By Joyce Kryszak
Buffalo, NY – One of Buffalo's oldest and largest theatre companies just got much smaller. Studio Arena announced it has cut deep into its staff, firing 14 people to stem five straight years and a million dollars of deficit. Theatre officials said Thursday it was necessary to preserve the beloved downtown theatre for the future. WBFO's Joyce Kryszak talked with Studio Arena's Chief Executive Officer and Artistic Director Kathleen Gaffney about what the changes will mean.
The first indications of dramatic change came last month. That's when Ken Neufeld, the long-time director of Studio Arena exited and Gaffney took on her new dual role. But the scene changes weren't over for one of Buffalo's premier professional theatres. Twenty-five percent of the staff was let go this week in sweeping cutbacks that will save the company roughly a quarter million dollars. To survive, Gaffney said they had to begin thinking more like a business and less like an institution.
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