TheatreWorks of Southern Indiana is taking a brief hiatus. Co-founder Chris Bundy, along with artistic director Jason Roseberry, who holds a doctorate in leadership, and managing director (and resident music director) Hannegan Roseberry, recently announced the company will pause as it considers its next steps, which include leaving its current physical location.
The company began producing shows in 2016 — and experienced four sold-out seasons producing shows in downtown New Albany prior to 2020, according to a recent release.
In spite of its success and aims to revive its crowd following the global shutdown, financial concerns led to the hiatus. The company is now exploring options for future spaces.
“It has been an amazing experience seeing the performing arts thrive in Downtown New Albany, but we want this organization to be self-sustainable so it can live on beyond us,” said Jason Roseberry in a recent release. “While we love our current facility, the number of available seats does not allow us to generate enough revenue to cover the cost of rent, utilities, and producing the shows. Instead of continuing on an unsustainable course, we want to take time to carefully consider next steps in order to create an organization like Clarksville Little Theatre or Hayswood Theatre in Corydon that will still be here 75 years from now.”
“It has been an immeasurable joy creating so many memorable performances with such wonderfully talented individuals,” said Hannegan Roseberry, the group’s managing director and resident music director, in a recent release. “Every production becomes a family, and we have been blessed beyond belief to work with so many artistic ‘families’ over the years. We also want to thank the loyal audience members who have supported our endeavors each season. The desire and talent for high-quality live performances in New Albany is most certainly there, but the financial aspects and infrastructure needed to support a volunteer-run performing arts organization in post-pandemic times just hasn’t been sustainable at our current location.”
The company recently rebranded their facility and invited others to co-share the space in the former historic Indiana State Bank Building (203 E. Main St.), becoming the New Albany Performing Arts Center. A performance in April 2022 was a huge success, according to the release, with a sold- out musical of “Big Fish”; 2023 led to another sold-out run with the “Humanity Festival of New Ten Minute Plays”, and a month-long touring SoIN Shakespeare Spring Tour of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” produced with the Arts Alliance of Southern Indiana.
A final musical will be performed in the group’s final location: Monty Python’s “Spamalot” will take place at the New Albany Performing Arts Center beginning Wednesday, May 10. Performances will run through May 21, Wednesday - Saturdays, 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Reservations can be made here.
Subscribe to LEO Daily newsletters.
Follow us: Google News | NewsBreak (coming soon) | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
