Tacoma Actors Guild shuts after running out of money

Tacoma Actors Guild, Tacoma's only resident professional theater company, ceased operations last week. James V. Handmacher, president of the theater's board of directors, said TAG had insufficient money to continue.

"We canceled the last show of our season, 'Romeo and Juliet,' and have no intention of going on with a season for next year," said Handmacher, a Tacoma attorney. "Our entire staff has been laid off."

He said the company owes less than $100,000, as a major fundraising effort has wiped out much of the $350,000 debt TAG posted in 2005. Bellevue Civic Theatre also helped keep the company afloat by bringing some of its shows to Tacoma under TAG's aegis.

Things looked brighter for TAG last year, when a well-regarded arts administrator, Charlotte M. Tiencken, came on as executive director. Tiencken began a new play-reading series and just produced the Tony Award-winning play "Proof," which won good reviews.

But a cash shortfall spurred the board's Feb. 27 decision to close the company.

"The ticketholders stuck with us, the board put in countless hours, and individual and corporation grants were strong," Handmacher said.

"We really fell short on support from foundations. Many took the position of 'wait and see,' which doomed us to failure. What we needed was another $100,000 of working capital to get us through the year. If that had come, TAG would have survived."

TAG has no immediate plans to file for bankruptcy. Much of the company's debt is to its landlord, the Broadway Center for the Performing Arts, which manages TAG's venue, Theatre on the Square, and two other downtown Tacoma theaters.

Paying off debts to TAG's artists and staffers is now the board's top priority, Handmacher said.

The closure of TAG, founded in 1978, comes months after Seattle's Empty Space Theatre went under, also due to a cash shortfall.

Misha Berson: mberson@seattletimes.com