Final week of ‘Les Miserables’ at Chubbuck theater
This is the final week to grab your tickets and go see the performance of “Les Miserables” at the Mystique Performing Arts and Events Center, but tickets are quickly selling out.
Theater owner Larry Fisher said the final show takes place on Saturday, Nov. 8, but the out-pour of support from the community has led to an encore performance this Thursday evening.
“We have had a lot of people who come in from…out of town and come to the theater for the first time who are just amazed and can’t believe this is local community theater,” Fisher said regarding the local talent who make up the cast.
He said even with the community’s support, ticket sales usually only make up between 50 and 60 percent of the theater’s income, so it relies heavily on grants and sponsorships, which tend to be hard to come by.
“Our community has really supported us, and we are still running in the red and not making a profit, but we are getting closer and changing things as we need to and hope that in the future things will get better,” he added.
He said half of the local community theaters across the country went under during the recession, and in 2012 the Mystique was sold to the Fisher family before it was forced to go out of business as well.
But this year, things are looking up for the theater.
Fisher said the theater is in the process of becoming a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, but in the meantime, it still needs local donations to stay afloat.
After the showing of “Les Miserables” the theater will have two shows coming up, “A Christmas Story,” which will be a musical, and “Every Christmas Story Ever Told,” which will be a comedy straight play.