Coronavirus Closings Leaves Small Arts Center Feeling 'Powerless'
LITTLETON, Colo. (CBS4) - In the heart of old downtown Littleton, the main stage of the Town Hall Arts Center is absent of actors and an audience.
"It feels very quiet and oddly too quiet," said Robert Michael Sanders, the center's Education Manager. "This place should be gearing up, staff should be presetting props, we should be getting ready in the box office for a matinee, and it's just eerie quiet."
The Town Hall Arts Center joined hundreds of other venues across the state and nation in canceling their shows and other programs.
"It's kind of like taking that rug and just pulling it out from underneath you and going now what? Now what are you going to do?" asked Sanders.
"You feel powerless and out of control and you just have to deal with it and roll with it and do the best that you can, and hopefully we'll be able to bounce back from it," said Matthew Kepler, the center's Programming Manager.
"Over 80% of our revenues is ticket sales," he stressed.
With no shows, there is no revenue.
Canceling the six remaining performances of their current show means the center is possibly out $15,000 - $20,000 of ticket revenue.
"We're hoping that most of our patrons who are financially able will turn that ticket value into a donation, instead of asking for a refund," he said while also emphasizing that those who would like refunds would be able to receive those.
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But donating the price of the ticket would be a small gesture which would go far to keeping the art alive and vibrant.
"We are artists, we create music and theater and we tell stories, and that's what we do," said Sanders. "When the time is right, whenever that is, start coming back, come back to live entertainment."