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January 2012
To Our Friends of the Pewter Plough:
I know I'm not alone in being pestered daily by appeals for money from organizations, in many cases that we are very fond of, and we often feel badly (I know I do) if we can't afford to extend our support to such worthy causes during these trying times. That's all the more reason for our most sincere appreciation of your unwavering interest in and support of our remarkable little ol' theatrical institution, your community theatre in our 36th year!
One of my present concerns is our ability to pay back an emergency $35K loan for our required installation and construction during 2010 of a retrofit, automatic fire sprinkler and alarm system throughout our building, plus other improvements, a considerable undertaking which was quite expensive and was mandated by the County authorities. In order to secure the funding, we were extremely fortunate in receiving a low interest, anonymous loan from a very generous, longtime friend of the Playhouse, in honor of Lady O, my late wife Olga and co-founder ("Our Guardian Angel"). The sudden requirement of the sprinklers challenged our very existence, for only by installing the sprinkler system was the Playhouse allowed to continue in operation.
Back in '76, I built and founded the Pewter Plough Playhouse, with Lady O, and have underwritten it since then. This December, we will be celebrating the beginning of our 36th year of presenting uniquely high quality, pewterful (ooh!) productions, year round, a standard set from the very beginning, when we were dubbed the Jewel Box of Community Theatres, for our charming and distinctive atmosphere. Unfortunately, due to severe financial setbacks, I needed the loan to finance the sprinklers. The construction went very well, although it resulted in our being closed for much of 2010, and immediately after reopening, we began a fund drive to help repay the loan.
Any amount of contribution is sincerely appreciated (regrettably, not tax-deductible). A very special thank you to those who have already donated to our fund! All Sprinkler Fund Drive Angels are acknowledged in all our play programs and we have established five tiers for contributions (designated by ploughs in our playbill), ranging from $25 on up to $500 — any amount is most welcome! The tiers are as follows:
Actually, we have been blessed with many angels along the way of our 35 years, inspired by Lady O. Of course, our benefactor who came to our aid for the sprinkler loan and who was one of Lady O's most special pals (and who recently joined her in heavenly retirement). Then there was our first production, Look Homeward, Angel, which christened the Playhouse, and was brought up from L.A. with the full cast and crew by the producer for our inaugural grand opening. The original poster for that show has presided over our foyer ever since. Our Cambria Fire Chief, Mark Miller, has been an angel in greatly helping to make a very difficult project go as smoothly as possible. Other angels came to our aid last year, Henry Jaglom and Tanna Frederick, who brought their very successful L.A. show, Just 45 Minutes From Broadway, en mass up to the PPP, for a weekend of splendid performances. That group enjoyed the experience so much they are planning on coming back. Jack Heller recently brought his hit, Tennessee In the Summer, up for some rare performances. It's also possible that Tanna Frederick will be bringing her very successful L.A. show, Sylvia, with her in the starring role, up to the PPP for some benefit performances in 2012. Above all, we have been blessed with wonderful volunteer angel actors, crews and staff over the years who continue to make our shows a treasured reality!
We hope you will also become an angel to our Sprinkler Fund!
Please make contributions payable to the Pewter Plough Sprinkler Fund. Again, any amount is most welcome.
So, I hope to hear from you because the show must go on! — also, I look forward to seeing you during the course of an entertaining and exciting 2012!
Jim Buckley
Artistic Director and Founder
