UPDATE: Donations Bring Arizona Theatre Company Closer To Saving 50th Anniversary Season

Nearly 360 donors from Tucson and Phoenix have pledged or committed $220,000 toward Arizona Theatre Company's fund-raising goal to enable the company to produce its 2016-17 50th Anniversary Season.

As reported by BroadwayWorld, on June 27th, the Arizona Theatre Company (ATC) informed its subscribers and donors that its 50th Anniversary 2016-17 season will be cancelled unless a $2 million debt could be erased by July 1st.

Three days later, it was announced that Tucson business leader and board member Mike Kasser had guaranteed $1 million from the Tucson community if an equal amount can be raised through outreach efforts statewide. An anonymous donor provided $100,000 as a separate donation to extend the fund-raising deadline to July 15.

As of Thursday evening, 213 Tucson donors and 145 from Phoenix had contributed to the effort to raise $2 million by Friday, July 15. Additional pledges and commitments are pending, according to Lynne Wood Dusenberry, chair of the ATC Board of Trustees.

"We are encouraged by the response, but know we're heading into the stretch run next week and we need to accelerate the momentum," Dusenberry said. "It's wonderful to have both the Tucson and Phoenix communities behind us."

ATC Managing Director Billy Russo said that "we remain highly optimistic but know that if the necessary funds are not raised, ATC's options are very limited: Either we go on temporary hiatus to restructure the business model or close our doors. We are hopeful that the people of Arizona won't let that happen."

The state's only LORT Theatre, Arizona Theatre Company began as a community theatre in Tempe and now stages productions both there and in Phoenix. ATC has produced more than 200 plays, from the classics of Shakespeare, Shaw, and Moliere to the works of contemporary writers such as Shepard, Stoppard, and Fugard. ATC has also committed itself to the development and presentation of new works, both on the main-stage and through special programs.

The intended 2016-17 season includes two popular new plays from the most recent Broadway season, Mike Bartlett's KING CHARLES III and David Javerbaum's AN ACT OF GOD, followed by the classic musical, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF. The season's second half would include THE RIVER BRIDE by Marisela Treviño Orta, winner of the company's National Latino Playwriting Award, the Johnny Cash revue RING OF FIRE and Jeffrey Hatcher's new mystery, HOLMES AND WATSON.

Artistic Director David Ira Goldstein introduces the season in the video. Visit ArizonaTheatre.org.