TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

In this economy, catching a play at a local theater would seem to be an extravagance for many. Yet most Bakersfield theaters say either they've been unaffected by the recession or ticket sales have improved.

"In other parts of the state, I see professional theaters closing or sending out desperate appeals for donations, but that hasn't really happened here," said Mandy Rees, chairwoman of the Theatre Department at Cal State Bakersfield.

Ticket prices in Bakersfield are pretty reasonable, she said, and in the case of productions on campus, there's a built-in audience.

"Students will go to support their friends or as a class assignment," Rees said.

Attendance is up at Gaslight Melodrama Theatre & Music Hall, said producer and co-owner Linda Larma.

"I think more people are staying around home a little more and spending their dollars here instead of going to the coast," she said.

The 150-seat theater was sold out for the entire run of "My Big Fat Oildale Wedding," and several upcoming nights of current and future shows are sold out, too.

"The Skylight Zone," followed by "Auntie Ilenie Weenie's Halloween Hoedown" ran through Nov. 14. "Gaslight Holiday Extravaganza," a mix of Christmas-themed tales and holiday music, is today through Dec. 23.

Spotlight Theatre & Cafe said it is surviving because it recognizes that in a soft economy, the status quo isn't an option.

"We're reinventing ourselves," said sales and marketing director Alex Neal. "Instead of just accepting that people aren't going to be going out as often, we're spending more on advertising and letting people know we're still alive and doing well."

That effort includes aggressively pursuing new patrons, Neal said, and it seems to be working.

The second show of the season had record attendance for a non-musical, he said. That was "Grapes of Wrath," which ran Sept. 4 to 13. Last month's "Evil Dead, The Musical" was sold out on Oct. 17.

The theater's next show is "Secret Garden," based on the classic children's book. It opens Saturday.

The recession has made it harder to put on shows, but "we're still out there producing art," said Nyoka Jameson of Bakersfield Emerging Contemporary Artists, which puts on productions at a variety of venues and sponsors "Burn the Witch," an annual celebration of female artists.

The economy has in some ways made the local art scene richer, Jameson said.

"It forces more collaboration, because we all have to rely on each other," she said.