Secret Theatre
Dec. 29, 2017 By Nathaly Pesantez
The Secret Theatre has started another round of fundraising to help keep the Long Island City performance space afloat.
The GoFundMe campaign, created on Dec. 21, is looking to raise $20,000 to cover the costs of running the 99-seat theater at 44-02 23rd St. Richard Mazda, founder of the Secret Theatre, said the space is “in danger” of closing down for a variety of reasons.
“The Secret Theatre is in danger of shutting its doors due to the vicissitudes of the economy, fear about ongoing funding for the arts, and general 2017 malaise,” reads part of the fundraiser’s page. Mazda added that the theater could close down as soon as February if the fundraising goals aren’t met.
The first campaign for the theater, which celebrated 10 years in 2017, began in 2014. Mazda created the $10,000 Indiegogo campaign as a way to cover the costs of getting the correct permits in place for his theater. Mazda said at the time that the theater already makes slim profits from ticket sales, and did not budget for the fines related to occupancy permits.
The second campaign came about in late 2015, with a goal of raising $15,000 to save the theater from closing once more. Mazda noted that the increasing cost of rent in Long Island City has made running the theater much more difficult.
“With the increased costs we make less now than we did three years ago,” Mazda said.The campaign ran through January 2016, and raised over $10,300.
Now, the funds raised for this round will be used to pay for programming at the off-off-Broadway space. “If we are a successful the funds will be used to secure the immediate and mid-term future of The Secret,” reads part of the fundraising page.
The campaign has raised $1,515 as of Friday morning.
