Foothill Theatre Company To Close

One of the ironies of spending a lot of time in local community theater is that I haven't been able to get out and about and see what the local professional companies are up to.

And, for some companies, it looks like I won't get a chance, either: Foothill Theatre Company is closing:

Foothill Theatre Co., western Nevada County’s only professional theater company, will close after the May 16 performance of “Bad Dates,” board president Lowell Robertson said Wednesday.

The closure after the last scheduled performance of the play — even though the comedy is in the black — comes after months of fundraising and marketing to get the struggling company onto sound financial footing.

Managers are looking for a warehouse where they can store the company’s sets, costumes and props, Robinson said.

Late last year, supporters donated about $190,000 to help the company finish its 2008 program and open the 2009 season.

“The loss of a professional theater company in our county will negatively impact our local economy well beyond the obvious effect on restaurants and the 10 FTC jobs lost,” Robinson said.

“In the long run, art defines and humanizes a civilization,” Robinson added. “The loss of any arts organization only degrades our society.”

It appears that small professional theater companies are the ones most likely to suffer in bad times, because they have to pay salaries, meagre though they may be, upon the slender reed of their small box office receipts.

Meanwhile, at DMTC, the first half of 2009 looks like a carbon copy of the first half of 2008. Last year, we began running behind around August 1st, and didn't catch up again until this February. All things being equal, I would expect the same thing this year.

Nevertheless, there are several reasons to believe the second half of 2009 will be considerably better at DMTC than the second half of 2008. For example, we finally impressed upon the landlord that we are not supposed to pay a higher-level of property tax, and thus we may be due a whompin' refund. When that comes, that will help with paying down loans.

[UPDATE: Dagnabit, apparently we are STILL stuck with higher-level property tax. Despite the fact that people learn all sorts of things here, DMTC is not an EDUCATIONAL institution, and thus eligible for the lower rate.

Well, maybe the second half of 2009 will be a carbon copy of the second half of 2008...]

In any event, condolences to the folks in Nevada City on their grave loss ....