The Death of the Impresario?

With the death of Joseph Papp in 1991, there was much hand-wringing over where the next great impresario would come from. But given the current climate of arts support in the U.S., individuals who can be artistic leader, political mastermind, and money magnet all at the same time are seeming like an outdated pipe dream to many theatres. “For whomever’s sake, art is expensive and (according to most artists) radically undersupported. This has only worsened in recent years. ‘The bedrock of municipal and civic responsibility’ on which Papp (sometimes just hopefully) based his enterprise has largely eroded… Given the difficult climate, search committees at some cultural institutions have begun to feel they may be better off with skilled managers instead of star impresarios.”