A play about romance produced a lot of love for the battle against cancer.
When Miracle Theatre puts on a performance, the proceeds are always earmarked for a local charity. This time the play was The Last Romance and the recipient was the Spirit of the North Healthcare Foundation for a very specific purpose. The theatre company's $52,144.12 donation is earmarked to help equip Prince George's new Breast Imaging Centre set to open this coming autumn.
"When a theatre production can come up with over $50,000 for a local charity, that shows the kind of town we all live in. Not only were so many eager to buy tickets, but they were so generous," said Anne Laughlin, co-founder of Miracle Theatre along with Ted Price.
"We hired some of our favourite actors from across Canada so we were sure audiences would enjoy the performances," Price said. "And the script has such an appealing story, but audiences were even more enthusiastic than we ever dared hope."
This is the second time Miracle Theatre has made its dramatic presence felt. The first production was last season's Miracle On South Division Street that raised more than $42,000, shared between the Salvation Army Food Bank and 27 Million Voices.
Price and Laughlin gave a breakdown of the play's finances to show how they arrived at their donation.
Revenues from The Last Romance were stated to be $68,341.34 from tickets and audience donations, $23,310 from sponsorships, $2,350.40 from concession sales and $5,419 from the intermission raffle.
"With gross revenues of $99,420.74 and $47,276.62 in costs, net proceeds came to $52,144.12," said Laughlin. "To equip the new Breast Imaging Centre, $500,000 must be raised locally. That's a lot of money, but it's so gratifying to know that people who really like theatre contributed a tenth of the funds the community needs."
Laughlin and Price attribute much of the projects success "to the high number and high calibre of volunteers who asked to be involved." They explained they enjoyed the support of exceptionally capable teams in the carpentry, costume, painting, accommodation and front-of-house departments.
Other non-profits have already approached Price and Laughlin to ask if these Prince George theatre professionals would consider donating their services again. Laughlin said, "The answer is yes. There are a lot of organizations we'd like to support."
Price added, "And we know so many other people want to support them, too. A good theatre production is such an enjoyable way for lots of people to come together over a couple of dozen evenings to do that very thing."
Announcements are pending as to which charities might be their next causes and which scripts might be on their production agenda.
