Fueled by a $300,000 challenge, the Miller Theater has issued a plea to its supporters for contributions.
The Miller Theater created a video to introduce its “Raise the Curtain” campaign.
Phone calls to the Miller Theater and the Augusta Symphony resulted in an email containing a prepared statement from Levi Hill IV, the president of the Miller Theater’s board of directors.
“The Miller’s ‘Raise the Curtain’ campaign is a unique opportunity to give a tax deductible gift to the theater and have that gift matched dollar for dollar to help sustain the theater’s current and necessary operations,” the email read. “Thanks to a $300,000 matching commitment by two of our generous donors, the campaign is able to further leverage your gift to better ensure that the theater is ready to return life back to its stage. If you’ve enjoyed the Miller over the two years after its reopening and are anxious to return to live performances, help us to raise the curtain by making a tax deductible gift to the campaign. Remember, every dollar you give will return $2 to the theater. Thank you for your support.”
The Miller Theater opened on Broad Street in February 1940. It served as a performance venue and movie theater until 1984 when it closed. It sat vacant until 2005 when Peter Knox IV purchased the property, according to the Miller Theater website.
Knox gave the building to the Augusta Symphony, and it underwent a long renovation until finally opening its doors to a gala concert featuring former Augusta resident and Broadway performer Sutton Foster in January 2018.
The building was the site of numerous concerts and performances until the pandemic hit and closed the theater in March 2020.
In the video plea, Katherine Garcia, the theater’s assistant general manager said 55,000 patrons from 13,000 unique zip codes have attended the more than 200 performances at the theater since reopening. That generated $2.7 million in ticket revenue and resulted in $215,000 in taxes to the state of Georgia.
Not only do people attend performances, but they stay in local hotels, eat at downtown restaurants and visit shops. Garcia said 70% of patrons visit at least one other business on their trips to the Miller.
Garcia said the theater was listed in Pollstar’s Top 200 venues in the world all quarters the theater was opened.
The pandemic closure resulted in the cancellation or postponement of more than 60 shows.
“Theater operators across the country are battling to save their vital spaces with no revenues to offset expenses. It’s a difficult time for live entertainment globally. We at the Miller Theater are doing everything we can to reduce expenses, but there’s a limit as to what we can do,” Hill said in the video. “And with no revenue to offset expenses, we’re depleting our resources. We project that, really, live performances in the Miller and full-time operations will not resume until eight to 12 months.”
To make a donation or learn more about the Raise the Curtain campaign, visit millertheateraugusta.com.
Charmain Z. Brackett is the Features Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach her at charmain@theaugustapress.com
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