Even before Governor Ron DeSantis cited the Orlando Fringe Festival as justification for cutting state arts grants this year, the nonprofit was facing a number of challenges.

Just weeks after disappointing attendance numbers cast a shadow over May's Fringe Festival, a water leak at the Fringe ArtSpace on Church Street caused major damage and forced the postponement of the new OutFest, a celebration of queer theatre, as well as the hasty relocation of the annual Latin American Performing Arts Festival.

The leak heightened concerns about ArtSpace's costs to the 32-year-old organization – the oldest Fringe festival in the country – as the age and condition of its heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system suggest further costs are ahead. And the Fringe is responding to these setbacks with staff cuts: In recent weeks, three top executives – those responsible for production operations, marketing and communications, and fundraising development – have parted ways with the group.

“That's a lot for one organization to take on at once,” said interim executive director Scott Galbraith, who is contractually obligated to run Orlando Fringe, the annual program of short plays, concerts, comedy, magic and dance shows held at Loch Haven Park, until after the May 2025 festival. “This team does it with style, grace and finesse, but it's tough.”

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Galbraith was hired in February with a board mandate to create a strategic plan for the organization's future. The revamping of Orlando Fringe's job structure, the laborious and sometimes rocky integration of ArtSpace into the group and even the festival's lower attendance this year have all contributed to staff turnover, Galbraith said.

“These are all factors to some extent,” he said.

Operations manager Melissa Fritzinger, who first joined Fringe in 2011 as stage manager, joined the Fringe team in 2020 and was promoted to senior production in 2022, left the company at the end of June to take another job. She will now be sales and marketing manager for Minotaur Mazes, a traveling exhibition company that brings educational mazes to places like museums and zoos.

“It was an opportunity that presented itself to me and I found it really fascinating, so I took it,” said Fritzinger, who described her wide-ranging responsibilities as the Fringe's operations manager as follows: “I just did what needed to be done to keep the festival going.”

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Emma Parker Webber, who joined Fringe as development director in 2021, and Desiree Montes, who was hired in the hybrid role of artistic and marketing director in 2023, both confirmed they were no longer with the organization, without providing further details.

Consultants will be hired in production and marketing while Galbraith redefines the vacancies, he said. A new head of development will likely be hired more quickly.

Galbraith said Fringe ArtSpace, which opens in January 2023, has been particularly demanding on staff. Before taking over ArtSpace, which was leased from the city of Orlando with a mission to mentor emerging artists while offering a full theater program, the organization had to shift its focus from an annual festival with a few smaller events to a year-round programmer and producer.

“It was a tough one at ArtSpace,” Galbraith said. “Not that people didn't do a good job, but it takes a lot of time and effort.”

Combining ArtSpace, which he describes as a “mini performing arts center,” with the festival operation is like looking at “two different but complementary businesses that need to be brought together, and that is still a work in progress. Change takes time.”

The Fringe ArtSpace in downtown New York, in the 55 West complex, was flooded in June when a water pipe connected to the air conditioning system sprung a leak after an OUC contractor replaced a meter. Before the leak could be plugged, more than 13,000 gallons of water had rained down into the lobby “over a long period of time,” Galbraith said. The venue's main hall was also flooded.

To determine if there was water damage, two feet of drywall had to be cut out in the theater's foyer and seating area, and the stage paneling had to be removed.

The good news: “We're dry,” Galbraith said. “But now we have to go through the process of making it beautiful again.”

Bills for $40,000 have been received so far for water removal and drying, but Galbraith is confident that OUC and its contractor will cover those costs. However, he expects “tens of thousands” more to be spent as the space is renovated, and he notes that Fringe has already paid for the Latin American Performing Arts Festival's move to Trinity Preparatory School so the show can go on.

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“We wanted to make sure we were doing the right thing,” he said for partner Open Scene, which presents the annual festival.

“People have adapted to the move with ease,” said Thamara Bejarano, executive director of Open Scene. “Despite the challenges of the move, including the participants and the logistics of accommodation and transportation of the nearly 20 artists we brought from New York, Miami and Washington, DC, we handled everything successfully and gracefully.”

Galbraith said a planned interactive screening of “The Rocky Horror Show” will go ahead in July, although it will take place amid “sorry for the inconvenience” signs. But “if this is going to be a functional space, the air conditioning system will need to be extensively renovated or replaced. We fixed the air conditioning system with Band-Aids … very expensive Band-Aids.”

The city is currently helping to fund a new roof and air conditioning system for the Lowndes Shakespeare Center, a building it leases to Orlando Shakes for a nominal fee, similar to the Orlando Fringe. City officials have been vocal about keeping ArtSpace active to energize downtown. The Fringe's presence in the building was made possible by financial support from the city's Downtown Development Board.

A city spokeswoman noted that the lease for ArtSpace specifies that Orlando Fringe will pay for all maintenance costs, and noted that while the city owns the Shakespeare Center outright, it is a tenant of the 55 West complex, where it subleases ArtSpace to Orlando Fringe.

“Maintenance of the HVAC system is Fringe's responsibility as it is not included in the lease,” said city spokeswoman Ashley Papagni. “There was a due diligence review before the city handed over the space.”

Galbraith said the condition of the HVAC system is the subject of “ongoing discussions” with the city, “and it will remain that way.”

The money woes come at a difficult time not only for the Orlando Fringe Festival but for arts groups across the state that did not receive funding from Florida's four arts grant programs in this year's budget. At a press conference in June, DeSantis cited preventing taxpayer money from being allocated “to grants to things like the Fringe Festival, which is a sexual festival,” as his reasoning for cutting funding. Galbraith said the governor misrepresented the festival, which does have some adult shows but far more entertainment for all ages, including a popular Kids Fringe.

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Since then, the Orlando Fringe Festival has received a boost from supportive comments from other festivals and individuals, Galbraith said.

“To our friends and colleagues in Florida: We stand with you,” the Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals, of which Orlando Fringe is a member, wrote on its website. “Your work is invaluable and your voices matter.”

In addition, traffic to the Fringe's website and social media pages has increased since the governor's comments, Galbraith said, and supporters have made donations in response to a mass email outlining the situation at ArtSpace.

Despite the bright spots, it's “a lot to endure,” he said. But he finds comfort in the resilience of the Fringe, which endured several financial crises in its early days, and in the dedication of its staff.

“The extent to which employees have helped out and volunteered to take on a little extra has been really inspiring,” he said.

Follow me on facebook.com/matthew.j.palm or email me at [email protected]. For more arts news, visit OrlandoSentinel.com/entertainment.