Photo by A.J. Magoon
Next Act Theatre - The Next Big Thing Fundraiser
Next Act Theatre's Managing Director Libby Amato (top left) with Artistic Director Cody Estle (top right) and donors Val and Gary Zamecnik (front left to right)
Mid-morning on a warm summer day, the excited sounds of children’s voices is audible in the lobby of Next Act Theatre (255 S. Water St.). The performance space at the edge of the Third Ward is home to Next Act and Renaissance Theaterworks, but also houses many other activities including cabaret shows and performances by smaller theater companies.
The children voices are from the Next Actors, one of Next Act’s educational outreach programs. The building has seen a lot of use since Next Act converted it from a crane bay into a theater 15 years ago and it’s time to mend and improve.
With those needs in mind, Val and Gary Zamecnik have offered Next Act a $50,000 match campaign running July 1 through December 31. According to the company’s managing director, Libby Amato, half of the money in the Next Big Thing campaign will go to much needed capital improvement and half towards productions. The Zamecniks’ have been longtime Next Act patrons, with Val even serving as a volunteer usher.
“After 15 years, things start to break down,” Amato explains. The rehearsal hall in particular needs a new floor and lighting to better serve as a space for staged readings and special events as well as rehearsals. The room will be renamed the Val and Gary Zamecnik Studio.
As for the theater itself, where audiences gather for four shows each season by Next Act and three from Renaissance, “It needs a facelift,” Amato continues. “It needs repainting, and the railings need to be fixed. The money will also allow us to get a new, state of the art light board that will allow us to present even higher quality art. And it all plays into using less energy.”
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Although Renaissance rents from Next Act, “we consider ourselves partners in this building,” Amato adds. “We love working with them and we’re creating a shared position, patron services manager, to oversee the box office, concessions, the front of house.”
Asked about Next Act’s mission, Amato says, “We want people to think, to talk about the plays they’ve just seen, to challenge preconceptions. We’re looking for new stories that will speak to our community” in a time when public and corporate funding cuts have become the rule. “It’s true for all theaters—we’re looking to individual contributors more than ever. It’s heartening to know that people believe in what we do.”
To participate in The Next Big Thing, visit nextact.org/donate or call (414) 278-0765.
