It was one of the last rehearsals before opening night and Director Dawn Barry needed more from her cast. The ensemble had sung "You Gotta Have Heart" - one of the signature songs from the vintage musical "Damn Yankees" - about a hundred times during two months of practice. A catchy show tune that has the tendency to etch a permanent home in the listener’s mind, the song is central to the play’s story and theme. Barry wanted the cast to sing it again.

The actors need more energy, she said. They needed more oomph. They also really needed more rehearsal space. The cast was part of The Narrows Community Theater group, which has been based in Bay Ridge since 1971, but right now is homeless. In 2001, the government forced the group out of its permanent home on the Fort Hamilton Army Base, citing security concerns. The group has moved six times since then, most recently ending up in a drafty gym in the basement of the Salem Lutheran Church in Bay Ridge, which is where they were rehearsing last November. The lighting was poor; the stage was small and obstructed by a basketball hoop; and the tinny acoustics masked any attempts the actors made to project their voices. From a director's standpoint, that gym might as well have been a thousand miles away from the bright marquee lights of Broadway.

Like many non-profit theaters across New York, Narrows is struggling to finance its productions, often relying on the passion of its members for donated funds and time. “Damn Yankees” was the group’s attempt to make ends meet.

Historical data shows that theater groups like Narrows are hit hard during recessions. Ticket sales declined sharply both in 1991 and 2002 in response to fluctuations in the economy, according to a study released earlier this year by the National Endowment for the Arts [http://www.arts.gov/news/news08/Theater.html]. The Alliance of Resident Theaters-New York [http://art-newyork.org] tracks over 300 non-profit theater groups in the city. Frances Black, director of member services for the alliance, said small theater groups have not been sheltered from the recession, even though their tickets are much cheaper than those sold for Broadway shows.

“It’s absolutely certain that our theaters are feeling the effects of the recession,” Black said. “We don’t think that every theater is going to survive forever. That’s never been the case and that never will be the case.”

But comparing non-profit groups with major theater companies is a matter of apples and oranges, she added. "No one gets into (community) theater because they really want to finance or market or balance the budget," she said. "It’s not like we’re selling a tangible product in a for-profit marketplace. We measure our success in how the audience feels when they leave the theater. It’s very intangible.”

Barry, the director of “Damn Yankees,” and its cast would probably agree. In spite of the lackluster rehearsal space, they practiced faithfully for eight weeks, readying themselves for November 6th, when the cast and crew moved their set and a few lights to the performance space in a local Catholic school for opening night. The school, St. Patrick’s, has hosted the theater group’s performances for five years, but cannot accommodate rehearsals due to the school’s own use of the space.

"Damn Yankees" opened to a crowd that filled less than one-third of the auditorium seats. About 75 people watched the two-and-a half-hour play that night, a worryingly small fraction of the total 1,000 tickets the theater group was hoping to sell over the course of six shows in order to break even. Money worries are particularly pressing right now for the theater, explained the theater’s president, Susan Huizinga. Confronted with its own economic difficulties and a dwindling congregation, Salem Lutheran Church – home of the poorly-lit but serviceable basement rehearsal space – has announced plans to permanently close its doors, forcing the theater group to find a new home, yet again.

Furthermore, Narrows Community Theater's savings are depleted. Poor tickets sales from a production of “Sweeney Todd” last year led to a loss of over $5,000, the first time in six years the group lost money on a production. Government cutbacks amid the Great Recession have slashed other consistent revenue streams as well, such as $5,000 Huizinga says the theater regularly received in state and city funds. The thought of buying their own rehearsal space is little more than a lofty dream. There simply isn't enough money to consider it.

Barry and Huizinga hoped the choice of producing a tried-and-true musical would improve their chances of breaking even this year. "Damn Yankees" cost them about $18,000 to produce, a large portion of which went to purchasing the show’s licensing rights. “We said, ‘Let’s do a more traditional show to get our demographics back,'” Barry said in the middle of the show’s run. “It will be telling what our receipts are this time.”

On the last night of the show’s six-performance run, Huizinga took a bow with the cast and belted out the closing number one last time. Beaming, she glanced out at a sea of people. The auditorium was packed.

"You gotta have heart! All you really need is heart! When the odds are saying you'll never win, that's when the grin should start!," the group chanted one final time. If anyone has heart it is certainly Huizinga. She estimated the theater sold 900 tickets during the play's run - probably enough to break even. For now, the theater group is not in jeopardy of closing its doors, she said, although it continues to search for an affordable rehearsal space to rent. “The audience - they keep coming back. They come to the show; they clap. They stop performers in the supermarket and say, ‘I loved you in that show.’ We haven't had a home or money for 38 years, but we've always performed,” Huizinga said. “We would perform in the streets. We will never close."