Nicholas Dragga, Executive Director, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre

In an interview with Invest:, Nicholas Dragga, executive director of Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, discussed the company’s direction and collaborations built from a vision of a more accessible ballet for all. “The long-term effect of our initiatives is hard to track, but we are seeing the interests and growth with those labors,” Dragga said. 

What are the recent key milestones for Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre?

Previously, the company’s 2023-2024 season was our highest-grossing season. We broke that record again this season by setting two new revenue records: this year’s Nutcracker became our highest-grossing production ever, and May’s Wizard of Oz achieved the highest gross for any non-Nutcracker show in our history.

We can now move beyond pre-pandemic conversations and look at new levels of growth. 

Ticket sales are strong and we have large audiences, from which 45% are from outside the metro area. Our productions bring a lot of cultural tourism into the city and help build downtown revitalization, including for the restaurant scene.

How do past seasons’ performances reflect the company’s evolving artistic direction?

Adam W. McKinney, our artistic director, has a vision of a more accessible ballet for all, where everyone can see their story and find their place through ballet. He wants to celebrate the classics and introduce new works, proving that it’s not necessarily a binary choice. We can do new interpretations of classic stories and still have blockbuster storybook ballets. The Wizard of Oz, Peter Pan, or Cinderella can still be classics, but also be very artistically adventurous. It’s possible to have cultural vibrancy and artistic expression with something that is popular and loved by everyone.

How is PBT adapting to emerging trends in ballet?

Due to the PBT School and some of our very intentional programming beyond the stage, our audience tends to be on the younger side. Our programming is frequently family-friendly, such as The Nutcracker, and we have a very robust school with over 400 students. Community

Engagement programming makes up the third pillar of the company, with a thousand students we’re meeting outside the studio for classes and events every week. Those connections pay dividends for a generation. We are educating tomorrow’s audience every day.

The audience also expects high production values, which were reflected in the success and feedback of Cinderella, Peter Pan, and certainly, The Wizard of Oz. The Wizard of Oz was brought to life using an effective combination of projections and practical elements, rather than just a video screen. The familiar titles have their draws, but we must invest in production value to meet the audience’s expectations, deliver even higher-quality productions every year, and add that surprise element every time.

What initiatives are in place for the company’s educational pillar?

Aside from Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School, we have community education and engagement. Its primary program, among many, is the creative movements residencies at elementary schools. We were involved with 105 classrooms this past year, from pre-kindergarten to third grade, and we are adding fourth grade as we build longer relationships with the students. They learn about dance and the ballets performed that particular season, which usually culminates with tickets to the performances. The long-term effects of our initiatives are difficult to track, but we are seeing increased interest and growth as a result of our efforts.

How have recent collaborations affected the company’s direction?

To borrow the words of our artistic director: “More magic happens when you put more artists together.” We have a tremendous partnership with the local school districts through our community engagement programs. Our programs work because they all highly involve participants. On the artistic side, the choreographers and designers make all the productions possible. We are fortunate to work with stellar artists. With the artistic director’s vision, there are diverse choreographers and artists’ works presented on stage. These diverse voices add richness to the ballet experience in every way, and Pittsburgh is now benefiting from that. Pittsburgh’s art scene is rich, vibrant, diverse, and thriving. There are more amenities and arts organizations in Pittsburgh than in any other city of our size. The music, theater, and dance scenes work well together. We collaborate with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra every other year.

We’re in continuous collaboration with the opera and the theater, both for productions on the stage and even mundane things such as sharing lighting equipment. The arts and culture scene has become a catalyst that brings people downtown and keeps the restaurant scene, as well as the retail scene, alive. It’s also preventing brain drain by creating a place where people want to live, work, and play.

What is the biggest challenge facing ballet companies like PBT?

Similar to any corporation, it‘s the rising costs of doing business. Particularly in the performing arts, there’s a productivity gap. We can’t get more efficient at rehearsing a ballet, and there’s a limited number of seats are available for each performance. As labor costs reasonably rise and inflation increases, there is higher pressure on the business model, especially since we are subsidizing the cost of the tickets. We try to make them accessible, hence we’re relying on contributed revenue or donations to bridge the gap. In America, there’s currently uncertainty in the sociopolitical environment that every corporation must navigate. As this environment changes, so do the funding priorities.

What are the company’s key priorities for the next few years?

The three-year budgeting process has been finalized, which includes productions through 2028, allowing us to put our priorities on the table and dream big. We will premiere a brand new Nutcracker production in 2027, comprising all new sets, costumes, choreography, and projections. Another priority is to increase the hospitality of ballet, so more audiences can experience the magical feeling it creates. PBT’s exciting programming will ensure that the audiences get to experience both familiar and new ballet stories, as well as see artists who look like them on stage, and feel at home in the theater.