Throughout the past couple of weeks, I’ve sort of just found my way onto the ballet beat. I wrote one story about the Texas Ballet Theater, then continued to follow the stories that came from it. The latest story I wrote, which ran in today’s paper, is about the theater needing to raise $1 million to $1.5 million in 60 days. If the theater doesn’t raise the money, it will go bankrupt. Click here to read the story:
Threatened by bankruptcy, the Texas Ballet Theater must raise $1 million to $1.5 million within the next 60 days or it will be forced to close.
Suzanne Charriere, president of the board of directors, says the theater currently owes about $800,000 for bills and has been unable to pay the costs needed to stay in business. It is three months overdue on rent, for instance, and owes $150,000 to Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth where the company regularly performs.
“Everything just kind of snowballed,” Ms. Charriere says. “We’re just living from one payroll to the next and not getting enough money.”
Ms. Charriere cites several reasons for the company’s financial woes. One of the Texas Ballet Theater’s longtime donors who gave $1 million to the company each year, she says, stopped donating two years ago because of personal reasons. The company has also been without a development director after eliminating the position three years ago. To help raise money, the company is organizing a “Save the Ballet” campaign, the details of which are still being discussed.
Word on the Street 