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Milton Theatre seeks support during mandated closure

March 29, 2020

Milton Theatre sent the following letter to its supporters March 24:

Hello Milton Theatre Family,

We hope this message finds you and everyone you love healthy and staying that way.

With the recent announcement from the governor of Delaware, we have had to make the difficult decision to close our operations indefinitely and have started rescheduling some of our events for the next few weeks. The closure of our venue means the loss of one of the things we love the most about downtown Milton. The theatre is a safe and happy place not just to us, but to all our patrons and it's not available right now. What saddens us more is that we're also unable to conduct our children's education program (musical theatre ensemble), in an interactive space where it belongs.

We'd like to be transparent and share with you the necessary steps and difficult choices we have taken to ensure that the Milton Theatre is still here once this crisis is over.

We have moved all operations via email; our remote staff is working extended flexible hours and will attend to all questions sent to boxoffice@miltontheatre.com. Please be patient as we attend to each and every case.

The Milton Theatre is different from other arts organizations as our operations are almost fully funded by ticket sales rather than grants. With a 98 percent drop in income due to the halt of ticket sales and mounting refund requests, we have reduced our operations costs by 95 percent.

Unfortunately, we also have to lay off nine of our beloved staff members and more than 20 contractors. Numerous artists’ and performers’ shows are now canceled. We're sharing this with you to illustrate the gravity of the situation.

At some point, the Milton Theatre will reopen. To rebound from this devastating crisis, we will need the performing arts to lift us, revive us and allow us to once again connect with our community. When that time comes, we will be here. The Milton Theatre has been around for more than 100 years and we intend to carry on.

All it takes is $400 to keep our daily operations going. If you have the means, please consider donating any amount as we weather this unprecedented storm. And thank you for your dedication ... you are the reason why we are here, today and tomorrow.

For more information or to donate, go to www.miltontheatre.com.

 

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