CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — We’ve seen it happen all over the nation. Local businesses being forced to close their doors since COVID-19 hit town. One business here in the Coastal Bend said they turned to a GoFundMe page as a last resort to keep their curtains’ open.
For 10 years, the Aurora Arts Theatre hosted more than a handful of laughs and cries.
For the first time since the opening act, the local theatre said, they might have to shut their doors for good.
"We were only able to produce one show this year and we usually do four," said Chrisin Espinoza, an actress and box manager of the Aurora Arts Theatre.
COVID-19 forced new rules and regulations for the theatre to follow which kept them selling only 30% of their tickets, so they got creative, but even new ideas on how to raise money ends still did not meet.
"The curbside popcorn, the selling of the t-shirts, the cinema nights. All of that did help, it really did, but it wasn’t enough to cover the continuous cost that were mounting on every month," Espinoza added.
For the family that put this stage together, they said, it was created for the community.
"This was a passion project of my dad who passed away shortly after we opened," said Carla Chapa, the daughter of the owners of Aurora.
As a last resort--the aurora arts theatre team put together a ‘GoFundMe’ page. they say--hopefully, it will be the light at the end of the tunnel and more importantly, help make the theatre thrive for generations to come.
"We are a very family-oriented theatre and we have been, and Mary and Ed wanted that from the very beginning. This was a place for families, this was a home for anyone," said Espinoza.
Until the lights are shut off, they said, the show must go on. To get to the GoFundMe page, click here.