Response from Board Member Leon Contavesprie

Below is an email the board received regarding the possible sale of part of the building. Board member and Secretary Leon Contavesprie responded to the e-mail to clarify some of the confusion surrounding the partnership with the Dickie Brennan Restaurant Group.

Le Petit Theatre is important. Le Petit Theatre is a big deal. Le Petit Theatre means so much, to so many.

Our theatre has so much historical value that just cannot be wasted. I vividly remember when I was a little girl (because I am so grown up now!) sitting in those little plastic chairs in Teddy’s Corner. Many years ago, my Mom used to go to the theatre when she was a little girl to watch her aunt perform. Watching the performers dance and sing and thoroughly enjoy what they were doing is what made me want to be on stage.

I have now performed in many stage productions. I learned so much about the Le Petit history from such amazing and talented people as Vatican Lokey, Janet Shea, Edward Cox and so many others. Taking away even a part of our Le Petit would create a hole in the theatre community.

Our theatre needs all of her current space – where will the dressing rooms be for little girls? Where will the Green Room be? What will happen to the courtyard? If we sell even a portion of our theatre it would be equal to selling my memories along with the memories of everyone who has ever been to this beautiful little theatre.

Le Petit is the foundation of the New Orleans arts community. Please don’t leave me with just my memories (and 1 stage!)

Response:

I cannot thank you enough for your heartfelt and honest email; it is obvious how much you truly love the theatre. I, too, am an actor, and have watched and performed in numerous productions on both LPT stages. I had the exact same feelings as you do when all of this began.

Unfortunately, and this is where it gets both incredibly complicated and difficult, the formula on which the theatre was built is broken, and has been for nearly two decades. When the late, great Stocker Fontelieu retired from “The Little Theatre” (as he called it), he too saw that this incredible institution may face great financial problems in the future. Stocker was like a second grandfather to me. We had weekly visits and he would regale me with the stories of yesteryear at the theatre, but would always tell me that eventually things would have to change at the theatre for it to survive.

I served on the Board of Governors from 1997-2001, and was recently voted back to the board, so I have a kind of long-term outlook on the situation. In late 2010, we discovered disastrous amounts of debt, not including the whopping $700,000 mortgage. Ironically, that mortgage was only (“only” being a relative term) $250,000 when I left the board in 2001. The building is in desperate need of repairs, particularly the Children’s Corner / Muriel’s Cabaret side, and will cost well over $1 million to repair and renovate.

It was in no way an easy decision to consider selling more than half the building; but the reality is a long-term and permanent solution needed to happen in order for Le Petit Theatre the organization to survive. We spent countless hours meeting with non-profit professionals from around the country and here in New Orleans, and ALL of them said the same thing – it is time to sell part of the building. In fact, many told us we should sell the entire building, but that was certainly not an option. Our board is comprised of some of the best business, non-profit, and theatrical minds in the city, including Cleland Powell (President of SPCA, Past Chair of LEH and Greater New Orleans Foundation), Saundra Levy (Executive Director of Jewish Endowment), Darren Bagert (Broadway producer), Bryan Batt (Broadway and television actor), Bruce Hoefer (Chairman of Cafe Reconcile), Cassie Worley (theatre teacher and actor/producer), and several others. I assure you we explored every possible option that was available to us before coming to this decision, and I stand by what I have said since this deal became public – it is the BEST of all worlds. Our new neighbors, the Dickie Brennan Group, will bring in thousands of new guests to LPT, we will have enough cash to ensure continued seasons of terrific productions and the ability to build an endowment (which automatically invites other large donors because they know their money will be spent on something other than day-to-day operations), and national recognition.

As an actor, I know firsthand how palatial Le Petit Theatre is in terms of its size, with its green room and dressing areas. But I have also had the privilege of working in theatres all over the country, several of which were very prominent professional regional theatres. Only one of them was more spacious than what Le Petit will be if the Brennan deal goes through. The stack room, while currently very cluttered and unorganized, will be transformed into two sparkling new lower level dressing rooms. The upstairs will be executive offices and a green room. We are still working on the plans, but I can assure you performers will have ample space for dressing.

As for wing space, we will have exactly the same amount of wing space the theatre had prior to 1962, which was the year when the Children’s Corner, courtyard, main lobby and upstairs part of the building was constructed. As a longtime LPT supporter and volunteer told me, “Le Petit did big musicals for years prior to 1962, and long before there was wing space.” So it can be done.

As for the loss of Muriel’s Cabaret / Children’s Corner – believe me, this is a tough one. But as talented performers like you well know, the magic of theatre comes from the actors, designers, and the material, not the space in which it is performed. While it is very sad to say goodbye, we have the unique opportunity to create a new history while still savoring the glory days of the past. Our community of actors, designers, directors, producers, and technicians will be able to create incredible children’s productions on the mainstage. Can you imagine how exciting it will be for young performers to walk on that wonderful stage and cut their “acting chops” before 365 people under that beautiful proscenium arch?

Children’s Theatre at Le Petit is not disappearing; rather, it is being reinvented on one of the most magnificent stages in the country. I have an enormous respect for the professionals you mentioned – Janet Shea, Vatican Lokey, and Eddie Cox. It was never and never will be my intention to erase them or their work from the history books of children’s theatre at LPT. In fact, some of the most fantastic productions ever on that stage were due to their work. But we’re not closing it; we’re just moving it. Some will always disagree, and I completely understand that. I just ask that you give us a chance to prove how great that building can be.

I sincerely hope that you will join us in a production, be it onstage, backstage or in the audience, when we reopen. The Dickie Brennan Group has so many exciting ventures lined up, and the entire board wants people like you to join us in making this a truly one-of-a-kind venue.

I’ll close with this: I have two nephews, ages 10 and 13. If I thought for one minute this was not the best deal, and “my boys” (as I call them) would not get to see Le Petit Theatre in the best possible way, I never would have voted for it. All I can do is ask that you trust me and the rest of the board that we have made the absolute best decision for the future of Le Petit Theatre.

Again, I sincerely thank you for taking the time to write. If you have any other questions or concerns, please drop me a line.

Yours truly,

Leon Contavesprie