Yates Memorial Centre where New West Theatre performs. November 25, 2022 (Credit: LNN)

By Sarah Jones

New West Theatre could face closure without community support

Nov 25, 2022 | 2:39 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – “Save Our Stage” is the title of a new fundraiser to prevent New West Theatre from closing.

After what the organization says was an extremely difficult year, post-pandemic recovery has been far from easy for the non-profit.

So much so, their financial situation has been dramatically affected by a decrease in ticket sales.

As a result, they’re turning to the public to raise enough money to battle growing expenses.

Board Chair for New West Theatre, Dawn Leite said “We were successful with ‘Decades’, which was our musical revue show in August, but [we] overestimated Lethbridge’s appetite for different programming.”

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She went on, “We saw significant shortfalls on ‘Next to Normal’ and ‘Barvinok’, and because of these audience shortfalls; we’re in a position now where we will be faced with a significant deficit throughout this year.”

New West Theatre is looking to raise $150,000 within the next two months in order to eliminate these deficits and ensure they can maintain operating costs.

The long-standing institution has been putting on performances in Lethbridge for over three decades and Leite hopes that the community can help raise these critical funds to save the group.

While the theatre troupe’s future remains up in the air, it’s possible they could close their doors without enough support or postpone future shows in 2023.

“We need to have a deeper investigation into our financial model, look at some sustainable models. We are funded in part by government funders, corporate sponsors, individual donors and ticket sales, so it’s having a conversation, are we maximizing revenue in all those areas?” Leite told Lethbridge News Now.

“This is the first time we’ve ever come to the community with a call like this before,” she added.

As of November 25, 2022, the Save our Stage fundraiser has received just over $10,000 since it kicked off on November 18.

People interested in helping New West Theatre can donate directly on its website, or can support their final show of the season, ‘Blockbuster’, which runs at the Yates Memorial Theatre from December 14 – 31, 2022.

Read more Lethbridge News Now.