New West Theatre is looking to Lethbridge residents for help after low attendance left the group in financial trouble. The theatre is aiming to raise $150,000 to help pay operational costs to keep its doors open so it can begin planning a new year of shows.
“We were fortunate to weather the various closures during the past two years — we found unique and alternative ways to bring theatre into the homes of Lethbridgians and as we returned to the stage, we were excited to present programming that expanded the traditional offerings that New West Theatre audiences had come to know and love,” said board president Dawn Leite. “We took a risk on some bold programming and unfortunately our audiences told us that’s not what they are looking for at this time.”
Leite said she believes high inflation and decreased disposable income for individuals contributed to the low appetite for new programming and the theatre aims to adjust programming if the fundraising campaign is successful.
“Bringing back more of that family friendly programming that the New West Theatre audiences have come to love is certainly the first and foremost and I think we will shy away a little bit from those bold and risky decisions programming wise,” she said, adding that the board will look at a more sustainable funding model to keep it out of this situation in the future.
“Like most non-profit arts organizations, we rely on a combination of funding from public funders, corporate sponsors, private donors and ticket sales so evaluating all four of those sectors in terms of revenue generation and just really making sure that we are solid in our programming moving forward and that we are conservative in our estimates as it comes to audience attendance.”
Normally the theatre would be looking at the next year’s program at this time of year, but Leite said if the campaign is not a success, it will have to look at changing the day to day operations to stay afloat. “Any funds raised right now will be going directly to the theatre company which will be paying for various expenses, including salaries for the artists that we have on stage, rent, utilities, day to day operations. Without the funds, we will not be able to look forward to next season — we will not be able to begin that planning process until late spring, early summer,” she said.
The theatre has reserve funds to dip into, but Leite said they are not expected to last past January. She added the company will be able to predict how successful the campaign will be after a couple weeks and if it will have to evaluate the feasibility of New West Theatre going forward.
