About Face Theatre announced Wed., Feb. 25, that it was in dire need of immediate cash donations in order to stay afloat.
To keep the nonprofit theater running, About Face launched an emergency national capital campaign called "Face the Future." The 13-year-old company dedicated to exploring gender and sexual identity issues seeks to raise $300,000.
"The recent economic downturn is having a devastating effect on the arts community nationwide and About Face is under intense financial strain," said About Face Theater artistic director Bonnie Metzgar in a prepared statement. "We have taken bold action by cutting budgets and programming, but it is not enough."
Indeed, Metzgar also announced that the 13-year-old company was postponing its spring world-premiere production of Ann-Marie Healy's What Once We Felt. About Face's current production of John C. Russell's comic drama Stupid Kids is set to finish its run on Sunday, March 8, at the Center on Halsted's Hoover-Leppen Theatre, 3656 N. Halsted.
About Face appears to be the first Chicago Equity theater company to face collapse amid the global economic crisis. Other companies around the country like Theatre de la Jeune Lune in Minneapolis and the Carousel Dinner Theatre in Akron, Ohio, have already shuttered in light of the financial downturn.
The loss of About Face would not only be a devastating blow to Chicago's LGTBQ and theater communities.
About Face biggest triumph was co-presenting the world premiere Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning Doug Wright drama I Am My Own Wife. Wright's one-man drama about an East German transvestite surviving both the Nazis and the Communists journeyed from Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art ( MCA ) to Broadway, London and around the world.
Another high-profile staging at the MCA was the world premiere of Stephen Flaherty and Frank Galati's Gertrude Stein musical, Loving Repeating. ( An original cast album was released on Jay Records. )
Other world premieres include Moisés Kaufman's production of Tennessee Williams' One Arm ( a co-production with Steppenwolf Theatre Company and Tectonic Theatre Project ) , Mary Zimmerman's Eleven Rooms of Proust ( a co-production with Lookingglass Theatre ) , the multi-award winning musical Winesburg, Ohio and Patricia Kane's cult hit lesbian musical, Pulp.
But equally important is About Face's Youth Theater, which works with Chicago-area LGTBQ teenagers on a local level.
"The Board of About Face remains confident that supporters around the country will join us in ensuring the future of this important cultural institution," said About Face Theatre Board President William Michel in a statement.
Donations to About Face Theatre can be made at www.aboutfacetheatre.com, by calling 773-784-8565 or by mailing a check to the company at 1222 W. Wilson, 2nd Floor West, Chicago, IL 60640. About Face also seeks artistic contributions via a Web-based video forum.