The last hope is gone for keeping The Matchbox theatre alive, with the 110-seat Red Deer venue expected to close in early June.
Founders Steve Ridge and his wife Cindy received notification this week from the Alberta Lottery Fund that they will not get a grant of up to $40,000, which was needed to help cover 2011 operating expenses.
Ridge said the denial is not a surprise, since two previous applications for this lotteries grant were turned down, based on limited available money and a wide range of applicants.
The Matchbox Foundation, which brought diverse music and theatre acts to Red Deer, had received a total of $94,000 from the province, mostly last year, said Ridge.
But the city of Red Deer never contributed money towards the venue, he added. And the Ridges personally subsidized The Matchbox in its first two years of operation when it received no grants at all.
They could not afford to keep doing this on an ongoing basis, said Ridge, who noted a $6,700 provincial grant was the only one received this year.
“We tried to bring diverse theatre and concerts to Red Deer, but it has not worked for music for a variety of reasons.”
While Red Deer seems to have a large audience for country and hard rock music, it has a limited one for jazz, folk or blues. Ridge said he would see the same faces turn up at a lot of concerts.
Only four out of about 130 concerts had to be cancelled due to abysmal ticket sales, but Ridge said many of the acts went ahead with only 20 people in the audience.
Ridge, who intends to continue The Matchbox Foundation to bring performers to town for concerts in the new Central Alberta Theatre venue downtown, said he’s learned some important lessons from the last few years.
“It’s true what they say about starving artists,” he said, noting many very talented singers and musicians struggle to make any money at their gigs.
Some performers The Matchbox brought in were Juno Award winners but were still largely unknown to the public and did not attract big crowds.
“What we’re going to do is bring in people who are very well known (to the CAT venue). If they are known, then people will come and see them,” he said — although this doesn’t always apply, since a Michelle Wright concert had to be cancelled due to low ticket sales.
Ignition Theatre has two more events happening at The Matchbox before it closes — the musical Title of Show, which opens on May 19, and an open house preview of its 2011-2012 season, which will go June 3. That will be the last event at The Matchbox.
Ignition Theatre’s artistic director Matt Grue has said most of next season’s productions will be staged at The Nickle Studio, upstairs at the Memorial Centre.
Ridge hopes to eventually reopen another local concert venue — but this time as part of a consortium of private investors who would look to purchase a property instead of leasing it. “That way you always have some equity.”
lmichelin@www.reddeeradvocate.com