CovidCoalition for the Bayou Playhouse

Friends of the arts:
 
We come to you with humble hearts during this difficult time we are all facing. The impact that COVID-19 has had on our community at large, as well as us personally, cuts so deep and on so many levels that we don’t even know where to begin to try and get our head above water. For the arts, it’s even more of an issue because what we do for a living tends to fall last place on everybody’s list of priorities – even during the good times.
 
Below, we will explain our costs, our situation with COVID-19, our planned future, and most importantly:
How you can help.
 
The current situation with COVID-19:
 
We have been forced to “go dark”, which means not producing any kind of magic on our stage for an indefinite amount of time. We absolutely plan to be back, but until this virus has lifted, we have no other choice, and remain compliant.  
 
Costs:
 
We humbly ask for your help to give us a fighting chance to stay open. Currently, we have done what we can do to reduce the running costs, however there is only so much resources before our bank runs dry. Below we have listed our reduced month-to-month, minimum costs, for complete transparency:
 
Our ongoing monthly costs are:
$500 – Rent
$285 – Utilities (on average)
$150 – Liability Insurance
$145 – Phone Line(s)
$75 – Storage
$70 – Financial software
$140 – Miscellaneous
 
This totals $1,365 monthly just for the overhead. This obviously doesn’t include production designs, paying our contract workers, actors, sets/materials, and show rights, which we will need to do when the time comes to turn the lights on again and get back to work.  Without productions, we don’t have income, and as you know, we also highly depend on individual sponsorships to help us meet our financial demands. We are in a fight to keep the Bayou Playhouse open and the magic of our theater alive.
 
THE FUTURE OF THE BAYOU PLAYHOUSE:
 
Our 2020 season was planned to be fun-filled, bringing in new events like concerts, open mic nights, film festivals, and art walks along with our season of scheduled theatrical shows.  We were so ready to implement these adventures for the community and for our performing troupe. For this to happen and to bring in even more performance opportunities, we need the help and participation of the community.
 
If the ‘Stay at Home’ order lifts by May, we plan to continue with our summer show of Annie Jr. in July, although that will unfortunately cancel out our older kids’ show that would normally mount at that time.
 
We will reschedule Crimes of the Heart - which was scheduled to open in April 2020 – at a date still TBD.
 
Thank you to the givers, the believers, the artists, the singers, our community - you have never given up on us. We are thankful to everyone, to every single one of you, who supports us every year; we could not do it without you.
 
Every little bit helps right now. With that being said, we are doing a $5 dollar campaign. If you are in the position to do so, please consider donating to it to keep our spirit alive. We understand times are rough, so we greatly appreciate any help. We have over 4,000 supporters on Facebook and newsletter subscribers and there is strength in numbers. Share, like, and pass it on – we just need the investment of our community, now more than ever.
 
We hope that with your contribution, we can remain open and come back stronger than ever with more to offer for the community and theater lovers alike.

Visit our website:
www.bayouplayhouse.com to learn more about us!