Local theater company raising money after weather-related outages

ELM GROVE, Wis. - There was action and cameras but no lights for a local theater company over the weekend due to power outages caused by last week’s snowstorm.

Bombshell Theatre Co. was set to perform four sold out shows over the weekend, but due to weather-related power outages, they are now out thousands of dollars. The group is trying to recover lost revenue.

Tim Alberchtson runs his nonprofit theater company with his husband. Last week’s big snowfall led to an early curtain call for their production of "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" at Sunset Playhouse in Elm Grove.

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"We were on the edge the entire weekend trying to figure out what we could do," Alberchtson said. "We had our big winter storm on Friday which we canceled that day because we didn’t want people to get hurt driving, but what we weren’t expecting is it would cause a power outage for the entire weekend."  

We Energies reported more than 260,000 customers had to have power restored because of the storm.

While waiting it out, Alberchtson said four sold out shows were canceled, causing a revenue loss of $10,000.

"We lost that much money in ticket sales," he said. "We couldn’t extend, we couldn’t do another show to make it up to them. We also lost money from our raffles and merchandise sales. There are hundreds of playbills I can’t get a refund on." 

In addition to that, he said his crew still needed to be paid, only further fueling the emotions of the cast.

"Confusion and being mad, I definitely took my frustration out on the snow on my driveway and lots of crying," said actress Lydia Eiche.

And then something happened: the power came back.

Lights once again were shining inside Sunset Playhouse, just in time for a Sunday night makeup show.  

"We literally won the lottery because this is our career, for most of us, at least," said actress McKenzie Alois. "And it’s something that we are very passionate about and love, so not doing what you love."

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Now that the final bow has been taken, they’re asking theater lovers to help them keep the shows running.

"It’s a career for a lot of us," she said. "Not one that we get money from, but we spend all of our time doing, so we’re very passionate about it and this money basically gives us security for the rest of the year."

Bombshell Theatre Co. has several more shows planned for the summer. A GoFundMe has been set up for those interested in helping a future production.