Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1241553
8 A Gathering Place Awaits– Mountain Play 2020 Sunday, May 3, 2020 Who can forget the drama of last season's thunderstorm cancellation of opening weekend and then the Red Flag Fire Advisory just two weeks later? What then felt like a tidal wave of natural threats to our production, looks like a walk in the park from where we sit now. What will it take to get back where we belong? What the pie charts at right show is how critical contributed income is to the success of a season, which is true even in a normal year. Last year was anything but normal. Despite receiving nearly $500,000 in donated income, the huge hit we took in lost ticket sales was more than $200,000. ankfully, our reserves held just enough to enable us to close out the year. And now comes another huge hurdle. Like other theaters and events, we had to cancel our current season due to the pandemic. But as we work to dismantle the infrastructure that was already in place for 2020's production of Hello, Dolly, sadly releasing all the cast and designers, crew, costumers and builders, we are still hard at work on our exciting 2021 season (see pages 16 & 17). is year we are faced with the challenge of sustaining our organization with no sources of earned revenue. To survive without ticket income, we must now throw ourselves full throttle into fundraising. For understandable reasons, performing arts are not on the top of people's minds right now. And yet our yearning for the arts to educate us, to comfort us, and to inspire us, is visible from the balconies of Italy to the creativity pouring from our computers. Let's make sure the neediest among us have enough to buy food and pay rent. Let's check in on our older neighbors. And let's wholeheartedly support our first responders, especially those nurses on the front lines. And then when the time is right, let's not forget the many people who bring us joy through music, dance and theater. We will need these artists to help with the healing process. So if you are among those who believe in the power of the arts to educate, to comfort and to heal, please dig deep if you can, to help sustain the Mountain Play through this strange and challenging year. If you do, we'll be right back where we belong - on the mountain in 2021! "Back Where We Belong!" Nearly $500,000 Donated In FY 2019 We are immensely grateful for the thousands of supporters who pitched in to bring GREASE to the mountain theatre. The role you play is essential to the survival of our century-old tradition. And this year we will need you more than ever, if we are to sustain the organization until we can gather again in 2021. If you are able to contribute, please go to www.Mountainplay.org and make a donation of any size. You'll be a Mountain Play hero!