Broadway Journal: Public Theater rocked by layoffs
Posted: 12/22/25 at 9:28am
When I read the email yesterday what struck me is their failure to incubate new work with commercial potential in the years since Hamilton. That makes what successes Eustis had look like accidents, and not as a result of any acumen on his part. 2028 is too long to wait for Eustis to leave. His salary is one of their biggest expenses. That should have been the first cut. Retiring would be the honorable thing to do if he had any interest in preserving The Public Theater. But clearly Oskar Eustis is a man without honor.
Posted: 12/22/25 at 11:37am
inception said: "When I read the email yesterday what struck me is their failure to incubate new work with commercial potential in the years since Hamilton. That makes what successes Eustis had look like accidents, and not as a result of any acumen on his part."
A few things...
- It is not the job of a nonprofit theatre to be an incubator for commercial theatre productions. That's a great way to stifle creativity.
- The Public has had a dozen shows transfer to Broadway post-Hamilton. As far as royalties go, they're still probably making more money than any other New York theatre. Royalties will always be volatile, and royalties + ticket sales cannot sustain an theatre - contributions are the bedrock of what they do.
- They've accepted commercial enhancement for almost every musical they've done since Hamilton, but that's the gamble of being a nonprofit: sometimes those shows move, sometimes they don't. Hamilton, Hell's Kitchen, and Girl From The North Country were all brought to them by outside producers, and they will make passive income from Hamilton and HK for years to come -- a pretty good deal for basically being handed those shows by the commercial producers. I don't expect Seat Of Our Pants to have a commercial life but boy am I glad they produced it (warts and all).
- It's not a crime for an artistic director to make a competitive salary when it's their job to court donors and artists and commercial partners and oversee a $60 million operation.
- They were smart to put the early years of Hamilton royalties into their reserves. Which is the opposite of what Joe Papp did during A Chorus Line: He basically shut down the development department and they relied on ACL income to sustain them. Which is a terrible business model that left them in a bad place financially.
Updated On: 12/22/25 at 11:37 AM
Posted: 12/22/25 at 2:18pm
The Public is clearly struggling right now with poor artistic decisions and a staggering lack of morale among the staff. The "nobody's fault" attitude (like Ermengarde demonstrates) is precisely why so many non-profit theaters are walking blindfolded into bankruptcy.
Posted: 12/22/25 at 2:36pm
Is it customary for the chief executive of a non-profit theater to go on a (presumably paid) sabbatical which is what the article is reporting about Eustis?
Posted: 12/22/25 at 4:20pm
Having served on several boards, I can say that long-time executives of all sorts of nonprofits go on sabbatical for creative renewal and/or as a job perk in lieu of a salary increase. While not widespread, it certainly is not unusual.
Posted: 12/22/25 at 4:22pm
Oh I'm not saying it's nobody's fault. It's a confluence of things that has led them there and Oskar's strategy is not entirely to blame. The problems plaguing the Public are no different than the ones plaguing any other nonprofit theatre:
- cost increases and the economics of producing theatre
- audience habits have changed post-Covid and people are being more discerning.
- uncertainty in the world and in the white house never helps a nonprofit's donor situation (individual, corporate, foundation, and government donors)
- Maybe they did make some bad programming decisions. I don't know the inner workings of Oskar's office. I know a lot of us felt HELL'S KITCHEN was a craven cash grab, but it will end up being their biggest royalty earner since HAMILTON and it's not a bad thing to be in the Alicia Keys business. So if that's what it takes to keep a theatre going - so be it.
Posted: 12/22/25 at 4:37pm
inception said: "When I read the email yesterday what struck me is their failure to incubate new work with commercial potential in the years since Hamilton. Thatmakes what successes Eustis had look like accidents, and not as a result ofany acumen on his part. 2028 is too long to wait for Eustis to leave. His salary is one of their biggest expenses. That should have been the first cut. Retiring would be the honorable thing to do if he had any interest in preserving The Public Theater.But clearly Oskar Eustisis a man without honor.
Totally ignorant post. You don't even have basic facts correct, ignoring the 14-15 shows that they have transferred since HAMILTON. I hear the current White House administration is hiring -- you'd fit in quite well.
Posted: 12/22/25 at 5:55pm
JSquared2 said: "
Totally ignorant post. You don't even have basic facts correct, ignoring the 14-15 shows that they have transferred since HAMILTON. I hear the current White House administration is hiring -- you'd fit in quite well.
That's the nicest thing anyone has said about me on here in a long time. At least I hope it's a step above being called a pig.
