Happy Ending to Act One as Playhouse Meets Fundraising Goal

By Jorge Casuso

June 6 -- Unlike the nail-biting climaxes to the first two scenes, it didn’t come down to the wire Wednesday night as the curtain dropped on act one of the real-life fundraising saga to save the Santa Monica Playhouse.

With a whole three hours to spare before the midnight deadline, cheers erupted as a pledge was phoned in at around 9 p.m., pushing the amount donated over the $500,000 goal.

The money raised over the past year and a half will allow playhouse officials to begin negotiations to purchase the old brick building facing a Promenade alley that has been the theater’s home for more than 40 years.

"This incredible outpouring of support and financial commitment is overwhelming," said Save-the-Playhouse Parents' Committee Chair Tamarah Ashton-Coombs. "Of course, there is much more work ahead in the quest to own our space, which will cost far more than the money raised to date, but this milestone is the most critical.”

Supporters, phone bank volunteers and workshop participants and their families watched as the number marked on he fundraising thermometer dwindled from $12,000 needed Tuesday night to $10,000 Wednesday to $1,200 after nightfall.

“It wasn’t quite as last-minute as the last two,” said Sandra Zeitzew, the playhouse’s director of public relations, referring to the first two fundraising deadlines that came down to the final minutes. “We were waiting and waiting, watching the number get smaller and smaller. It was motivating.”

The fundraising effort, which kicked off in December 2002, has seen an outpouring of community support -- from kids pitching in pocket change and supporters purchasing $100 bricks to alumni contributing thousands of dollars and the City donating a $75,000 matching grant.

“The list of people to thank is awesome and we are grateful to everyone who reached out to show us how the Playhouse has touched their lives, from the youngest members of our pre-school workshop to the octogenarians who have been coming here since the theatre opened its doors in 1962," Playhouse Co-Artistic Director Evelyn Rudie wrote in an email to supporters.

"We're thrilled the Playhouse will be a permanent part of Santa Monica's cultural scene, particularly because it so admirably serves our young people," said Mayor Pro Tempore Kevin McKeown. “This is a great day for Santa Monica, for kids, for the arts and for downtown."

The drama isn’t over. The curtain will now rise on act two -- the negotiations to purchase the building at 1211 4th Street. Playhouse officials will be meeting with key advisors and specialists to map out the specifics and to plot a time line, Zeitzew said.

“Now we sit down and hammer out the details of how the deal is going to be structured,” Zeitzew said. “All along we’ve had the first right to buy. Now we have to have it written up in a contract.”

Playhouse officials also must continue looking for money to purchase the property, which is located in one of the most expensive areas in Southern California.

“We now have to go to the corporations, banks and the bigger organizations to get more money,” Zeitzew said. “This (the $500,000) is the amount that would get us into escrow.”