Wheat Ridge Theatre Company Closes, Citing Financial Struggles Amid Denver’s Theater Crisis

After five years of bringing local theater to the community, Wheat Ridge Theatre Company is preparing to close its doors by the end of 2024. On October 27, executive producer Dr. Maru Garcia shared on Facebook that mounting financial issues and board changes pushed the company to the brink.

"It is closing for financial reasons," Garcia tells Westword. "When I started the company, I promised to support it financially through my business [Early Childhood Hours]. I expected my business to grow, but it stagnated. As a result, I was unable to fully cover the cost, and we are currently behind on our rent. We always pay the creative team; that is our top priority. But between the performance rights, rent and the Xcel Energy bill, it just became too much, and we're exhausted."

Garcia confirms that the season's final productions, Mindgame and Scrooge in Rouge, will proceed as planned. The company, which was founded in 2019, secured a permanent venue at 5455 West 38th Avenue in Wheat Ridge's Chase Plaza in mid-2022 — a rare achievement for a smaller theater group. Through its performances, the troupe established a reputation as a welcoming space for diverse voices and new works.
For Garcia, who has been in the theater biz for thirty years, it was a testament to her roots. However, financial strain has intensified over the past year, resulting in a $16,000 rent deficit. Despite Wheat Ridge Theatre's growing audience, Garcia says the company still struggles to cover monthly expenses, which include $4,200 in rent, performance rights, creative team stipends and utility bills.

“We’re behind in rent, and unfortunately, public funding isn’t available to us for another two years,” Garcia shares. "Many of the grants are only available to companies after five years of nonprofit status, which we achieved in 2022, so we will not be able to access SCFD and Colorado Gives Day funds until January 2027."

While ticket sales have improved and smaller sponsorships help with some expenses, it has not been enough to offset Wheat Ridge’s operational needs. As the board tried to shoulder more responsibility, exhaustion among its members grew.

"Since last September, all of the boardmembers have begun to feel the financial struggle, which has caused stress in all of us," Garcia says. "Many of the members of the board of directors jumped in and took over more responsibilities. But we all got tired of taking on more because we all have jobs and other responsibilities, and it became more stressful. If we had the money, we'd hire someone to run the company, run the box office, get supplies and clean the space, but we're a small company, so we all had to pitch in, and the members who pitched in the most understandably got burned out."
Director and founding member Reverend Selena Naumoff adds that operational grants to help cover basic expenses are nearly impossible to secure.

“Most grants won’t cover basics like rent and utilities, only specific projects, which doesn’t help us keep the lights on; however, most granters don't find funding that stuff very sexy,” Maumoff says. "The truth is, it just takes a while for most theater companies to establish themselves. If you compare us to our friends at Miner's Alley, they've got multiple sponsors at the $10,000 level. We’re just not there yet. Also, Wheat Ridge is not as wealthy as the Golden area. A lot of the businesses around us are newly starting up or they're struggling themselves. It’s a hard economy, and it's a hard area."

The challenges facing Wheat Ridge Theatre Company are not unique in Denver’s theater landscape. Cherry Creek Theatre recently announced it was indefinitely postponing its fall production, The Mountaintop, citing budget concerns. Its former artistic director, Susie Snodgrass, quietly departed earlier this year, and her successor, Jeffry Denman, stepped down in August after the board indicated it couldn’t afford to go forward with the production. In an October 21 announcement, the board stated that the theater is pausing its 2024 season to fundraise and plan for 2025.

Curious Theatre Company, another major player, faced financial difficulties earlier this year. The social justice theater group launched a $250,000 fundraising campaign in March and subsequently listed its building on Accoma Street for sale in June. Similarly, Benchmark Theatre, a staple in Lakewood until this year, announced a hiatus in May and vacated its space after seven years, underscoring a larger trend of financial hardship within Denver’s theater community.
Garcia expressed deep frustration with the lack of support from city officials, highlighting how essential arts and culture are to the community’s vitality. “Cities need to recognize what culture brings to their residents,” Garcia noted. “Culture is like a little raft that people get so much out of; you can decrease violence and increase literacy, but cities are not supportive. It gets complicated when a small theater company, like us or Benchmark, launches, because there's no support. Sure, there's no opposition, but it's just like, ‘Oh, go ahead; we'll take the credit but won’t give you any support.’"
The most frustrating aspect of closing the company, according to Naumoff, is leaving the Wheat Ridge community without a theater. She recounts how many audience members approached her during Mindgame's current run to express their desire for the theater to continue producing shows.

"People have approached us saying, 'Please tell me you are not closing,'" Naumoff says. "A lot of people have been saying to us, 'You can't leave; you're the only theater near us.'"

Despite the grim outlook, Garcia remains hopeful that Wheat Ridge Theatre may return if finances improve. “We may go dormant rather than closing outright,” she shares, adding that the board would need to resolve existing debts before considering a relaunch. “It would be a waste to give up now, with just two years left to qualify for more significant funding," she says. "The board may change, but that doesn't mean that the company may not continue."

For Garcia and Naumoff, the decision to pause operations hasn’t dimmed their commitment to their artistic work. “We’re all dedicated artists committed to theater,” Garcia said. “It's just the financial situation that has brought us to the point of saying, ‘This is not working; the stress level is too high.’ But that doesn't mean that we will not collaborate in the future. I’d love to collaborate with everyone at Wheat Ridge again; I’ve loved working with them since 2019."

Learn more about Wheat Ridge Theatre Company's final shows, Mindgame, through November 10, and Scrooge in Rouge, December 6 to 22, at 5455 West 38th Avenue, Unit J, Wheat Ridge, at wheatridgetheatre.com.