We’ve known for a while that the Pasadena Playhouse has been struggling financially. Sadly, the Playhouse will have to shut its doors for good on February 7^th. I was really bummed to hear about this—another business in trouble due to a bad economy. KPCC’s Alex Cohen spoke with Stephen Eich, executive director of the Pasadena Playhouse. You can listen to the interview here.

More from KPCC:

“In a statement, theater administrators said they’re starting a financial reorganization and possibly a bankruptcy filing. That’s because the theater hasn’t attracted a big donor to name the auditorium, corporate donations have dwindled, and the economy’s soured.

“The Pasadena Playhouse has tightened its belt before through staff and budget cuts. It’s staging the usually opulent ‘Camelot’ in a stripped-down version with eight actors.

The Playhouse building is a historic landmark. Many notable actors, including Dustin Hoffman and Gene Hackman, trod the boards there early in their careers.”

Mike Boehm from the L.A. Times reports:

“Executive director Stephen Eich said the playhouse is essentially out of cash and faces more than $500,000 in immediate bills, as well as payments on more than $1.5 million in bank loans and other debts that have dogged the nonprofit company since the mid-1990s. Thirty-seven employees learned at a staff meeting Thursday that they would be out of work.

“Eich said that tapping into $6 million donated for a capital campaign to refurbish the playhouse was not an option. “It just would not be any way for us to solve the problems of the place,” he said.

Eich said that he, longtime artistic director Sheldon Epps and the playhouse’s board will instead try to develop a plan to set the company on its feet, rather than keep it going on the hand-to-mouth basis that became impossible in a down economy that took a toll on donations.”

Click here to read the full article.

Again, this is really disappointing news. If you want to share a comment or photo about the Pasadena Playhouse, consider going to their Facebook page and showing your support. From the comments I’ve read so far, it looks like people are already coming together to work on a way to save the Playhouse.

Photo Courtesy of the Pasadena Playhouse

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