Back in February we first reported that Intiman Theatre, due to mismanagement, would need to raise $1 million by September or face closure. Though the 39-year-old Intiman reached its goal of raising half the money needed by the end of March, with the aid of a $100,000 matching donation from an anonymous donor, the theatre announced late last week that it has canceled the remainder of the 2011 season in order to further sort out its budget woes.
The following letter was posted on the “Impact Intiman” fundraising page on the theatre’s website on Friday.
The Board of Trustees votes to cancel the 2011 Season following All My Sons
As many of you know, the past several months have been extremely challenging for Intiman Theatre. While we recently announced that the initial Impact Intiman campaign benchmark was met and that we were launching our strategic planning phase of the campaign, the reality of our financial situation has made it necessary to reevaluate the potential for the current season.
As much as we had hoped to conduct a strategic plan while operating, it is evident that we need to close the 2011 season following the final performance of All My Sons on April 17. With our current income limitations there’s no alternative.
Our primary intent has and continues to be to preserve the future of Intiman – and our hope was to save the season, too. Simultaneous efforts to accomplish both are simply unattainable. While we are driven by that “show must go on” kind of determination, we must ensure that shows go on the Intiman stage for years and that can only happen if we pause, plan, and prepare for strong seasons in 2012 and beyond.
By canceling the current season, we preserve and protect the ability to serve the community in 2012, when the board intends to reopen the theatre and continue Intiman’s history of presenting this community with engaging art. We are still working through details of how this impacts our constituents and will have more information available in the next week. All ticket holders will receive information in the coming days.
The open support from the community has been very heartwarming. We know you want us to continue and we are grateful for your generosity during this time of repair and regrouping.
We are in the process of figuring out what will be needed for long-term viability. We will continue to communicate with our community in this process. We appreciate the patrons who have supported us during this time and we look forward to seeing you all again when the theatre returns.