North Shore Music Theatre Closed For Good

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 6/16/09 at 1:30pm

"North Shore Music Theatre officials announced this morning that they have failed to raise enough money to stay open and are officially out of business.

Theater board chairman David Fellows said trustees will seek potential buyers and could declare bankruptcy.

'It is heartbreaking,' Fellows said. 'But realistically, our debts are overwhelming.'

This morning's announcement ends months of uncertainty about the future of the 54-year-old theater, which Fellows said is $10 million in debt.

Officials had hoped to reopen this summer with a shorter season by raising $2 million, but Fellows said the theater was only able to secure commitments for $500,000..."

http://www.salemnews.com/punews/local_story_167104015.html

Updated On: 6/16/09 at 01:30 PM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 6/16/09 at 1:34pm

[FlyingMonkey1223]

Posted: 6/16/09 at 1:50pm

How nice that the subscribers who already paid are "very unlikely" to get their money back. How professional.

[stagescreen]

Posted: 6/16/09 at 2:01pm

Unfortunately, when theaters go bankrupt, subscribers are often (more likely than not) the last to get their money back, if ever at all.

Banks and major creditors get their money first, pretty much making the subscriber take the short end of the stick.

It's sad, but that's the way the cookie crumbles.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 6/16/09 at 2:30pm

From an early 2008 article about departing artistic/producing director Jon Kimbell:

One reason Kimbell said he could leave now and feel good about the decision is because NSMT is in good standing.

?We have secured this organization for the next 25 years locally and nationally,? he said.




jon moves on

[fgreene1938]

Posted: 6/16/09 at 2:48pm

This is awful news. I live in the Boston area and have seen many shows at NSMT. It's a great facility and many Broadway musicals had their New England premiers not in Boston but at NSMT. Also, many BW stalwarts have often appeared here. It's a loss all the way around.

[bwaylvsong]

Posted: 6/16/09 at 3:30pm

I never got to see anything there! Ah well...

[taylorPHENOMENON2]

Posted: 6/16/09 at 3:32pm

There goes my summer.

I'm just happy I got to be at the last performance there. I'll miss that little spaceship of a theatre.

[CapnHook]

Posted: 6/16/09 at 3:34pm

Very very sad. I truly am shocked that someone who can afford to has not already bailed them out. If $1.5million is what they need, to a select few, that is a small piece of change...

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 6/16/09 at 3:41pm

Probably a case of investors not wanting to throw good money after bad. That "turn-around plan" didn't look particularly economically feasible to me.

[lovesclassics]

Posted: 6/16/09 at 4:39pm

Very, very sad news. They always put on high-quality shows.

The Reagle Players in Waltham is still alive and well, though. This summer they have Hello, Dolly! with Rachel York, Mame with Lee Meriwether, and La Cage Aux Folles with David Engel and Jamie Ross. I've always been impressed with their work, too. I have my tickets!

[Princeton78]

Posted: 6/16/09 at 7:55pm

This is sad, as this theatre was a piece of my childhood. I was dying to see as much theater as possible as a teenager, and since money didn't grow on trees, my parents could afford to send me there semi-frequently. In fact, from the ages of 12-16, every Christmas, my aunt would get me a season ticket...one ticket. And on the 2nd Wednesday night of each month between May and November, my dad would drop me at the door, and I'd go to my seat, wedged firmly between 2 little old ladies, and we'd talk about how they don't make shows like they used to. Those were the good days of NSMT.
About 8 years ago, they seemed to take a turn from putting on good old shows, to trying desperately to play Broadways most recent hits. Unfortunately, the crowds they usually played to-senior citizens, had little interest in that. They wanted to see Cathy Rigby in South Pacific, or Georgia Engel in Guys and Dolls. I miss those days. I'll miss NSMT. This is a shame.

[TimesSquareRegular]

Posted: 6/16/09 at 8:22pm

Sad news .... growing up in Rhode Island, both North Shore and Warwick were regular haunts for me.

[singtopher]

Posted: 6/16/09 at 8:25pm

I was just going to asked what the deal was this morning before this broke. Very sad indeed. My parents were born and raised in Beverly and we would go almost every summer growing up and one of our stops was a show at NSMT.

[taylorPHENOMENON2]

Posted: 6/16/09 at 9:54pm

According to the police they have been receiving a lot of threats from the subscribers who aren't getting their money back. HAH.

[Princeton78]

Posted: 6/16/09 at 9:55pm

Well, I don't blame them. Their prices have recently become very high and the quality of their productions has been very low as of late. I shudder when I think of their production of Hairspray back in '06.

[taylorPHENOMENON2]

Posted: 6/16/09 at 10:10pm

I certainly don't either.

I'm quite curious as to who will buy the property. Again, the people I talked to said there were a few who wanted to buy it and keep the theatre in tact. To which I'm not sure why they didn't just spend the money and keep the theatre running.

What a shame.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 6/17/09 at 1:05am

Yeah, I'm curious to know what will happen with the actual theater building. Where's Rosie O'Donnell to swoop in and help when you need her?

[fgreene1938]

Posted: 6/17/09 at 7:54am

It's true that NSMT's shift to more "current" musicals was misguided and probably contributed to this. Last season, they ditched their annual "A Christmas Carol" for a stage version of "High School Musical 2". Not exactly "South Pacific", is it?

[jennamajig]

Posted: 6/17/09 at 8:08am

I, too, was surprised by their replacement of the "A Christmas Carol" last season. Christmas needs a feel-good annual Christmas Show for the subscribers to bring their families to. They'd made lots of cash with High School Musical, but High School Musical 2 seems to be a curse for many a theater.

This does make me sad. I was lucky enough to win tickets to several of their productions that last couple of years, and the last show I saw there was Spelling Bee, which I actually thought was a good production that I already knew would work in the round. And their production of Bye Bye Birdie made me actually fall in love with the show - a show I'd actually strongly disliked beforehand.

But, I also disliked their production of Crazy for You. However, that might be more because of the show, rather than North Shore.

I hope someone buys the property, and maintains the theater. Though, I will say that the parking there is not fun. With once exit/entrance it could take me 25 minutes to get out of the parking lot :).

[adamgreer]

Posted: 6/17/09 at 8:24am

I'd be absolutely appalled if I were a subscriber and was told, "Oh well." That can't be at all legal.

[figaroindy]

Posted: 6/17/09 at 8:38am

Ummm, yes, it is legal - it's a bankruptcy - that means the creditors (those who are owed, be it tickets, shows, or actual bills) don't necessarily get what they're owed. Subscribers are no different than the electric company in that case. Seriously people, it's still a business. The same thing has been happening with opera companies around the company shutting their doors, etc. It's a rough economy. There are commercials on TV all the time about how to declare bankruptcy rather than pay your debts, and no one has a problem, but when a theater has to close because it can't go on, suddenly it's a huge shock that this can happen! Why don't we feel bad for the companies that don't get paid when an individual decides to declare bankruptcy rather than pay their debts?
Updated On: 6/17/09 at 08:38 AM

[Cearsgk]

Posted: 6/17/09 at 8:47am

Indeed I am appalled. My own little Bernie Madoff scandal. I suspect they knew when they took my money. They tried to change me the whole subscription, but at least they only got the deposit. I've been trying to get that back since February. Their productions were always wonderful, but the management always gave me an uncomfortable feeling.

The fabulous David Coffee is heartbroken. If only they had done A Christmas Carol for us old folks, instead of HSM2. Well, that was only one mistake.

[taylorPHENOMENON2]

Posted: 6/17/09 at 12:01pm

It was rather shocking for them to stray away from their A Christmas Carol tradition, but I can't say I blame them entirely. When they did High School Musical the year before it was a huge hit and was highly attended. They were one of two theatres in the country who got offered to do High School Musical 2. The only thing was that since the other theatre (sorry I can't remember which it is) was doing it first so the only time they were allowed to do so was during the holiday season. Quite a gamble, and it sure blew up in their faces.

[morosco]

Posted: 6/17/09 at 12:47pm

IF a subscriber paid by credit card can the issuing credit card company offer any remedy?