Six-figure donation saves Perseverance Theatre

$650,000 means the show can go on at Alaska’s largest professional playhouse

  • By Kevin Gullufsen Juneau Empire
  • Friday, June 29, 2018 9:39pm
  • NewsLocal News
Juneau Empire file.

Juneau Empire file.

An “outpouring of support” — including $650,000 from donors — will help Perseverance Theatre pull out of a cash crisis that left employees furloughed earlier this month.

In a email statement sent to media and donors Friday, Board President Joe Bedard, Board Vice President James Bibb and Artistic Director Art Rotch announced that several donors put together a package of philanthropic support totaling $650,000. The theater is also hoping to raise an additional $100,000 from the Juneau community at large, which they hope to raise by Sept. 30, according to the release.

The donations are part of what the theater is calling a “path forward” to forge past six-figure cash shortfalls in recent years, which forced the theater to consider shutting down. Organizational changes, an increase in ticket prices and the postponing of the start of its next production season are also part of that path.

The theater leaders called the money “an extraordinary investment in our work and validation of our mission.”

“It’s a warm reminder of how our Alaskan theatre company is meaningful to so many people in so many ways and places,” the statement reads.

Perseverance is in the process of recruiting a managing director to oversee the finances. Rotch, who was previously the theater’s executive director, will continue as the artistic director but “will no longer be dividing time between productions and operations,” according to the statement. Julie York Coppens will join Perseverance as director of outreach and engagement.

The start of the 2018 production season will be pushed back to Oct. 5 and the planned staging of the play “Teenage Dick” has been moved from this year to the 2019-2020 season. Perseverance made the schedule change to give it more time for fundraising.

The statement didn’t specify how much ticket prices will rise, but it did say the theater will continue to offer affordable options for ticket prices.

Robert Ziff, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and John Rubini, as well as two anonymous donors put together the $650,000 donation.

Anyone who would like to donate to the $100,000 community fundraising challenge can do so at www.ptalaska.org/donate.

Theatre employees referred the Empire to Rotch or York Coppens for further questions. Messages left to Rotch’s phone and with theater employees weren’t immediately returned Friday, and York Coppens wasn’t available.


• Contact reporter Kevin Gullufsen at 523-2228 and kgullufsen@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @KevinGullufsen.


More in News

The Dimond Courthouse in Juneau, Alaska, is seen in this undated photo. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire file)
Juneau man pleads guilty to murder of infant

James White pleaded guilty yesterday to the murder of 5-and-half-week-old Kathy White

U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral Megan Dean shakes hands with the new Arctic District commander Rear Admiral Bob Little on Friday. Vice Admiral Andrew J. Tiongson, commander of the Pacific Area, smiles. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
US Coast Guard receives new commander, new name for Alaska

The Arctic District’s new icebreaker will visit Juneau next month

City and Borough of Juneau City Hall is photographed on July 12, 2025, in Juneau, Alaska. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Juneau Empire file)
Municipal election candidate filing period opens July 18

The filing period runs from July 18 at 8 a.m. to July 28 at 4:30 p.m.

The Mendenhall River roars more than 13 feet above normal levels in August 2023. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Suicide Basin predicted to fill by Aug. 8

The change in the prediction of when the basin will fill was based on heavy rain last week

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
Police calls for Monday, July 14, 2025

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

The Norwegian Bliss arrives in Juneau on Monday, April 14, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire file photo)
Ships in port for the week of July 16

This information comes from the Cruise Line Agencies of Alaska’s 2025 schedule.… Continue reading

A male sea otter pup, estimated at 2 weeks old, was rescued near Homer and admitted to the Alaska SeaLife Center rehabilitation program on June 23, 2025, in Seward, Alaska. Photo courtesy of the Alaska SeaLife Center
Seward’s SeaLife Center admits 2 seal pups, 1 orphaned otter

The three pups join the Alaska SeaLife Center’s ‘growing’ patient list

Alaska Seaplane pilot Vance Tilley stands in front of the Piatus PC-12 in Klawock on June 23 during the inaugural trip of the new service between Juneau, Ketchikan and Klawock. (Photos by Gemini Waltz Media/courtesy Alaska Seaplane)
New Juneau-Ketchikan nonstop flight service launches

The flight leaves Juneau at 3:45 p.m., and the trip lasts 1 hour 25 minutes

Most Read