Lamplighters Musical Theatre, now in its 74th season, recently announced that its board had cancelled the company’s production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s operetta, Patience. The production, scheduled to run in March and April, would have been the company’s 15th mounting of the show.
In comments to the San Francisco Chronicle, representatives of the company cited reasons for shelving the show — namely the slower-than-expected return of audiences after the COVID shutdown. However, they affirmed Lamplighters is in good financial shape and that it will have a summer season, which has not yet been announced.
Board president Chris Uzelac told the Chronicle, “We’re going to have a much better budget perspective going forward. If it were another 8-12 months before we had done these changes, then we would be in serious trouble.”
Meanwhile, the Zephyr Symphony — recently founded by its music director, Don Scott Carpenter — has cancelled its performances of Felix Mendelssohn’s oratorio Elijah, which were scheduled for the first weekend in March.
The orchestra is made up of professional musicians. For Elijah, they would have been joined by soloists and the Vox Humana choir.
“This was an extraordinarily difficult decision,” said Margaret Elam, president of the Zephyr Symphony board, in a statement issued to the press. “Our responsibility is to ensure that Zephyr’s artistic ambition is supported by a strong and sustainable organizational foundation. At this moment, we believe it is prudent to pause, address our internal challenges directly, and rebuild with clarity and purpose.”
The board statement went on to acknowledge their shortcomings in communications with the public and musicians. They pledged to improve communications, while also fixing the organization’s governance issues, heading forward.
The board also reaffirmed its support of Carpenter, saying, “His leadership and commitment to bold, compelling programming remain central to Zephyr’s identity and future.”