Mountain Laurel has high hopes

Pike will okay room tax support

By TOM KANE

BUSHKILL, PA — The Mountain Laurel Performing Arts Center has a new president with a strong resumé in taking charge of beginning or transitioning performing arts centers. His name is Richard T. Bryant.

Bryant, who has had a long career in the marketing of numerous performing arts centers like the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, NJ and the Mondavi Performing Arts Center in Davis, CA, is turning his talents to the faltering arts center on Bushkill Road in Pike County where he has the position of president of all operations.

Bryant faces the daunting task of taking over the leadership of an operation that owes over $21 million and turning it around so that it’s a profitable venture. As a result of funding shortfalls and a false start in August 2003, the center closed down its performing arts operations after only four months in early 2004.

“It’s not going to be an easy proposition,” said Bob Uguccioni, executive director of the Pocono Mountain Vacation Center, the local state-supported tourist promotion association in Stroudsburg, that will funnel some important funding to the center.

“Bryant impressed us with his past accomplishments in opening up some large arts centers and working out marketing and public relations plans that were successful,” Uguccioni said. “So we’re hoping he can do the same for Mountain Laurel.”

This past week, Bryant was heartened by the agreement of the Pike County Commissioners to allow the center to share in the hotel room tax that has just won preliminary approval. With Monroe County already on board with portions of its room tax going to the center and Wayne and Carbon County’s room tax still possible, Bryant feels the center has crossed a big hurdle.

“With funds coming from this tax, we can point to the fact that we have local support, which is considered so essential to any funding agency like the state or a foundation,” Bryant said.

“The room tax is only one leg of a four-legged stool that the center must sit on,” Uguccioni said. “The other legs are the proposed sale of part of the 700-acre property to local arts organizations, promised funding from the Commonwealth and a three-year plan to get funding from private agencies like foundations and private individuals.”

All the legs need to be in place for it to work, he said.

Another key factor that is going to motivate funding agencies is the successful Labor Day Weekend Festival that drew over 10,000 people, Bryant said.

“The event succeeded in demonstrating to the public and the press that the performing arts venue remains in business, stemming 10 months of criticism that had staunched all fundraising, membership sales and pledge collections as well as stalling further government support at any level.”

Bryant is also excited about a $200,000 grant already approved from the U.S. Department of Education to develop a program for local schools, introducing students to the performing arts both in their schools and at the center.

“On Friday, February 11 at 9:45 a.m., we will be at the East Stroudsburg North High and Middle School with a demonstration of choral music and music for young audiences,” he said. “It is the beginning of a program over the school year in which students will compose a musical piece and have it performed.”

“On March 1, 2005, the center will have to face a serious deadline,” Uguccioni said. “The $17 million bond held by the U.S. Department of Agriculture could be called on that day,” Uguccioni said. “We’re hoping that the bonding agency will give us an extension until August after we have had what we hope will be a successful season.”

We’ll just have to wait and see what happens, he said.

Meantime, Bryant is proceeding with his strategic plan for 30 to 40 performances from May to September 2005, including pop, rock and roll, country, jazz, classical and Broadway-style musicals.

“Anchoring the three seasons will be a growing number of Broadway-style musicals produced by a long-established nationally recognized groups,” he said.