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arts entertainmentPerforming Arts

As the operators of shuttered arts venues hit send, hoping for their share of $16 billion, they got zero

Apparently, it was only a technical glitch that delayed the latest round of funding. Or so they hope.

UPDATED, Friday, April 23, 1:40 p.m.: This story has been updated to include the new timetable for arts organizations to once again access the application portal.

Some called it frustrating, others maddening. So, the operators of arts venues in Dallas and Fort Worth said this week that they are taking a wait-and-see approach to the promised end of a technical glitch that quashed their latest attempt to land money — federal funding that’s part of a $900 billion rescue package approved by Congress in December.

The Small Business Administration oversees the $16 billion portion that will offer grants to concert halls, theaters and museums. But soon after the process began on April 8, the application portal shut down. The apparent cause? Technical glitches — as in plural. The SBA has said it hopes to reopen the portal by the end of the week.

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On Friday morning, the SBA offered a promising update: “The U.S. Small Business Administration has completed rigorous testing and the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant application portal will reopen on Saturday, April 24. Interested applicants should register for an account in advance through the portal.” Which was good news to everyone in the DFW area that is counting on the funding in an effort to survive.

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“We are focused on what we can control and that is bringing a robust live-entertainment culture back from the dead,” said Edwin Cabaniss, owner of the Kessler Theater in Oak Cliff, who spearheaded efforts locally to bring about the bipartisan legislation, which began as the Save Our Stages Act. “We do that with the full assumption that the [Shuttered Venue Operators Grant, known as SVOG] is real and will fund soon.”

Dana Schultes acting on stage in 2019 in Fort Worth.
Dana Schultes acting on stage in 2019 in Fort Worth.(Brian Elledge / Staff Photographer)

Dana Schultes, executive producer of Stage West Theatre in Fort Worth, described the process of applying for the SVOG grant as maddening.

“The experience,” Schultes said Wednesday, “was a little like trying to open a door, pulling and pulling and pulling and finally getting it to open, only to be confronted a couple of inches later by a new door that you have to pull on. And then you pull and pull and pull, and you finally get that door open, only to find a new door. And that was the experience of trying to get through one question to the next of the SVOG process.”

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It was, she said, “terrible. I imagine tens of thousands of small-venue operators were logged on and ready to go. We’d waited four months for this opportunity to get this promised relief. But starting with the very first question, there were issues. Finally, that was fixed, and on to question two, and boom! More issues. And then question three — more issues, from you can’t upload anything, to it won’t take your input answer, to it won’t engage with you. It was a huge nightmare,” one that Schultes said her colleague, managing director Mark Shum, spent six hours battling in vain, getting solace only from fellow venue operators who were having exactly the same problem.

As Schultes and others say, they hope the glitches disappear soon, because the relief can’t come fast enough.

The pandemic has inflicted lasting pain on the arts and entertainment, with Labor Department figures showing that there were more than 700,000 fewer jobs in the sector during March 2021 than in February 2020, just before the pandemic triggered a national emergency and an ongoing lockdown.

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In Dallas, the problem has been especially dire, with arts groups within the city limits alone — that is, not counting the outlying suburbs or Fort Worth — reporting a collective $95 million in losses during the pandemic.

Kenneth T. Novice, the president of Dallas Summer Musicals, conceded Wednesday that the process was “frustrating ... . And obviously, when it did shut down, that was even more frustrating. But my experience in conversations with the Broadway League and other constituents — who have been working with the SBA to get the application out, to get the FAQs correct — has been really good.

“Clearly, they were not able to do that this first round. However, there are ongoing conversations between the SBA and folks in our field to correct the problems and to improve the FAQs and the guidance on how to fill out the application.”

The North American tour of the Broadway musical "Come From Away" was the last show being...
The North American tour of the Broadway musical "Come From Away" was the last show being presented at Dallas Summer Musicals when the company went dark in March 2020. (Matthew Murphy)

How badly does Dallas Summer Musicals need the money?

“This pandemic has been just terrible for us,” Novice said. “We have been dark since March 2020. Right now, we are hoping we can open with Wicked in August. But like everybody else, we have had no earned income. We have had to lay off staff, furlough staff, partial-furlough some staff, reduce salaries for staff. We have people working two, sometimes three jobs just to get things done. People are starting to get burned out with all the time and effort they’re putting in.”

So, when it comes to the SVOG grant, “I am hoping,” Novice said, “that we can get this done, so I can bring back the staff and have things return to normal again.”

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What will getting the grant provide?

Venue operators, producers and other applicants are eligible for grants equal to 45% of their 2019 gross earned revenue, up to the $10 million maximum, according to the SBA’s website.

The new round of grants will be in addition to money received through the Paycheck Protection Program, which has approved nearly $233 billion in forgivable loans to small businesses during 2021, according to SBA figures as of April 11.

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