Modjeska Playhouse

08/18/2021

Hi everyone!

It’s been a while. We hope this message finds you safe and well. We’ve missed seeing your faces and entertaining all of you.

As you can imagine, this pandemic did a number on all of us at Modjeska Playhouse. We were in the middle of our run of Murder at Modjeska Manor in March 2020 when state and federal governments across the country mandated all live theater venues be shut down to combat the coronavirus.

Unfortunately, “Two weeks to stop the spread” turned into 18 months (and counting) of being completely dark and unable to conduct our normal theater operations.

Because we’ve been prohibited from producing live theater or holding in-person classes the last year and a half (our only forms of revenue), Modjeska Playhouse has incurred and is being held liable for more than $75,000 in back rent plus the cost of moving out – an exorbitant amount that we simply cannot cover on our own.

Throughout the pandemic, we’ve applied for several grants and disaster relief programs. But because we have an all-volunteer staff (with occasional freelance contractors), we didn’t qualify for most of them.

Our current lease expires this year at the end of August. Even though we have always been good tenants, and the 18-month shutdown was no fault of ours, our landlord is unwilling to work with us and made it clear they will not extend Modjeska Playhouse’s lease unless we immediately pay our past due rent, have our next lease paid in advance by an investor, and accept a 12% rent increase.

As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public benefit corporation, these demands far exceed our abilities.

Due to these unreasonable demands, we’ve been forced to close our current space and are humbly asking for your financial support to help keep our theater company operating. We never made a lot of money, but we were never in debt until now.

Having our own theater had been our dream since our high school days at Trabuco Hills. We feel lucky that we were able to live that dream, even with its untimely end. You all saw firsthand the hard work we put into making our theater a fun and welcome environment for performers and audiences. We were planning on being in that space for many years.

We’re proud of the work we have produced and the stories we have told. We’ve made many friends, from cast members all the way to you, our patrons. Many of you have supported us from our first show in the space (The 39 Steps). Some of you have been with us even before we had our theater. (Remember the shows in the park?) For that, we sincerely thank you. We will miss seeing you in the lobby before shows, hearing your reactions during shows, and spending a moment with you after shows. We won’t miss cleaning up the popcorn, though.

So, what’s next for Modjeska Playhouse? That’s a good question. While the current space is now closed, Modjeska Playhouse plans on continuing to operate as a theater company, just without a permanent home for the time being.

Modjeska Unscripted (our company improv group) intends to continue producing improvised plays at other venues soon. As for scripted works, we're looking to produce shows outdoors or in a touring capacity. We also look forward to bringing back our popular Unscripted Improv classes.

Of course, all of this is contingent on us getting out of this financial mess that’s been forced upon us.

If you'd like to help us, there are two ways you can do it:

1. GOFUNDME: We set up a GoFundMe page where you can donate whatever you can. Any amount is appreciated. Every single dollar will go towards getting the theatre company back on its feet.

2. OPEN HOUSE THEATER SALE THIS WEEKEND: This weekend (Aug 21-22, 10a-3p) we’re having an Open House Theater Sale at Modjeska Playhouse (21084 Bake Parkway, Suite 104, Lake Forest, CA 92630) where we’ll be selling pretty much anything and everything that was in our space, including an antique piano, our beautiful lobby bar made of reclaimed wood, our stage lights, and plenty of bookshelves, furniture, mirrors, and random props. We’re selling everything at prices to move.

From opening our doors with The 39 Steps in April 2015 to being voted “Best Theatre/Playhouse” by OC Weekly in 2019, we’ve had an amazing journey. With the help of your tax-deductible donations, you can help our theater company get back on its feet and continue to produce quality theater productions for our South Orange County community.

For up-to-date info, please visit mphstage.org.

We cannot thank you enough for your support.

Sincerely,

Christopher Sullivan, Joshua Stecker, and Joseph Alanes
Co-Artistic Directors, Modjeska Playhouse

https://gofund.me/6f35afae

Modjeska Playhouse needs your help. On March 12, 2020, Modjeska … Joshua Stecker needs your support for Help Support Modjeska Playhouse Theater Company

01/21/2021

Six years ago, Modjeska Playhouse signed a lease on a warehouse that would become a theater. This is what it looked like then. A lot has changed.

12/25/2020

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas, everyone!

We hope this email finds you safe, healthy, and enjoying this quarantined holiday season as best you can. In any normal year, we’d have just closed our annual production of A Very Merry Unscripted Christmas. But what is normal anymore?

As we write this message to you, Modjeska Playhouse sits like a time capsule from a pre-pandemic era. Our theater’s been dark since mid-March, but costumes and props from our last production still sit backstage, as if they’re anticipating the moment when we can all gather in-person again.

While being forced to cancel our entire 2020 season has been tough, both emotionally and financially, not producing A Very Merry Unscripted Christmas has been the toughest loss to handle. Not only is it our biggest revenue generator for the theater each year, but it’s also our favorite show to produce.

We’ve always enjoyed sharing in the spirit of the holiday season with our extended Modjeska Playhouse family and looked forward to decorating the lobby, passing out candy canes and popcorn, and seeing all of you after the show.

Sadly, we weren't able to improvise fun stories of Christmas and romance in the style of those cheesy Hallmark movies this year. So, as a favor to us this holiday season, we would love for you to watch a Hallmark Christmas movie and think about how we did it better!

2020 has been a rough year for all of us. As it stands today, we’re not sure what the future holds for Modjeska Playhouse. Like all theatre companies across the country, we sit and wait. Whatever happens next year, we thank all of you for coming along for the ride so far.

From all of us at Modjeska Playhouse, we wish you a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and best wishes for the New Year.

08/03/2020

All the world’s a stage... until there is a global pandemic.

Here is a little update on how all of the theaters are doing.

Everyone here at Modjeska misses seeing you!

Many theaters in Orange County and around the nation are struggling, even closing for good, during the coronavirus pandemic.

04/17/2020

You have seen him lurking in the lobby.

You have seen him in the light booth making us all look and sound good.

Now see him on "stage" in Social Distance Dustbowl number 3!

Max Sadler, everyone!

04/14/2020

Hello Everyone!

Today, we bring you another Social Distance Dustbowl performance!

Bryn DuBois is another former Tallship Sailor (There was a lot of music on those boats) and teacher who brings great energy to his playing.

Nothing says folk music like a California guy singing and old English folk song while playing a Mexican instrument.

More form Bryn coming soon!

04/09/2020

For our first Social Distance Dustbowl mini show we chose the incomprable and a little chatty John Kraus!

Many of you don't know one of Modjesk's Co-Artistic Directors, Christopher "Sully Sullivan spent many years sailing on and teaching aboard Tallships. It's here where John and Chris became friends and developed a mutual appreciation for sea shanties and traditional music. It's also where John learned from Chris one of his most popular songs, though he seldom gives him credit for it:)

John is the frontman of John Kraus and the Goers, a very non-traditional band that puts a modern twist on traditional sea shanties and a original tunes with traditional flare. Check out their website at https://johnkrausandthegoers.com and follow them on fb at https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=john%20kraus%20and%20the%20goers&epa=SEARCH_BOX

04/09/2020

Hello,

First, we hope we find you safe and healthy. We miss seeing everyone at shows. We miss doing them even more. Hopefully we will be back soon.

While a lot of theaters are performing plays via zoom or online, we thought we might try something a little different.

We were very excited to bring to you "Blowin' in the Wind, a Night of Folk Music." It was supposed to open in May and was a project that was dear to our hearts. We will still have the show at the theater when things get back to normal.

Until then, beginning tomorrow, we will have some of the artists perform short concerts from their living rooms/garages/backyards/ or wherever they please. We are calling it A Social Distance Dustbowl.

Be on the lookout for some great music in lo-fi settings.

04/04/2020

Five years ago we opened our first show. The 39 Steps was a great way to kick things off. Hopefully, we will be back on stage soon. We miss seeing you!

03/12/2020

A Message to our Patrons Regarding Coronavirus (COVID-19):

Due to the requests of our state government and our concerns for the health and safety of our patrons, Modjeska Playhouse is postponing all performances thru March 31, 2020.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you. However, the health and safety of our patrons is our number one priority.

As a small theatre company, we ask for your patience as we work out new performance dates for 'Unscripted Murder Mysteries: Murder at Modjeska Manor,’ which had performances scheduled through March 29, 2020.

We will follow-up with specific information regarding new performance dates and refund information within 48 hours.

In the meantime, actor auditions for ‘4,000 Miles’ are still scheduled for tonight at 6 p.m.

We appreciate your past patronage and look forward to seeing you at future Modjeska Playhouse events.