UPDATED (12:28 p.m. Sept. 19): Virginia Repertory Theatre, Central Virginia’s largest professional theater company, says it’s on the verge of closing its doors for good unless it can raise $600,000 in the next two weeks.
In a press release that went out Thursday morning, the nonprofit stated that “without immediate intervention from donors, local and state government, and our patrons, the current production of Stephen King’s ‘Misery’ will be our last.”
The release goes on to say that Virginia Rep recently brought on a new leadership team to reinvigorate the theater company. This leadership team uncovered a deficit of $1.7 million and a further deficit of $1.6 million projected for the year to come, the release states.
“The deficit, combined with the turmoil surrounding last year’s leadership change, have resulted in the company’s coffers being empty. Some donors have withdrawn their support, causing an additional $500,000 shortfall,” Virginia Rep writes. “If we cannot make up that shortfall — and quickly — we will not have the time and opportunity to make the changes to our structure and programming necessary to survive. To be clear, we need an immediate infusion of more than $600,000 or we will be forced to close our doors in the coming weeks.”
Rick Hammerly, Virginia Rep’s artistic director for the past two and a half years, says that it wasn’t until about six weeks ago, when new managing director Klaus Schuller joined the company, that they realized how much they owed.
“He started to do a little forensic work on the books and looking at where we were in terms of debts and deficits and projections. The [debt] number we had been given, $600,000, all of the sudden tripled,” says Hammerly by phone. “I’m not going to lay blame on anyone for not getting [us] this information or not being transparent, or maybe not even knowing, but when we got down to brass tacks, we were in trouble by that amount.”
Emily Cole-Jones, managing director of ATLAS Partnership and the former associate managing director of Virginia Rep issued the following statement to Style Weekly:
“It’s very unfortunate. In our conversation with Klaus, we learned that the $1.7 million deficit in question is in reference to the [fiscal year] 2023-24 season (July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024). Phil Whiteway departed Virginia Rep in Aug. 2023. The audit issued by Keiter for the year ending June 30, 2023, showed a strong financial position immediately prior to Phil’s departure.”
Hammerly lauds Virginia Rep’s board for being willing to go public with their financial woes.
“I would rather let everyone know exactly where we are and get the help that we need than be standing here a month from now wishing that we had told more people or been more transparent,” he says. “There are some good, solid plans in place that would give Virginia Rep some short-term and longer-term financial stability. They’re good plans, but we need the bridge funds in order to enact them.”
The shuttering of Virginia Rep would be extremely damaging to the local theater community. The company regularly stages roughly a dozen shows a year from its three locations in Central Virginia and tours children’s shows throughout Virginia and other states. Between these shows and the company’s behind the scenes and support staff, Virginia Rep employs dozens of local theater professionals at any given time.
The November Theatre, the company’s headquarters on West Broad Street, also hosts the annual Richmond Theatre Community Circle Awards that recognize excellence in local theater (full disclosure: this reporter is a former member of the Richmond Theatre Community Circle).
Virginia Rep was formed in 2012 by the merger of Barksdale Theatre and Theatre IV. Barksdale began in 1953 when six actors from New York purchased the historic Hanover Tavern and created the nation’s first dinner theater. Separate from Barksdale, Theatre IV, Virginia’s first professional children’s theater, was formed in 1975 by Bruce Miller and Phil Whiteway. In 2001, after Barksdale ran into financial issues, the organizations joined forces but maintained separate boards, budgets and communication systems; leadership of Barksdale was transferred to Miller and Whiteway.
Miller officially stepped down as Virginia Rep’s artistic director in 2016, while Whiteway was removed from his position as the organization’s managing director by the Virginia Rep board last August. Whiteway sued, saying his departure was a result of age discrimination; Virginia Rep and Whiteway settled the lawsuit in May, with both parties declining to comment to the press. Since Whiteway’s departure from Virginia Rep, he and Miller have founded Whiteway Miller & Associates, a consulting firm for nonprofits.
Reached by phone Thursday, Miller declined to comment on Virginia Rep’s announcement, saying that he and Whiteway were “leaving this to our accountants and attorneys.”
Virginia Rep has undergone a series of other leadership changes recently. After serving four years as artistic director, Nathaniel Shaw left the organization in 2020. In 2022, the organization undertook a tripartite leadership model with Desirée Roots as artistic director for community, Todd D. Norris as artistic director for education and Hammerly as artistic director of programming. That same year, Virginia Rep purchased the old Scottish Rite Temple for $3.5 million to host its children’s programming.
This August, Schuller assumed the duties of managing director and Hammerly became sole artistic director; Roots’ position was dissolved.
Since the pandemic, many American theater companies have been forced to close or announce major cutbacks. Bad economic and demographic trends combined with a change in cultural habits caused by the pandemic have been brutal for theaters. Last year, The Washington Post reported that 25-30% of theater audiences hadn’t returned since the end of the pandemic shutdown.
Though Virginia Rep may be the largest theater company in town, Hammerly says they’re facing the same issues as everyone else, and that audiences are “not even close to where we were pre-pandemic.”
If Virginia Rep ultimately closes, Hammerly says he’d be devastated about its impact on the staff.
“We can’t let these people down. They’ve been working too hard,” he says. “If this organization goes under, they’re no longer able to pay their rent. Let me tell you, it’s hard to go to sleep at night when you’re worried about things like that.”
This story has been updated since it was first reported this morning. Virginia Rep has a donations page set up under “Save the Rep.”
