SEQUIM — A month before the long-awaited opening of its main stage, Olympic Theatre Arts is facing some more drama.
The community troupe has raised some $1.6 million for its new 163-seat theater. The place is slated to make its debut, with the premiere of the musical “Cabaret,” on Feb. 5.
But first, OTA must find $30,000 to pay for updated wheelchair-accessible ramps and refuges, said Elaine Caldwell, leader of the fundraising campaign through much of the past decade.
“Just the plans for the ramps cost $9,000,” Caldwell said, adding that the unanticipated expense stems from new building-code requirements.
Boundless faith
But if there’s one thing she has plenty of — besides apparently boundless energy — it’s faith.
Last summer, Caldwell and her husband, Bob, helped orchestrate a $100,000-in-100-days fundraising campaign, and the gifts surpassed the goal.
The Monday morning after the July 31 end of the effort, the tally was $108,630.25.
And now, Caldwell and the rest of OTA’s board of directors are preparing for an eleventh-hour fundraiser they hope will help spur supporters forward to the finish line.
The Twelfth Night High Tea is, in fact, on two afternoons, and it is “the whole nine yards,” said Berta Warden, one of the chefs behind the event.
“Everything is homemade,” Warden promised.
Finger sandwiches, ham and cheese pastries, smoked turkey and cranberry-orange aioli sandwiches, scones with cream and ginger curd, lavender shortbread, Italian cream miniature cakes and chocolate truffles are all part of the spread.
Special blend
So is Yorkshire Gold, a specially ordered blend of teas from India, Africa and Sri Lanka.
Seatings, in OTA’s gathering room, are at 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and all tickets are $22.
“This is a dress-up affair,” added Warden, who wore a plumed hat and Victorian dress to the tea last year.
The high teas in 2009, the first set, were held in a Dungeness home, but this time around they will be at OTA at 414 N. Sequim Ave.
Guests will be invited to tour the new theater, Warden said.
And during all four teas, pianist Sharlene Miller and singer Denise Graham will provide music.
“I think we’ll be blown away,” Caldwell said.
Yet, the high teas, barring large additional donations, won’t raise the $30,000 that OTA needs to open the main-stage doors.
Many ways to donate
Caldwell noted that there are many other ways to support the troupe, such as endowing one of the seats in the new theater for $1,000, having an OTA plaza brick engraved in one’s name for $100 and purchasing tickets to OTA’s shows.
“Cabaret” will run Feb. 5 through 21; “Dear Jennifer” and “Spider on the Sill” by local playwright Rebecca Redshaw will open April 21 and close May 2; and “Bullshot Crummond,” a vintage detective comedy, will run from June 25 through July 17.
For details about donating to OTA and buying tickets to the teas or shows, visit www.Olympic TheatreArts.org or phone 360-683-7326.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladaily news.com.
