Will the Empress be Back?

1/30/09

By Marc Garman

In a recent telephone conversation, Empress Theatre manager Randy Bobst-McKay gave assurances that the answer to the above question is: ABSOLUTELY YES

According to McKay, The Vallejo Community Arts Foundation, which runs the Empress has been discussing ways to “re-tool the organization and make sure we are streamlined, fiscally responsible and economically sound given the fact that the economy is not at all what any of us thought it would be during the initial planning stages for this organization.” Mckay considers the temporary closure a necessary and positive step in ensuring that the theatre is able to continue for the long term. “It became clear that now is the time to do that while the organization is still fiscally sound, while all of our vendors are paid in full, while we're not in debt.” he continued to emphasize that it is better not to wait until “after you've dug yourself into a hole.”

“For us to do the kind of strategic planning that's really necessary … it wouldn't be possible for that to happen and for us to continue...to operate the theatre on a daily basis.” said McKay mentioning the fact that the Empress operates with a full time staff of only two.

Changes will take place both with internal policies as well as a fine tuning of the programming in order to capitalize on successes and determine why some events or features were less successful. The need for a responsive plan for the continued survival of the theatre in this difficult economy is the primary focus of the temporary closure.

If all goes as expected The Empress will return in six to eight weeks. The idea of re-thinking policies, sources of revenue (such as grants—with the help of Vallejo's grant writer Dan Armenta) and programming sounds like a sensible move. We look forward to the return of a fiscally leaner and more nimble Grande Dame lighting up downtown Vallejo in the near future.

Long live The Empress.