Riverside Center for the Performing Arts announced Monday that it is now a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. On hand for a press conference outlining the regional theater’s transition, which became official on Jan. 1, were Riverside CEO and artistic director Patrick Ahearn, board chairperson Dorothy Mondak and actress Sally Struthers, who appears in the current production of “Love Letters with Ahearn.”
Fredericksburg city officials and representatives from the offices of Sen. Mark Warner and Rep. Abigail Spanberger also attended.
Riverside Center Dinner Theater opened in 1998 under the guidance of its founder, the late Rollin E. Wehman. In 2016, the facility was rebranded as Riverside Center for the Performing Arts. Ahearn originally came to perform in a 2006 production of “The Music Man” and was asked to join as the artistic director.
Ahearn noted that the majority of regional theaters throughout the United States are nonprofit entities. This status allows them to apply for grants and tax-deductible donations to keep the theater financially healthy. Riverside currently operates as a limited liability corporation (LLC).
“We survive on what comes into that box office,” Ahearn said. “Believe it or not, what comes into that box office doesn’t even represent 50% of the costs to produce the shows here.
“Being able to apply for grants, sponsorships, personal donations, family donations, corporate sponsorships, all of that combined with what we do bring in at the box office makes a huge difference.”
Ahearn outlined a goal of transforming the audience space by removing tables and putting in rows of seats to increase capacity from 400 to 1,000; food service would move into the adjoining ballroom. The resulting space could also be used by Stafford County and Fredericksburg for big events and to host national Broadway tours.
Board Chair Mondak spoke about Riverside’s efforts in community outreach, including a summer theater camp for school-aged children, which has been running since 2007. Some of the graduates of that program have gone on to perform in main-stage productions.
“We got glowing reports from this year’s camp,” Mondak said. “We did a production of ‘Finding Nemo’ with 16 campers who were here on a full scholarship with 40 campers altogether. We had a waiting list of 25. With better funding we could add some of those 25 who were on the waiting list to our camp rosters.”
Other outreach includes expanding visits to Title I schools, which have a higher percentage of low-income families. Recently, a group from the cast of “The Wizard Of Oz” performed at three Title I schools in Stafford County, singing songs from the play and earning an enthusiastic response from students. Riverside also donated 40 complimentary tickets to each school to be distributed to needy families.
Actress Sally Struthers has performed in shows at Riverside since 2011. (Photo by Stephen Hu)
Struthers recounted her experiences acting in productions at Riverside starting in 2011 with a run of “Hello Dolly.” She recounted a humorous story about that first show.
At the time, Riverside musicals were performed to pre-recorded backing music, and Struthers recalled how a performance was halted because the wrong track was queued up for her big finale scene.
She also complimented the current facilities at Riverside, which include 24 “flies,” or curtains and painted scenery stands that can be whisked on and off stage quickly.
“The stage is bigger than most of the stages I perform on around the country,” Struthers said. “This is luxurious to come here. I always wait for Patrick to call me and tell me he has an idea, and it’s an honor to be on stage with him now in ‘Love Letters.’”
CORRECTION: This story has been corrected to reflect that Riverside Center for the Performing Arts officially gained nonprofit status on Jan. 1.
