CMU School of Drama


Tuesday, September 08, 2009

About Face Theatre Erases Debt

Stage Directions: "Artistic Director Bonnie Metzgar and the About Face Board of Directors announced the success of their “Face the Future Campaign,” in a statement today. The campaign earned more than $200,000 for the company, erased debt and raised funds for artistic programming and the foundation of a new cash reserve. The success of the campaign has enabled the company to launch the upcoming season, including the all-new Chicago XYZ Festival, a showcase for innovative artists presenting work at all stages of development, sponsored by the Boeing Corporation."

2 comments:

Robert said...

I think that it is good that we are hearing of theaters that are coming out of debt instead of the theaters that you hear of that are going under or out of business because of money. i hop that some other theaters can do this so theater will stay alive throughout the world

Tom Strong said...

It's always nice to see that a theater or other organization is getting out of debt, but it would be better if they could do it through ticket sales instead of soliciting donations. If the root problem is that people don't want to buy the tickets then could the money be better used to put together some sort of educational campaign to persuade people to go to the theater, and by extension other theaters as well? As long as theaters need subsidies to run (whether they be government subsidies, private donations, or the like) it seems to me that it's a never-ending cycle where the subsidies only help them to make it until the next subsidy.