Live theater on a grand scale in Battle Creek could give residents and economic development types something to applaud.
Ed Creech, managing director of
What A Do Theatre company, says, economic developers would be bending over backwards to relocate arts organizations like his in their respective communities were it not for their non-profit status.
"How much will Battle Creek stand to gain, economically, from What A Do as the anchor for the nonprofit arts and culture industry?" Creech asks.
Maybe this much: An Americans for the Arts study profiled Mansfield, Ohio – a town very similar to Battle Creek in terms of population, education and demographics – found that arts organizations and their audiences spent $6.2 million during fiscal year 2005 in Mansfield creating 183 full-time equivalent jobs and $504,000 in state and local government revenue.
The study also discovered a trickle-down effect to local businesses, as audiences were responsible for nearly $2 million in event-related expenditures.
Tourism also received a boost: one-third of the audience was non-residents, yet they accounted for more than half of the event-related spending.
For those who still need a little more convincing, Creech, who was born and raised in Battle Creek, cites statistics in that same report for Kalamazoo County.
"How much did our neighbors to the west reap from their investment in the nonprofit arts and culture industry?" Creech asks.
In Kalamazoo County the study says arts organizations and their audiences resulted in:
• $68.7 million in total expenditures.
• 2,419 full-time equivalent jobs.
• $3.4 million in state and local government revenues.
• Audiences pumping $16.8 million into the local economy with event-related expenditures.
• Tourism: 37 percent of the audience was non-resident and they spent $8.5 million, an average of $29.36 per person.
Creech says, however, he doesn't want to spend time talking about the "have and have not" attitude which often is interjected into conversations about Battle Creek and Kalamazoo.
"I'm tired of Kellogg executives living in Kalamazoo and people saying Kalamazoo is so much better than Battle Creek," Creech says. "I'm so sick of Battle Creek playing second fiddle."
The reasons for the broad cultural offering in the neighboring city, he says, boil down to the presence in Kalamazoo of educational institutions such as Western Michigan University and Kalamazoo College.
"Being a college town attracts young blood, young talent and educated professionals," Creech says.
The recent renovation of Battle Creek Central High School, additions to St. Philip Catholic High School, and the presence of WMU's downtown Kendall Center and its College of Aviation at the W.K. Kellogg Airport, are beginning to give Battle Creek more of that college town feeling, Creech says.
This emerging atmosphere, coupled with an $80 million plus renovation of the downtown area and an influx of new workers, has given Creech enough confidence to begin talking up the possibility of a performing arts center. The facility in the downtown area would house What A Do theater company, in addition to other arts and cultural organizations such as the Battle Creek Civic Theater.
"Anything is possible. The sky's the limit," says Alyssa Jones, communications and events manager for the Battle Creek Partnership and board member of What A Do. "When I first met Ed we'd been looking at ways to invigorate downtown and theater does that. Obviously knowing that we want arts and culture to be a centerpiece downtown, I found myself enthralled with what he was presenting."
What A Do theater company's present home is the First United Methodist Church at 111 East Michigan Avenue. The company is in rehearsals for a production of "Twelve Angry Men", which premiers July 17.
The cast of 12 and crew has been working pro bono, Creech says.
Their passion for acting, two $5,000 grants from the Battle Creek Community Foundation and sponsorship from HBC Contracting have enabled the fledgling theater company to exist.
What A Do began after Creech and his wife came from Evanston, Ill. where they lived to Battle Creek for a wedding, which took place at the First United Methodist Church.
The couple took a stroll through downtown on an early October evening and couldn't understand why no one else was around.
Immediately, Creech began formulating plans for a theater company. At the time he was an unemployed teacher for the Chicago Public Schools and before that worked at a radio station in Chicago. He attended a meeting in November, 2009, to discuss the direction the Battle Creek Civic Theater was going to take.
"The feedback was 'yes, Battle Creek can support live theater' and I spent the next year talking with Battle Creek Unlimited and the Downtown Business Partnership," Creech says.
"He did his homework. He knew what was occurring downtown and he understands the concept of all the construction and investment," Jones says of Creech. "Being from the area, and living in Chicago, he has the energy and passion."
A $5,000 grant from the BCCF "gave us life," Creech says. "I literally deposited the check on Dec. 22 and less than two months later we were up and running with a production."
"Affluenza", the theater company's first production, brought in artistic director, Randy Wolfe, and HBC Contracting.
As for the unusual name of his theater company, Creech says he took it from a crocodile handpuppet which Craig Ferguson uses on his "Late, Late Show."
"The puppet says 'what a do' and it always makes me laugh," Creech says.
For the time being Creech, says he will continue his commute from Chicago where his wife is employed to Battle Creek and hopes at some point to buy a home here. He says more than anything he wants his theater company to provide a place where people can come to enjoy themselves.
"I want this to be something people can brag about," Creech says.
Tickets for the upcoming production of "Twelve Angry Men" are $20 each for Friday and Saturday performances and $15 for a Sunday matinee. Performances are July 15-17, 22-23 and 29-30 with showtimes at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m. on Sunday.
Jane C. Parikh is a freelance reporter and writer with more than 20 years of experience. She is the owner of In So Many Words, based in Battle Creek.
Photos by Erik Holladay.
Ed Creech, managing director of What A Do Theatre company, in downtown Battle Creek, Mich.
The cast of What A Do Theatre company rehearse "Twelve Angry Men" at First Methodist Church the home for the theater troupe.