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Board to decide Cabrillo Theatre's future tonight [Ventura County Star, Calif. :: ](Ventura County Star (CA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) July 31--No one will come right out and say it because of the tentative nature of pledges during fundraising drives, but it looks as though the curtains will open on the 2014-15 season for the Cabrillo Music Theatre in Thousand Oaks as recent events climax with a board vote this evening. Cabrillo's board of directors meets Thursday to decide on next season amid what appears to be a successful fundraising campaign to plug what the performing company has called a $250,000 shortfall wrought from poor previous money-raising efforts, a city rental increase and a decline in season-ticket subscriptions. In May, Cabrillo announced that without an "immediate infusion of donations," its 2014-15 season would be unable to begin. It set a Friday deadline to raise at least $200,000 of the total, the hope being the rest could be raised via a few fundraising efforts in August, including a dance marathon this coming weekend at the Hillcrest Center for the Arts in Thousand Oaks and Cabrillo alumni events in New York and Los Angeles later in the month. As of Wednesday, the drive had raised almost $181,000 -- and that figure doesn't include a recent $30,000 pledge from local businessman-developer John Notter, a recent VIP sponsorship picked up from Anthem Blue Cross that's typically $20,000, proceeds from an all-day Monday event at Lazertag Extreme in Simi Valley, money raised from a silent auction and whatever amount was produced from an earlier singalong event at The Oaks Mall. They won't count those until the money is in hand, said Lewis Wilkenfeld, Cabrillo's artistic director. The Notter pledge came with a dollar-for-dollar matching challenge, but that already appears to be close at hand reading the accounting tea leaves. Cabrillo's 12-member board will vote Thursday on whether to proceed with the 2014-15 season. The board's vote, he said, won't solely be based on fundraising targets and will center on whether it feels Cabrillo can pay all the bills it's about to encumber for the upcoming season. Still, the drive appears to have put Cabrillo at or near its stated $250,000 goal, if the Notter and Anthem Blue Cross pledges are added to the $180,000 and considering the outstanding moneys from the Lazertag and other events. That also obviously doesn't factor in the dance marathon and other coming events; even Wilkenfeld sounds confident. "I'm enthusiastic," he said. "We are pleased. We think this is doable. But we need to keep going beyond our goal." He indicated that Cabrillo might need a little more money if season subscriptions continue to lag. Part of the $250,000 total would go to hire a staffer to raise money throughout the year in an effort to prevent this type of situation from recurring. It's been a true community grass-roots effort, Wilkenfeld noted. Money has come from some 720 donors. Outside of the Notter and Anthem Blue Cross boosts, he added, "we've accomplished this without any big donations." Cabrillo, one of three resident performing companies at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, wrapped its most recent season Sunday with a performance of the musical "Bye Bye Birdie." It is slated to put on "Memphis" (Nov. 14-23), "Company" (Jan. 23-Feb. 8), "Mary Poppins" (April 17-26) and "Oklahoma!" (July 17-26) in the coming season. For more information, go to cabrillomusictheatre.com. ___ (c)2014 Ventura County Star (Camarillo, Calif.) Visit Ventura County Star (Camarillo, Calif.) at www.vcstar.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |