Capital Campaign for First Stage Theatre
Name A Seat

It has been almost 30 years since Village Theatre first raised its curtain with a lively production of How To Succeed in Business Without Even Trying in the beloved 1913 theatre now known to Village Theatre patrons and the community as First Stage.

Did you know that First Stage is one of King County’s oldest theatres and has been in continuous operation for nearly 100 years? Its charming façade has been a part of downtown Issaquah virtually since the town was founded. When the theatre first opened its doors, Issaquah was little more than a rough-and-tumble frontier mining town. Built to show silent movies, it was a small town gathering place for shows and movies. Its flat floor and movable seats also allowed it to host dances and graduations.

Today First Stage is home to our KIDSTAGE and Village Originals programs. Hundreds of rehearsals and dozens of performances take place in the venue each year. However, despite several repair and restoration projects over the past century, the building has deteriorated severely. There is no real foundation, and the performance and audience spaces are inadequate.

The reconstruction of First Stage is important not only for organizational growth, but even more importantly for educational program expansion, new musical development, and artistic excellence. It is vital that we upgrade the rehearsal, teaching and administrative spaces, and provide better, more desirable working conditions.

Each year, the KIDSTAGE classes, camps, and productions serve 2,000 young people ages 3-20. First developed as a summer program to engage kids in theatre and provide them with leadership opportunities, the KIDSTAGE program began shortly after Village Theatre was founded in 1979. Now, after nearly 30 years and boasting thousands of alumni, the year-round KIDSTAGE program is one of the leading theatre arts education programs in the region.

First Stage is also home to our Village Originals program dedicated to new musical development. Village Theatre is one of the foremost national leaders in the development of new musicals. Over the years, we have developed and nurtured more than 85 new musicals at First Stage. These musicals have enriched the musical theatre repertoire and gone on to productions throughout the country and Asia including: Off-Broadway in New York, Ford's Theatre and the Arena Stage in Washington DC, Pittsburgh Public, Marriott Lincolnshire in Chicago, Singapore, Taipei and London to name a few.

In March, Village Theatre had three new musicals playing in New York at the same time. Most notably, the new musical Next To Normal, which was also developed and produced at First Stage, opened last spring on Broadway to rave reviews. Next To Normal was up for 11 Tony nominations and won three of the prestigious awards! Now the blockbuster Million Dollar Quartet, which was also developed at First Stage and recently produced in our Mainstage season, is in previews and will open on Broadway April 11, 2010. Additionally, Village Theatre’s production of Signs of Life (formerly known as Terezin) was produced by Amas Theatre in New York City a few shorts weeks ago.

Village Theatre has embarked on a capital campaign to reconstruct First Stage. The reconstruction will include a flat floor equipped with new “telescoping” seating, which will retract to the back wall, making the space multi-functional for classes, rehearsals and special events. This new configuration will also allow Village Theatre to offer cabaret theatre, with table seating so that audiences can enjoy refreshments during performances.

Please consider making your gift or pledge now for two important reasons. First, we hope to break ground in April in order to take advantage of better weather conditions and complete the project for re-opening this fall.

Second, your gift now will allow us to leverage a national matching grant of $500,000. We have been awarded a prestigious Kresge Foundation Challenge Grant. We have already raised more than $650,000 toward the challenge; however, in order to be eligible to receive the Kresge grant, our goal is to meet their challenge by May 1, 2010.

Please join us in making a gift of whatever amount is meaningful to you. You can make an outright gift or pledge your support over a period of up to three years. Donors of $1,000 or more have the opportunity to Name A Seat with a permanent brass plaque engraved with your name in the new First Stage Theatre.

We are most grateful for your support to our Annual Fund. Please keep in mind that this request is for a special one-time extraordinary gift over and above that to support our Capital Campaign. Be assured that we are very grateful for your ongoing commitment and generous support. In these economic times funding for the arts has become even more difficult, and we deeply appreciate your continued support of high quality musical theatre in our community.

Contact Louise Kincaid at (425) 392-1942 x111 or lkincaid@villagetheatre.org for naming opportunities.