Mann Center's leader bows out

Peter B. Lane, president and chief executive officer of the Mann Center for the Performing Arts, will leave the semi-outdoor Fairmount Park facility in mid-September after a decade of shoring up the center's financial stability and revamping its public identity.

The announcement, made yesterday by the Mann Center, said Lane will become CEO of Bethel Woods Center for the Arts at the site of the 1969 Woodstock Festival in Upstate New York.

The search for his replacement begins immediately; in the interim, the facility will be run by board vice chairman William L. Leonard, former managing partner of the Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP law firm.

In a statement, Lane lauded the board and his staff for supporting his efforts to enhance the Mann: "None of this was possible without an outstanding staff to carry out the board's mandate to respond to our community's and audience interests."

"We were thrilled to have Peter for 10 years," said Nancy Wolcott, another board vice chairman. "He did a phenomenal job building a strong staff and growing the visibility of the Mann. He will be missed, and we're pleased for this opportunity for him to move on."

Among Lane's primary accomplishments was the spearheading of a $15 million renovation of the center, now 31 years old, that dramatically improved its design and look. And Lane rarely missed an opportunity to proselytize for his educational priorities; during his decade in charge he dramatically increased the number of daytime children's programs, and the center now says it hosts 45,000 children per season.

Such priorities were barely thinkable when Lane arrived in 1997 from Skitch Henderson's New York Pops, succeeding longtime Mann director Helen Martin. The Mann was $2.2 million in debt; an annual $200,000 subsidy from the City of Philadelphia was disappearing. Lucrative rock shows were moving on to larger, less weather-affected venues. The Philadelphia Orchestra's music director for its Mann season, Charles Dutoit, resigned publicly at intermission in 1999, saying he lacked confidence that the center's problems could be solved.

However, the Lane decade saw the Mann shed its debt and reestablish its pop identity with such middle-of-the-road artists as Sarah Brightman and Tony Bennett. That may have done little for the Mann's "cool factor," but it created impressive big-picture numbers. Revenues rose from $2.6 million in 1997 to a projected $8.2 million in 2008, while donated income rose from $757,000 in 1997 to $2.5 million this year.

In many ways, the Mann Center, with its 4,000 covered seats and 10,000 lawn spaces, became more posh under Lane. Besides the physical renovations, gourmet meals were available, amid presentations that included major dance companies such as the Bolshoi Ballet and Royal Ballet. With that, prices rose. The best seats for the Royal Ballet last month were as much as $150. Fixed-price dinners were $29, and parking rose to $10.

Had Lane departed at the end of the summer of 2006, the picture would have been less positive. Though last year's 30th-anniversary season had some starry programming, the summer's soggy nature underscored the need for a paved parking lot, and the Philadelphia Orchestra's return to more serious classical programming wasn't successful. The increased number of concerts - 15, including Mondays, which was new - often resulted in fields of empty seats.

This year, however, with the orchestra dividing its time between the Mann and a new residency in Vail, Colo., the shorter, nine-concert season was better populated. Lang Lang's appearance with the orchestra on July 19 drew 4,500. Philadelphia Orchestra president James Undercofler credited Lane with "positioning the orchestra at the Mann, and moving forward."

The pop side had middle-brow features such as the Von Trapp Children, but also current performers like Rufus Wainwright, k.d. lang and Elvis Costello in a season that was hailed in some quarters as the most interesting in years.

Also, the long-troublesome policy for providing free lawn seats for the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Mann was finally resolved.

Lane decided early in his tenure to make 5,000 tickets available at 60 community centers for what he called underserved areas of the population. Results were mixed: Though popular nights featuring fireworks drew well, orchestral concerts with less novelty had as few as 250 on the lawn. This year, lawn seats were made available to the general public over the Internet during the month of May. Upward of 40,000 passes were claimed, and the resulting crowds gave what Undercofler characterized as "a new buzz" to the orchestra's concerts.

A search committee has been formed to find Lane's replacement, who is likely to have priorities similar to his. Said Wolcott, "We hope to continue . . . the diversity and quality of what we present [and] the quality of the facility itself."