From hosting cabarets to local artist showcases, the Hippodrome has spent 51 seasons of premiere theater cultivating a thriving hub of Alachua County creativity.
However, state funding cuts could leave the theater in jeopardy.
Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed all state arts and culture grants without warning July 12. Over $1 million was requested from Alachua County organizations alone, and though some applications were initially approved, all funds were later denied.
The Hippodrome is one of 600 Florida organizations reeling from the cuts to funding they historically relied on.
“I believe it was a short-sighted decision, since the arts and culture bring so much money into our local communities and into our state,” said Hippodrome Artistic Director Stephanie Lynge.
The theater received $500,000 in the 1990s, which Lynge said later dwindled to a maximum of $150,000.
A July 12 letter released by the organization urged the public to support the Hippodrome through ticket sales, tax-deductible contributions, fundraisers and advocacy letters to the governor's office.
The Hippodrome is reliant on four pillars of funding, two of which Lynge said have now “crashed and burned over the last month” following the recent state grant cuts and show cancellations due to staff illness.
“This has decimated the Hippodrome finances,” she said.
The “25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” the Hippodrome’s summer musical, was initially slated to run until July 21. However, the show announced an early closure with a final performance July 7 due to sick staff members and a lack of presale tickets.
“Knowing that the state money would not be there for us, as we entered the fall, we had to take a very hard look at our finances and make very smart and responsible fiscal decisions,” Lynge said.
Ethan Garrepy, a 20 year-old UF musical theater junior, played the general male understudy and Mitch Mahoney in the Hippodrome’s summer production. While cutting the play short came as a shock, he said its link to DeSantis’ arts and culture grant cuts was clear.
“It is certainly a difficult time for artists in Florida, specifically our organizations who are relying on state funding,” he said. “Trying to find a way to keep going in these times is certainly scary.”
However, Garrepy said the “perseverance” of performers would save the future of theater in Florida.
The Hippodrome qualifies for an additional City of Gainesville arts grant for over $50,000, but the partial loss of the General Funds Transfer (GFT) has left its distribution uncertain. The GFT, a measure of the money Gainesville Regional Utilities contributes to city operations annually, was cut by $6.8 million June 26 following debate between the city commission and governor-appointed authority.
Mayor Harvey Ward said DeSantis’ decision to veto state arts and culture funding was a “direct slap in the face to the arts community,” but the City of Gainesville intends to continue the commitment to providing its own grants.
“I don't know exactly what that's going to be financially, but we will do our best to keep our initial original commitments from the city to the Hippodrome and the entire arts community,” he said. “We're going through a difficult financial time as well.”
Recent UF graduate Noah Yager has worked with the theater for five productions, playing Leaf Coneybear in “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.”
“The Hippodrome has been a place that's taken care of me for a very, very long time throughout my college career, offering the other half of my educational experience and musical theater,” he said.
Yager said he finds solace in knowing theater has survived for centuries, and despite budget cuts, he’s “100% confident” the community will keep it going.
“These historical places are known by generations of people, like the people who moved here when it was initiated, and then they show their kids, and then they show their kids,” he said.
Lynge said the Hippodrome will look to the community for funding opportunities, with Alachua County having already “graciously” helped the organization access the remaining $181,000 of their state grant funds.
The Hippodrome’s 52nd season is slated to begin on time with the play “Perfect Arrangement” in partnership with UF’s School of Theatre and Dance, with its first preview Aug. 28.
“I think Floridians will not let theater die in Florida,” she said. “But… if the state continues to disregard the arts as an economic driver, I believe it will be diminished.”
Contact Morgan Vanderlaan at mvanderlaan@alligator.org. Follow her on X @morgvande.
Morgan Vanderlaan is a first-year Political Science and English major and the City and County Commission Reporter for The Alligator. When she’s not on the clock, she can be found watching, writing and reciting theatre!
