Actor’s Express faces a cash crisis

Brian Kurlander and Lane Carlock in “Albatross” at Actor’s Express last fall
When Actor’s Express presents its Curtains Up Cabaret March 28-29, the fundraiser may resemble the kind of near-death experience that causes your life to flash before your eyes. The brainy, ballsy playhouse is seeking emergency assistance to weather a major cash-flow crisis, so next week’s production presents a revue of tunes from the theater’s recent history, drawing on Grey Gardens, Hedwig & the Angry Inch and The Great American Trailer Park Musical.

Actor’s Express is the latest in a depressingly long line of Atlanta theaters and arts organizations that have sent out an SOS during the Great Recession. In a Feb. 23 e-mail, artistic director Freddie Ashley announced that, without immediate support, the playhouse “will be forced to close [its] doors. Specifically, to save Actor’s Express, we need $50,000 over the next four weeks, and an additional $150,000 over the next four months.”

For the past decade, most theaters have been forced to adjust to reductions in corporate philanthropic support, a trend that accelerated during the recent economic slump. The drop in funding combined with two risky new plays’ failure to meet income projections has put the Express’s life in jeopardy, according to Ashley. Fortunately, the playhouse succeeded in meeting its initial $50,000 goal over the opening weekend of its new show See What I Wanna See, March 18-20. But its current shortfall illustrates the financial challenges of Actor’s Express’s bold approach to theater.

The loss of Actor’s Express would be a massive blow to Atlanta’s cultural life. If Actor’s Express falls short of its financial goals, it won’t be because the theater failed us.