Theater leaders look towards city, empty retail space, for new location
Paradise Theatre has found a new home for its acting and singing classes but is still looking for somewhere to stage the musicals and classic plays of the small community troupe.
“We are excited to find a location for our classes and rehearsals for now,” Vicki Richards, who owns the Paradise with her husband Jeff, wrote in a statement to The Peninsula Gateway. “We will be renting the Irish Dance Studio on Jahn Avenue. We are very grateful to owner Patti Martig for making it available to us.”
But a large rent hike — to $8,500 from $2,000, not including utilities — means the theater is losing its current location near Seven Seas Brewery in Gig Harbor and can’t do another season there.
The theater’s board of directors is working to raise enough money through donations to keep the theater open for an additional season. The theater has started a GoFundMe campaign with a goal of $150,000.
The Paradise’s budget is about $180,000 a year. In addition to producing live shows each season, the group provides acting, singing and dance classes and a two-week art camp in the summer for local students.
Volunteers put on the shows and actors travel mainly from Kitsap County, Gig Harbor and the Key Peninsula to perform on the small stage. On average, the theater is home to 150 local actors.
The Paradise is the only live theater troupe in Gig Harbor, catching the attention of Mayor Kit Kuhn.
“I’m very supportive of Paradise Theatre,” he said. “They are the last public theater we have.”
At a City Council meeting in June, the mayor announced he was looking for funds to support the theater and was considering renting city property for the nonprofit to use.
“So far, the mayor has only offered $2,000 for the year available after Jan. 1,” Richards wrote The Gateway. “Not very promising to sustain theater for the community. He also had us look at the Masonic Lodge, which was too small and needed many upgrades.”
The last show the theater produced was “The Music Man,” whose run ended in August. The theater is looking to make use of the former Fred Meyer store in Olympic Village on Olympic Drive.
“At first, we thought it couldn’t be used for theater,” Richards wrote. “We have been to the city and the good news it is zoned for entertainment.”
She said she has been speaking with the building’s owner about using the space. Because the building is so large, she said, the theater would share the space with other local theater and art communities.
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“As a nonprofit, any reduced rent would be a tax benefit to the owner as well as make many community members extremely happy with what the property would be partly used for,” she said. “We are hoping we can come to an agreement that works for all parties.”
“This really is our last hope. We have looked at 30 or more properties in Gig Harbor. They either are too small, no parking, low ceilings, can’t be a theater, too expensive, etc.”
This story was originally published September 25, 2018 at 11:31 AM.