another one down: Pasadena Playhouse closes its doors.

i know this is just the human brain’s tendency to find pattern and order where none actually exist, but i find that events tend to balance themselves:

had a CRAPPY-ASS week at work — only had one day off in the past three weeks, working with a bad headcold (which is keeping me from running, making me far more cranky and unfit to deal with work stress). stayed at work till midnight on Thursday running numbers only to get to work early on Friday to discover that the boss wanted other numbers. this after two weeks of staying till midnight during tech. so yeah, kinda hating work (and the way it gobbles up my life) this week, making those flip remarks about “why didn’t I go to law school!?”

then another theatre goes down, and i feel grateful to have a job at a company that isn’t teetering on the verge of financial collapse. fiscal responsibility is EVERYTHING. take note, young not-for-profit theatres. the art will cease to matter if you can’t make payroll.

is this thinning of the herd a good thing, though? will we emerge from economic strife with leaner meaner more economically viable theatres? i want to believe that, that we’ll all learn a lesson about fiscal responsibility*, but i think the tough love approach is too simplistic in this application. when the economy tanks, art suffers.

*it’s spectacular, how long it takes to dig a theatre out of financial ruin vs. how quickly one can sink a theatre into unmanageable debt.