Poplar Bluff’s community theater The Stage Co. is once again seeking a new home, ideally a permanent one, after leaving its temporary headquarters in The Method Playhouse. Until they do, the city will lack live theater shows.
The Stage Co. moved into a community room at First United Methodist Church after leaving the Rodgers Theatre due to rising rent in 2021. The venue, called The Method Playhouse, was never intended to be permanent according to Stage Co. actor, director and board president David Carroll, who explained the departure is due to the church’s increased need for the space.
“When we moved into the Methodist church, we knew it was going to be a stopgap, a temporary measure. We were able to get in really because of COVID. It shut down a lot of the activities that the church was doing,” he said. Now that events are picking back up, “There’s just way too many scheduling issues between us and their use of that space.”
Board treasurer Hilary Taylor said the group would consider another temporary location, but hopes to find a permanent venue Downtown where they could operate without scheduling conflicts or limitations on shows, and rent the space out to offset costs.
“Theaters are usually located downtown, so we’d really like to be Downtown. There’s a building we really want to be in,” she said.
This building sits on Second Street and is in great structural shape, she continued.
“What we really need are some community partners. In speaking with the bank, we’re going to need some people in the community who want to be philanthropic ... willing to either donate a chunk of money so we have money to put down on a place, or be willing ... to help us sign with the bank for the purchase of that building,” Taylor said.
For the latter, a financial partnership with The Stage Co. would be unique because they are a nonprofit, so their profits are their operating costs. But Taylor said there are still benefits for potential donors of all kinds: it would be a solid tax write-off, the theater would provide free advertising in posters, programs and more, and the theater itself is unlikely to fail. In its 35 years since incorporation, the group has survived recessions, changes in venue, embezzlement and a pandemic.
“I don’t feel we are a risk financially because we have been around for so long, and we have overcome so much financial adversity,” Taylor said.
Poplar Bluff currently lacks any live theater. Its only group is The Center Stage out of Three Rivers College, which is on hiatus. Taylor hopes people see the value of community theaters that bring dramas, musicals and more from Broadway to local stages.
“We need some philanthropically-minded community members who’d be able to say, ‘We believe in The Stage Co. We believe our town needs the aesthetic (value) that comes with live theater and we believe in Downtown,’” she said.
The Stage Co. is expected to organize a fundraiser in the future.
The group is still open to another temporary solution as long as the venue is handicap accessible, Taylor and Carroll agreed.
It would need room for a stage, backstage area, wings and approximately 200 patrons.
“Our top priority is a permanent venue, but if we can find a temporary venue to tide us over... If that’s something that would let us start our season sooner, then we’d be willing to do that,” said Taylor.
Anyone interested in donating to The Stage Co. should email stagecopbmo@gmail.com.
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