December 2022 – 

Happy Holidays from the Francis Wilson Playhouse Board of Directors!

We hope you enjoyed the Holidays and are looking forward to a New Year that continues seeing post pandemic improvement in the quality of your lives. We at Francis Wilson Playhouse (FWP) have been happily bringing you it’s second full season, our 93rd since the impact of the pandemic was initially felt at the close of Brigadoon way back in March of 2019. Audiences have enjoyed Follies, The Drowsy Chaperone, and Once Upon a Mattress to date with Cat on a Hot Tin Roof opening on January 12th to be followed by Gypsy, Private Lives, and our last show of the season the blockbuster Beauty and the Beast! We will soon be announcing our 94th season which I promise will be full of the same high quality theater offerings you have come expect from us.

It is likely you are a bit tired of hearing how the pandemic impacted everyone around the world over the last three and half years and just want to get on with your lives as “they used to be”. Well, we in the world of the performing arts want to do the very same thing. Unfortunately, all arts organizations from Broadway in New York to the smallest of community theaters, including the Francis Wilson Playhouse, are still undergoing a significant financial impact from the pandemic. It is a sad fact that audience numbers are not at the same level as they were when Brigadoon was finishing its run in March 2019. Yes, you may have recently been at the theater when there was nearly a full house, but let me assure you that overall, our attendance levels have not returned to pre-pandemic times.

It takes a significant amount of funding to produce and present seven shows and four concerts in a single season. Our building, which is owned by FWP, is nearing its 100th birthday and requires a significant amount of upkeep, the expense of which is added to the production costs for the shows and concerts. We strive to keep the ticket price as low as possible so as many of our patrons can experience the joy of live theater as possible. We need your help to continue doing so and ask that as the end of the year approaches you consider making a tax-deductible donation to FWP. We will be forever grateful and your financial help whether it be by attending one of our shows, donating, or hopefully both will enable us to do so.

See you in the Lobby!

Lee Catalfomo

President – Francis Wilson Playhouse