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VIRAL FUNDRAISING SAVES A THEATER

Submitted by giarts-ts-admin on February 17, 2009

The day after Christmas, Loretta Greco went into her office at the Magic Theater here, sat down at the computer and started e-mailing everyone she knew, asking them to e-mail everyone they knew.

Her plea was simple: Unless the Magic, which is famous for nurturing writers like Sam Shepard and Nilo Cruz and where Ms. Greco had been the artistic director since last April, could raise $350,000 in two weeks, it would have to cancel the rest of its season and possibly close its doors for good.

Thanks to the viral fund-raising appeal as well as donations from board members and a national arts foundation, the Magic met its goal on Jan. 12 and the third play of the season opened on Jan. 31. Still, with almost $600,000 of debt, the Magic is not yet out of the woods. Nor is another company in the area, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, which narrowly avoided canceling its 2009 summer season by raising $416,000 through a similar appeal early in December. Read More.