By Daily Press staff
The Santa Monica Playhouse needs more than stocking stuffers this holiday season.
The theater group is $60,000 short of what it needs to raise by January in order to continue in its 11-month quest to buy the Fourth Street theater it has been renting for more than four decades.
“I wish it were more positive,” said Sandra Zeitzew, a theater spokeswoman. “We are hoping some holiday and community angels will be able to dig a little deeper in their pockets this holiday season and give the gift of enduring theater to the community.”
Under a deal by the landlord of the building, local attorney Jules Kievits, the theater company must meet regular predetermined fundraising benchmarks in order to stay in contention for buying the theater.
The Santa Monica Playhouse has been told its rent will be increased to more than $12,000 a month starting next January, but the venerable theater group can barely pay the $10,000-a-month rent for its prime downtown location on Fourth Street between Wilshire Boulevard and Arizona Avenue.
However, Kievits isn’t viewed as the villain. He is giving the theater group 18 months to raise $400,000 to buy the building. Every six months the group must reach fundraising milestones, or risk losing it all.
So far the theater has raised more than $90,000. The city has pledged it will kick in $75,000 if the theater raises $125,000 on its own.
Donations have been pouring in from around the world, and the theater has been putting on benefit performances and conducting fundraising drives. For the past year, the theater has been able to meet its benchmarks, but unless more donations start to roll in, theater officials worry they won’t make next month’s deadline of $150,000.
“We are at a critical moment in Playhouse in that we are short of our goal of raising enough funds to keep the deal alive for us to buy the building,” Zeitzew said.
Donations, which are tax deductible, to the Save The Playhouse fund at Santa Monica Playhouse can be sent directly to Santa Monica Playhouse 1211 4th St., Santa Monica, CA, 90401, or call (310) 394-9779 ext. 555.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 16, 2002. Read the original PDF.