Beloved theater shuts down
After 25 years, Stage Door cancels its remaining shows
Broward Stage Door Theatre, the long-running company beloved for its stagings of Broadway musicals and Neil Simon comedies, has lowered its curtains after 25 years in Broward County, a spokesperson for the theater confirmed on Friday.
On Thursday, Stage Door scrapped the three remaining performances of its current musical, “My One and Only,” slated to run through March 24 at the Lauderhill Performing Arts Center. In a message posted on Stage Door’s website, the theater’s executive producer and cofounder, Derelle Bunn, wrote that all shows scheduled March 22-24 had been canceled.
“We regret to inform you that the remaining performances of MY ONE AND ONLY on March 22nd, 23rd & 24th are canceled,” begins the message, which was also re-posted on the theater’s Facebook page. “We were recently faced with extraordinary ticket refunds due to the unexpected cancellation caused by a cast member illness on March 10th followed by a late curtain call on Sunday March 17th. This has created a financial burden
upon the Stage Door that prevents us from bringing to you the remaining shows this weekend. Ticket sales cover less than 50% of our operational costs.”
The closing of Broward Stage Door Theatre leaves a deep void in the South Florida theater community, says Mark Traverso, board president of Slow Burn Theatre Company, which stages productions at Fort Lauderdale’s Broward Center for the Performing Arts.
“[Broward Stage Door] paved the way for a lot of local theater companies, and they staged a lot of great performances,” Traverso says. “I know from working for other theater companies that it’s really tough to keep asking for money year in and year out.”
Problems began mounting for Broward Stage Door on March 10, when a lead actor for “My One and Only” became ill, says Amanda Segur, general manager of Lauderhill Performing Arts Center. The performance was canceled – while the audience was already seated in the theater. Audiences received refunds for the show. Then, on March 17, “My One and Only” began an hour late, prompting some ticketbuyers to leave. Stage Door refunded that show as well.
Broward Stage Door, already struggling financially this season, didn’t “have enough financial support to finish its run of shows” after refunding customers, Segur says. Bunn, Stage Door’s co-founder, could not be reached for comment on Thursday or Friday despite texts and messages left on her voicemail.
Segur was surprised when Bunn announced on Thursday that Broward Stage Door was shutting down.
“It’s been a pretty hectic 24 hours,” Segur says. “We didn’t know it was coming. We really wanted to see the season continue because there’s a drive in the audience base to see Broadway performances in Lauderhill, but [Stage Door’s] financial difficulties forced them to close and file for bankruptcy.”
Last summer, Broward Stage Door left the theater it established 24 years ago in Margate and decamped to Lauderhill Performing Arts Center, where it staged five of its eight season shows in the venue’s 1,100-seat auditorium. Upcoming productions of “Ghost the Musical” (April 12-May 5), “Thoroughly Modern Millie” (May 24-June 16) and “The Soul of Motor City” (July 5-28) are also canceled.
Full refunds for Broward Stage Door Theatre patrons can be claimed by calling Lauderhill’s box office at 954-777-2055 or by emailing tickets@stagedoorfl.org. Advance ticketholders also can exchange passes for an upcoming Broadway theater series debuting in early 2020 at Lauderhill Performing Arts Center. Ticket-buyers with one or two Stage Door tickets can redeem them for a three-show package, while those with three or more tickets are eligible for an upgraded five-show package, Segur says.
Broward Stage Door is well-decorated in the local theater community. In January, the company picked up a Best Actress Carbonell Award nomination for its 2018 musical, “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.” In 2018, Stage Door won a pair of Carbonell Awards for its 2017 staging of the musical “Dreamgirls.”
Mary Damiano, the Carbonell Awards’ managing director, says Broward Stage Door commanded big ensemble casts for its musicals, and the theater’s demise means that “all that talent has lost a great, important outlet for work,” she says.
“A lot of people poked fun at [Stage Door],” Damiano says. “But you know what? They knew their audience, keeping alive these plays no one else was going to do. Neil Simon is an important chapter in theater.”
Damiano says Stage Door’s financial problems may have stemmed from the theater’s move to Lauderhill last summer. “The move cost them subscribers,” she says. “I was overhearing that ticket buyers didn’t renew because they wanted to take a wait-andsee attitude with the new venue. People didn’t want to make the extra drive.”