Our home is in the basement of an old building, which is in need of countless major repairs. We are not able to afford the rental cost of a comparable Manhattan location, and therefore must manage the problems that come along with an old space in order to keep our theater running. However, we are not able to do it alone. We are looking to raise up to $50,000 to go towards these renovations. Please take a look at our campaign breakdown and consider donating to this much needed cause...
RENOVATIONS
Rebuild Platforms for Audience
Details: Our seating capacity is currently 60. We have five permanent risers for our audience, each with eight seats, and a 6th row of eight on the floor. There is space available for a 7th row on the floor to make a total of 56 seats. Problems with the existing platforms include slight bowing in the middle where the wood has warped over time and somewhat unstable stairs leading up to the lighting booth, located at the top left corner of the risers. The general construction was done for speed rather than longevity and it is beginning to come back and haunt us. We would like to rebuild these platforms to increase our seating capacity as well as to create a more solid structure. Each seating platform can be shortened, which will allow us to add another row of seating. We would like to move our lighting booth into the existing balcony above the audience, which will allow the top few rows of seats to extend out to house left and right walls.These modifications would improve the look and comfort of our seating as well as allow for an additional 15 audience members, bringing us up to the maximum allowed seating for a theater of our size.
Rebuild Balcony Platform
How this would help us and our community: It would increase our desirability for rentals and, therefore, allow us to raise our rental prices. (Please see the pictures below.)
Details: Our theater has a multi-functional balcony platform that serves as access to an exit door, a secondary playing space, and it allows us to use more or less of our floor space as a backstage space area by simply moving the masking curtains. The current structure is 11 years old and is beginning to show wear and tear. The main 4x4 support beams have been exposed to water, termites and changes in humidity over the years, causing them to warp and weaken. This structure needs to be rebuilt or replaced. The staircases leading up to the balcony are currently built between the end of the balcony and the wall, leaving a large gap for no good reason. To optimize its use both as a secondary playing space and a backstage area, it should be built flush against the back wall. We plan to replace the two existing staircases with one on the stage right side. This would significantly increase the depth of our stage.
Lay a Wood Stage
How this would help us and our community: It would increase our desirability for rentals and, therefore, allow us to raise our rental prices.
Details: We currently have a concrete stage floor. Laying a wood floor would improve our space tremendously. It would improve sightlines and create a much safer environment for everyone working in the space. It would also allow us to incorporate dance into our repertoire. Not only would this increase our desirability to other theater companies as a rental space, allowing us to accommodate dance as well as traditional theatrical productions, it would also allow us to present our own dance and movement-based productions in a space that has not accommodated this up to now. The floor would be approximately 5-6" off the ground and cover approximately 22' x 22'.
BUILDING MAINTENANCE
Electrics
How this would help us and our community: It would allow us to function with more efficiency and professionality. We would present a safer environment, with minimal power surges and failures, and to be able to focus more energy to the artistic vision.
Details: Due to the age and state of the building we occupy, we are consistently plagued with electric failures, blown fuses and power shortages in our theatrical lighting, work lighting, as well as our general office and hallway lights. We have numerous outlets that are not currently working, forcing us to plug multiple power strips into each functional outlet. Fuses blow every week, which in turn affects the church and apartments that occupy the building above us. We face each day hoping the lights will not go out during a performance. We are in dire need of a professional electrician to do a consultation, assess the situation, and find a solution that will give us a consistent power supply.
We have no good source of Work or House lighting. This causes our artists and rental clients to rely heavily on our theatrical lighting to illuminate the space for work and rehearsal. This places a heavy burden on our dimmer system, shortens the lamp life of our theatrical fixtures, and increases energy use overall. This problem can be remedied by purchasing and installing new instruments in conjunction with the above improvements/repairs.
Ceiling
How this would help us and our community: It would create a safe and secure space as well as improve the overall aesthetic quality to be more pleasant and inviting.
Details: A section of the ceiling above the audience area of the theater has has begun to crumble and fall. Our landlord has agreed to fix it, if we rent a scaffold. However, this is quite costly. This is a major hazard to everyone coming through the space and we are understandably eager to fix it as soon as possible.
Leak
How this would help us and our community: It would improve the overall aesthetic quality to be a more pleasant and inviting space.
Details: We are located in the basement of our building. Therefore, all drainage problems in the building come down to us. The primary problem is a big rain leak in the middle of our space where the dressing rooms meet the hallway and theater entrance. When it rains lightly the water runs down the wall and into a drain in the floor. Heavy rain brings a large downpour of water that we attempt to deal with by placing a barrage of trashcans underneath. Audience members and actors must walk past this leak to enter the theater. Periodically the main sewer drain for the building will clog, causing this leak to back up and flood our hallway, lobby and office area, where our computers and other important equipment are located. A number of years ago we had contractors seal cracks in the roof (five floors up) around the main drainage pipe in hopes that if the rainwater was completely diverted into the drain pipe and not allowed to leak into the building through other cracks it would fix the problem. Unfortunately it did not work. This means that, in order to fix this leak, a professional plumber would have to be retained to tear down walls throughout the building, hunt for damages and replace all compromised pipes or fixtures that were found until the leaking stopped. Then, of course, all walls would have to be rebuilt. This is a huge undertaking that we cannot afford at this time.
Additionally there are other over-taxed, under-maintained drains in our basement space that fail, causing flooding periodically. A thorough re-haul by a plumber would do wonders for the cleanliness and functionality of our space.
