The show may not go on

Community theater faces an uncertain future

A curtain call may be in store for the players of the Old Chapel Theatre — the group is wondering if the recent run of "Nightwatch" will be their last.

"It was a tough one," said theater founder Karen Kinch, of what might have been her final performance last Saturday. "I had to just force myself not to think about it before I stepped on the stage. The whole day I was thinking, 'My gosh, Karen. This is it. This is your last show. '"

Kinch recently announced she was engaged and planning to move to Alaska with her future husband. As owner of the Old Chapel Theatre, she has put the building up for sale.

"At this point in my life, I've made a decision that I want desperately to concentrate on my marriage and my children," she said.

This decision has left the future of the theater in jeopardy. Kinch subsidized the building's $1,350 monthly mortgage payments by teaching dance lessons during the day. But with her gone, the theater has lost its financial backing.

"I can't continue to make the payments on it if I'm not here," Kinch said. "The theater is obvioulsy in real jeopardy if it sells to someone else. It's come down to the wire."

Throughout the four years Kinch has been running the show, the Old Chapel on Third Street has been responsible for more than 17 productions.

"I remember the first show had something like two people in the audience," Kinch said.

Since then, the theater's audience has grown — and so have the actors' passion for it.

"It's a labor of love," Kinch said. "I fell in love with (theater) years ago, but the more you get to do the more you love it. Because it's not work. To those of us who are so passionate, we couldn't even imagine our lives without it. "

It was the passion of the volunteers that was responsible for creating the Old Chapel Theatre.

"There were five of us originally with this dream," Kinch said. "It was the love for the theater that pushed us into this. We knew there was an intense following because the (Big Bend) musicals would sell out. And we knew the talent was in the area.

"When we found out this building was available, I was terribly excited because I knew it would provide a real home for the theater."

Kinch said it was obvious to all how good of a venue the Chapel would be.

"When we walked in, it took us about five sentences to go, 'This would make such a charming little theater,'" she said. "We fell in love with the fact that there is no other building in this town that looks like this."

Despite the fact that the theater is run by volunteers, the group is at a break-even point financially. If it had to assume the monthly mortgage, it would break.

The group earns money with each performance, but that money goes directly to creating new sets, purchasing scripts, and paying for the royalties of each play, said Cynthia Dano, president of the theater's board.

"Basically, we're living hand to mouth," she said.

Other theaters hire employees to solicit funds through grant proposals and donations. But Kinch and Dano have jobs and families that prevent them from going that route.

"The two of us are so stretched," Kinch said. "We just don't have enough people to do the things that need to be done."

The focus shifts to keeping the building a theater. Kinch and Dano said they believe the 103-year old building qualifies for historic building status, but only in its original state — as a church.

Recent tax cuts have left the city of Moses Lake barely able to cover the necessities of basic operations, let alone extra money for the arts. Assuming the city provide financial help, there is little government money lying around. The city already funds the Moses Lake Museum and Arts Center as well as the Summer Concert Series, among other things.

"There are pretty tight laws concerning tax dollars," said Spencer Grigg, City Parks and Recreation Director. "The city is running on a very lean budget right now. It would be impossible for the city to come in and be the hero."

In the meantime, the building is on the market.

"We've had quite a few interested parties," Kinch said. But she added that prospective buyers have wanted to turn the building into a hair salon, a florist's shop, a day care, and even back into another church — all of which would leave the Old Chapel Theatre group without a venue.

Kinch and Dano are hoping that someone will buy the theater and keep it open for performances.

"My heart's desire would be that someone who had lots of money could keep the place going," Kinch said. "Money-wise the theater could make it if someone could cover the mortgage."

She hopes people will see the value of community theater.

"Any town that is a town has live theater," Kinch said. "It boils down to how bad Moses Lake wants it. There's something about live theater that you don't get at the movies. You feed off of that energy."

It remains to be seen if that energy will translate to continued performances.

The group has performances scheduled up to this October, but recent events have put any schedule in doubt.

Dano remains hopeful — about the near future, at least. "As long as the building doesn't sell, we'll go on to the next show."