Sponsor drops Bard on Common

Shakespeare company says shows will go on

Thousands of people attended ''Much Ado About Nothing'' in 2004. Citi Center, which sponsored the show, has decided not to continue its financial support. (GLOBE STAFF/2004)

The Citi Performing Arts Center will no longer sponsor a free annual Shakespeare production on the Boston Common, Citi Center officials confirmed yesterday. But that does not mean the end of the popular performances, said Steven Maler, founding artistic director of the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, which has staged the production in partnership with the Citi Center.

"There's never been a question of whether there would be a production last summer, this summer, or the following summer," Maler said yesterday. "This is a civic institution, and it is a critical moment in time."

The Citi Center - formerly known as the Wang Center for the Performing Arts - has produced Shakespeare on the Common since 2003, when Commonwealth Shakespeare signed a deal to join the then-Wang Center. But this once-promising and ultimately tumultuous relationship is now officially over, leaders of both organizations confirmed yesterday. Commonwealth Shakespeare, a nonprofit that had been dormant since 2003, is being revived with a new board and staff. It will undertake next year's production without any money from the Citi Center.

Maler has directed the production since 1996, when his company first started staging outdoor performances. The partnership with the Citi Center initially led to a longer performance run and an increase in the production budget from $570,414 in 2004 to nearly $1 million in 2006. The Center also installed Maler as vice president of artistic programming and increased his salary from $45,000 a year to $105,000 in 2006. The production has played to audiences of as many as 100,000 during its summer run.

But the relationship soured in 2007, when the Citi Center slashed the budget in half to $481,027 and cut the performance run from three weeks to less than one week. The center, a nonprofit that has struggled to break even since 2002, also eliminated Maler's management position for the 2007 season.

The Citi Center tried to recruit other theater companies to stage this summer's production of "As You Like It," but it eventually hired Maler as a freelance director. This year, the production expanded to a budget of $660,000 and a run of 15 performances in Boston and three in Springfield. While the weather dampened attendance figures, about 55,000 people saw this summer's production, Citi Center officials said.

Maler said he had hoped the Citi Center would continue the relationship, but he knew it was possible that it would pull out altogether. Citi Center president, Josiah Spaulding Jr., told Maler of the plans to cut ties last week.

"We are confident that under your visionary leadership, combined with the dedication of your Board, the program will continue to grow and flourish," Spaulding wrote to Maler in a letter obtained by the Globe.

"It would be great if the Citi Center wanted to stay involved, but it's fine that they don't," said Maler. "It's really a non-issue. I know there are other people who love this project as much as we all do."

In an interview yesterday, Spaulding said that the Citi Center is shifting its focus from Shakespeare to a series of other projects, including the creation of an arts academy within its complex, which includes the Wang and Shubert theaters, and a city arts festival that could occur in 2010.

"Steve is very much Commonwealth Shakespeare Company," Spaulding said. "He is the person and they are the organization to continue doing free Shakespeare, and we wish him the best of luck."

The split with Commonwealth Shakespeare marks the second recent high-profile divorce between the Citi Center and a local nonprofit. In March, Boston Ballet announced that after more than 30 years of performing at the Wang Theatre, the city's biggest theater, it would move all its performances into the recently restored Opera House starting in 2009.

In August, the Citi Center signed a deal with Madison Square Garden Entertainment to bring more concerts and big-stage entertainment into the Wang.

News of the split between the Citi Center and Commonwealth Shakespeare did not surprise local arts advocates.

"Mergers are difficult," said Ann McQueen, a senior program officer at the Boston foundation whose work centers on arts and culture. "This seemed to work for a while. I think it was good while it lasted."

She voiced confidence that Maler can keep alive the popular Shakespeare program. "You know, it's a very tough world out there, and I'm always concerned for all these nonprofits," McQueen said. "But Steve Maler pulled it together before, and there's every reason to expect he can do it again."

Commonwealth Shakespeare cofounder and board member Joan Moynagh said that the company has been preparing for a potential split since the winter. The organization has launched a website and is just starting plans to recruit new sponsors to help put on the performances.

"There are no hard feelings," she said. "We're grateful for the support they gave, and we just see this as a time of real opportunity to keep this project going. That's been our mission all along - to bring free, excellent productions of Shakespeare to Boston Common for as many people as possible. And that will continue."

Geoff Edgers can be reached at gedgers@globe.com

Correction: Because of an editing error, a City & Region story yesterday about Shakespeare on the Common mischaracterized the work of the Boston Foundation. The organization provides grants and offers assistance to community groups that seek to improve education, housing, the arts, and other programs.