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Curtain Set To Fall For Good At Kids-Oriented Emerald City Theatre Company

CHICAGO (CBS) -- A renowned theatre company that both stages plays and offers camps and classes for children and teens is preparing for the curtain to fall for good.

Barring any last-minute major donation, the Emerald City Theatre company is closing toward the end of January after fall and winter programming is over.

Board member Heike Spahn told PerformInk increased program costs and decreased revenue have made the theatre's financial model unsustainable.

Emerald City Theatre has been in operation since 1996 and caters to theatre-goers 15 and younger. The company has staged plays at venues throughout Chicago – with more than 100 in all in Lakeview, in Lincoln Park, and downtown.

Emerald City bills its classes, camps, and residencies as the largest theater arts education program in Chicago, serving more than 64,000 students to date and an average of 200 schools per year.

Emerald City also operates an outreach program called One Fund, supporting increased literacy by offering a free play and a companion book to underserved Chicago Public Schools students.

Currently, Emerald City is staging "Corduroy," a stage production about a teddy bear searching for a missing button – based on the classic children's books "Corduroy" and "A Pocket for Corduroy." The production runs through Jan. 5 at the Broadway Playhouse, 175 E. Chestnut St.

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