Stage Directions was very sorry to see the severe structural damage that Hurricane Ian wrought on the Venice Theatre in Venice, FL, which has been forced to cease all activities in the wake of the storm. It was reported that all staff and team were safe after the storm. The Venice Theatre is a very active community theater, working with American Association of Community Theatre (AACT) in fact, they recently hosted the AACT WorldFest June 24-26, 2022 and was due to host it for the fifth time in 2024. The Venice Theatre, which operates with a combination of staff and a large number of volunteers, has an operating budget of $4 million.
They posted these messages on their website and on the Venice Theatre’s Facebook Page:
“Due to the devastating impact and damage from Hurricane Ian, Venice Theatre is suspending all activity until further notice. We will be making announcements as soon as we have more information. Thank you for your calls and messages of support. With the help of our community, we will be back stronger than ever!”
“Thanks to all of you who have expressed love, concern, and offers to help after we suffered such severe damage from Hurricane Ian. Structural engineers are on site today to assess the situation. We know it will be difficult to recover from the loss of our largest performance space, but we’re deeply grateful that we have two other buildings on our campus that are in great shape. We love our community of patrons, donors, students and volunteers and with your help and support we will come back strong!”
We look forward to the Venice Theatre’s next act when they come back!
Further information from the Venice Theatre: https://venicetheatre.org/
