation since January 1, 2012. The majority of Overture’s $157 million operating budget comes from ticket sales, which account for 70% of its revenue.
As for the remainder, the 2022-23 annual report lists 9% contributions, 8% rental fees for resident businesses, 6% city accommodations tax fee, 2% community outreach (local arts) and 2% rental fees for weddings, proms, special events etc.
As a special perk, tenant companies will receive a 50% discount on rent.
Community Benefits
Overture Center for the Arts is located in downtown Madison and spans more than 386,000 square feet. In 2022-2023, the Center will host 2,075 local artists and 538 touring artists in its three main theaters, Overture Hall, Capitol Theatre and Playhouse, as well as smaller spaces such as Promenade Hall and the Rotunda Stage.
There are four art galleries that change works every few months, including the James Watrous Gallery on the top floor. Other resident companies include Children’s Theatre of Madison, Kanopy Dance, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, and Li Chiao-Ping Dance.
UW-Madison student Orly K. discussed the need for universal health care in the United States during Project Soapbox, held in the Overture Center’s Promenade Hall in 2023.
Lucy Hauge
Heavy use causes wear and tear, but the way Overture was built makes it difficult to modernize the lighting, such as replacing fluorescent and non-LED lights with newer technology. The building combines infrastructure from the 1920s (when the Capitol Theatre opened), the 1970s (when it was the Madison Civic Center), and the early 2000s, when Overture opened.
“The seats are probably what the audience will touch most,” Grunewald says, “but, as you know, we replaced all of our projectors last year, which affects the clarity of the video for National Geographic Live, for example. We’re also seeing a lot more Broadway shows coming to the city and projecting footage on sets than we used to. To make that happen, we need the equipment.”
Other places the money will be spent include roofs. Overture has 24 roofs, each with a lifespan of 20 years, Grunewald said. “We’re constantly replacing roofs.”
The Capitol Theatre’s flooring is scheduled to be replaced within the next few weeks. Overture’s temperature-regulating chillers and boilers are aging, and if either fails, the center will have to close until repairs are made.
Dana Sheldon and James Wainwright Agape will perform with Madison Ballet at the Capitol Theatre, where the Overture Center will begin replacing floors in the coming weeks.
Matthew Ulrich
“We want to find ways to keep things moving forward,” she said. “As we invest in this infrastructure, we’re investing in a way that leverages new technologies and helps us reduce our energy costs. There’s a benefit to Overture in being able to use those resources for other capital projects or invest in programs, and there’s also a benefit to the community in reducing our carbon footprint.”
Since Overture’s CEO, Sandra Gagic, passed away in December 2019, Overture has been run by a team of six people. The Overture Forever campaign allows donors to pledge their donations to the Gagic Capital Fund or the Endowment. To learn more, visit overture.org/give/overture-forever.
As the campaign opens to the public, Grunewald wanted to put renewed emphasis on things that Broadway tour-goers might not immediately see: not just the roofs and sets, but the Jerry Awards high school musical theater program, Disney musicals in schools and student field trips.
“Forty percent of arts experiences last year were through free or low-cost programs,” Grunewald said, “We’re a resource and partner to 500 schools. They come to a show and have a good time, but they don’t get to see the other work we do in the community.”