North Shore Music Theatre closes
June 21, 2009
Sadly, the North Shore Music Theatre has closed:
Last week, North Shore announced it was $10 million in debt and would close for good.
The loss leaves a vacuum for suburbanites who don’t want to fight the traffic, or pay three-digit ticket prices, to see glossy productions at Boston venues. North Shore delivered fresh young performers, topnotch sets and costumes, and every now and then, a former star getting back into the song-and-dance biz.
At its peak, the theater drew more than 27,500 subscribers and some 300,000 people a year, making it the largest regional theater in New England.
The closing has led to finger-pointing and recriminations, with those loyal to former theater head Jon Kimbell accusing Ivan of poor management and blasting his decision to abandon the organization’s proven holiday-season winner, “A Christmas Carol.’’ But a closer look at the theater’s financial health in its tumultuous final years, which included a devastating 2005 fire and a staff revolt under Ivan, reveals that myriad factors played into the collapse.
More at: Boston Globe: Curtain, then finger-pointing at North Shore
