Leaders of Orlando Fringe and Orlando Shakes, including the presidents of the nonprofits’ boards, are meeting today to discuss the future of the relationship between two of Central Florida’s most significant cultural organizations.
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Orlando Fringe, which has housed its administrative offices in the city-owned Lowndes Shakespeare Center since 2015, will depart that building in Loch Haven Park by the end of August, when its sublease ends. Citing an unacceptable rent increase and dissatisfaction with Orlando Shakes as a landlord, leaders of Orlando Fringe said they have found new office space nearby on Virginia Drive.
“After a long negotiation process, we did not feel that the terms of a new lease were good for us,” said Fringe artistic director Tempestt Halstead. “We had to think long-term about what fits in our budget as a nonprofit.”
The move will have repercussions for both organizations: Unless it can find another tenant, Orlando Shakes will lose $50,000 in annual rent — a financial blow in an era when arts groups face reduced government funding. Orlando Fringe will face additional costs by no longer having an on-site office in the park, north of downtown, where it has presented its annual May festival for 20 years.
Representatives of both organizations said they still hope to agree on terms for Orlando Fringe to use the theaters inside the Shakespeare Center during the annual Fringe Festival, which attracts upward of 60,000 patrons each May to Loch Haven Park for nearly two weeks of short plays, musicals, concerts and other shows. That arrangement will be on the agenda at today’s meeting.
“I know Orlando Shakes has been a hub of sorts for the festival,” said executive director Cheryl Collins. “Hopefully, we will be able to meet their needs.”
Fringe leaders stressed they are committed to keeping the festival in Loch Haven Park. In recent years, the Fringe has used more venues at Orlando Family Stage, across the park from the Shakespeare Center. Other buildings at the park, including Orlando Museum of Art and the Junior Achievement building, have provided Fringe venues in the past. Orlando Science Center and the nearby Harriett’s Orlando Ballet Centre also have theaters and auditoriums.
“We always have a Plan B and a Plan C,” said Orlando Fringe managing director Melissa Fritzinger.
Not reaching a deal with Orlando Shakes for the 2027 Fringe Festival would be another financial blow to that organization.
“It is a hit,” Collins said of losing the revenue from Orlando Fringe as a tenant. “That will put more pressure on short-term rentals to make it up.”
Orlando Shakes also won’t get state funding this year, because of the programming restrictions put on state arts grants last year, the nonprofit did not apply.
Collins said Orlando Shakes would be exploring how to adjust its budget to account for the loss of Orlando Fringe’s office rent. One possibility, Collins said: More programming to bring in more revenue. A bright financial spot for the Shakes: Ticket sales for the theater’s season-opening show, the musical “Come From Away” in August, have been strong.
Any new renter Orlando Shakes finds to take over the former Fringe space would require approval from the city of Orlando.
“What we know is there’s not enough space for everybody,” Collins said. “If we can keep something in play for the community beyond our own mission needs, we clearly want to do that.”
Meanwhile, Orlando Fringe will relocate to 634 Virginia Drive, a slightly smaller space of 1,300 square feet, but with costs comparable to what the organization currently pays Orlando Shakes. The organization has a three-year lease there, Fritzinger said, with options to extend it.
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The Fringe will also be able to rent space there to artists who need a place for rehearsing small shows or readings, an activity Orlando Shakes had stopped allowing.
Orlando Fringe leaders said that when negotiations began for a new lease at the current location, they were surprised to learn that Orlando Shakes had changed its formula for determining rent, which had traditionally risen by 4% annually.
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Orlando Shakes switched to a cost-per-square-foot calculation, with additional fees for certain services and a new requirement to pay 10% of the building’s utilities. That meant the estimated cost for the next year would have nearly doubled, to about $98,000.
When Fringe rebuffed that offer, Orlando Shakes countered with a deal that would have cost $82,834 next year, with the 4% annual increases in subsequent years. Orlando Shakes also offered to pay to subdivide the Fringe’s 4,862-square-foot office space, creating a smaller but cheaper area for the organization, though neither organization was sure exactly how that would work.
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“We felt that was a good-faith offer to meet them where they were,” Collins said. “But it is absolutely their decision whether to be a tenant here.”
Ultimately, Orlando Fringe leaders decided to relocate. But they said their dissatisfaction with the leasing situation had been building for years and went beyond mere finances.
“We are not receiving services now that are in the lease agreement,” said Fritzinger, pointing specifically to promised custodial and cleaning work. She said Orlando Shakes employees had been found taking breaks or sleeping in the Fringe offices, and communication between the entities was difficult.
“There have been times we felt like our space was not respected,” she said. “It has been a challenge.”
“We don’t feel welcome,” Halstead added. “No one wants to feel that way.”
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In addition, Orlando Shakes had been adding new charges over the years: A cut of bar sales at the Winter Mini-Fringe; a fee for toilet paper, paper towels and soap during the May festival, which also brought new charges for an Orlando Shakes staff member to be on-site at all times and custodial fees.
Although unrelated to the office rent, these incremental charges affected the budget of Orlando Fringe — another arts organization that won’t receive state arts grants this year.
Rent increases and new charges became necessary, Collins said, when the Orlando Shakes’ financial picture changed under its latest lease with the city of Orlando.
“We have inherited a number of expenses that the city had borne,” Collins said. “That is a substantial investment that we have to cover. It’s our home, and we have to protect it and take care of it for all who come in here. It’s very expensive.”
The nonprofit’s deal with the city was amended by a new lease in February 2024, under which Orlando Shakes took over responsibility for all building maintenance. The city did pay $5.7 million toward an air-handling replacement project that has been going on for two years, after delays caused by last year’s rainy summer and a contractor change.
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That project is finally “in the home stretch,” Collins said. “They’re close, they’re really close.”
Collins said she could understand Orlando Fringe’s frustration with the changes at Orlando Shakes and hoped today’s meeting would pave the way toward an agreement to keep her organization as part of next May’s Fringe Festival.
“They are a very important piece of the arts ecosystem in Central Florida and frankly, with their reach, the globe,” she said. “We wish to support that as much as we possibly can and preserve that aspect of the relationship. Hopefully, on the other side of the meeting, they can feel more comfortable with our partnership. We want a best outcome for everyone.
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