TIMESUNION.COM
A sign of things to come..........economic chaos....state running out of money......this is a small example of the trouble that lies ahead for community programs that rely on state funding.........
By CASEY SEILER State Editor
Published: 12:07 a.m., Tuesday, December 21, 2010
- Children involved with the New York State Theatre Institute announce themselves to a state Security Screening Technician before delivering messages of support for NYSTI to Gov.-elect Andrew Cuomo at the Attorney General?s office on Monday. Children from the cast of "A Christmas Carol" wear their costumes from the show, which closed Sunday. (Philip Kamrass / Times Union )
ALBANY -- Having been disappointed by the increasingly spectral figure of Governor Present, the New York State Theatre Institute on Monday dispatched a plea to Governor Yet-to-Come.
Dressed in suitably Dickensian costumes, young actors from the Troy-based stage company's recent production of "A Christmas Carol" -- possibly its last -- came to the state Capitol to present Gov.-elect Andrew Cuomo with hundreds of cards expressing hope that the company would survive into his administration.
Cuomo was not in the attorney general's office, although the receptionist and state trooper on duty were treated to a children's chorus of "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" before accepting the stack in front of the assembled media.
Underneath the theatrics, the young players' message was plain: NYSTI is an educational resource that shouldn't be shuttered.
"This is one of the greatest experiences I've ever had," said Sam Stato, a 13-year-old who attends Shaker Junior High School and has taken part in NYSTI programs for three years.
Joanne Peal of East Greenbush, whose 17-year-old daughter, Eleah, took her first NYSTI class 11 years ago, said the program was unique in its ability to link stagecraft to subjects such as history and literature. "We care about the kids who will not have that opportunity," Peal said.
This week, the 36-year-old company's future appears more grim than that of Tiny Tim at the beginning of the holiday classic: It's facing a budget deficit of at least $200,000 through the March 31 end of the current fiscal year, and all remaining employees have received layoff notices effective Jan. 1.
A board meeting has been called for Wednesday morning at the Capitol. Since May, NYSTI's board has been composed almost entirely of members of Gov. David Paterson's senior staff, including his secretary, Larry Schwartz, and senior counsel Peter Kiernan.
Its previous board members departed en masse in the spring at the governor's request following the exit of NYSTI's founding producing director, Patricia Snyder.
Snyder's management was roundly criticized by an April report from state Inspector General Joseph Fisch, whose investigators found numerous instances of questionable spending, nepotism and self-dealing -- practices that the old board had failed to monitor, according to the report. After initially taking a leave of absence, Snyder retired in May.
David Bunce, who was named to Snyder's post, has submitted a three-year plan that would draw down the state's support of NYSTI by 50 percent beginning Jan. 1, and cut it further in the subsequent fiscal years. The institute received roughly $3 million in state support in the 2009-10 fiscal year; that was cut to $1.3 million for the current fiscal year, which ends in March.
After leaving Cuomo's office, the young performers took position outside Paterson's office and began to sing a veritable songbook of Christmas carols as bewildered staffers walked by on the other side of the security desk. At one point, Budget Director Robert Megna, a NYSTI board member for several months earlier this year, edged through the throng.
After almost a half-hour -- and a passable version of "The 12 Days of Christmas" -- the performers gave up on getting an audience with Paterson and left.
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