First, the Good News
Despite what we knew was going to be a very difficult year financially, the Mime Troupe has managed to complete this year's summer touring season! All artistic and support personnel having been paid for their hard work, hurray! The not-so-great news: still outstanding are various touring and production expenses that, normally, would at this point have been paid and forgotten. Though as most of us know, this is not a "normal" year - well, perhaps it's the New Normal, but that notion is taking awhile to settle in.
The Serious Stuff
Coming in to the summer touring season, we were facing funding reductions from all sides - courtesy of our friends on Wall Street - which we mentioned in our summer appeal letter, and repeatedly at all our shows. In order to make up the shortfall, cuts were made to the budget before rehearsals even began, and we set a goal of increasing our "passing the hat" revenue by 30%. While we did manage to reduce our production costs by about $20,000, we were unsuccessful in reaching the increased "hat" revenue goal, and in fact collected about 10% less than last year.
We've since made adjustments that significantly reduce our operating costs for the remainder of the year, enough to keep the Troupe on an even keel until it's time to put our Collective heads back together and write next year's show. Hey, if there's anything we know how to do - other than create hilarious, award-winning musical political satire - it's to live frugally.
What we are requesting of all our supporters now is to help us pay our outstanding 2010 production costs, and put us back on our feet for next season.
Our immediate financial need is $50,000.
If everyone on this email list were to contribute only $15 each, we would reach that goal!
How simple is that? Just as easy as it is for us to say "THANK YOU, YOU ROCK!"
