Mirrorbox Theatre raises part of $30K needed by Friday

CEDAR RAPIDS — Saying it needed to raise $30,000 by Friday, Mirrorbox Theatre had raised close to $7,000 by Wednesday afternoon, founder Cavan Hallman said.

If more donations don’t materialize by the deadline, the nonprofit theater on Cedar Rapids’ northwest side said it will close.

The emergency goal will clear two months of back rent, as well as rent for November and December, and cover the costs of bringing back last year’s popular holiday show, “Die Hard … Is A Christmas Movie,” a musical parody Hallman wrote and directed.

The show will cost about $12,000 to produce, which is typical of the Iowa premiere plays Mirrorbox presents. Further breaking down expenses, Hallman noted monthly rent is $4,200, and utilities and other costs for running the theater are about $5,000.

In an emergency donation plea posted Tuesday on Facebook, Hallman said one way Mirrorbox keeps costs down is by having no paid staff. A small group of contractors working the box office and bar at events are paid, and actors receive an honorarium. Otherwise, all administrative duties — from marketing and artistic programming to building management and fundraising — are done on a volunteer basis.

While the Friday funding deadline is a new development, Hallman said, “We’ve known about our financial struggles and have been attempting to solicit donations and raise money for several months now, but those donations hadn’t been materializing to this point.

“And along with those struggles … on Tuesday, we did receive a notice from our landlords that we needed to pay those two months of back rent within three days or face the termination of our lease.”

He’s not pointing fingers at landlords Tyler Oswood, Alex Frazier and Josh Bass of OFB LLC real estate. “I just want to emphasize, this is not about shifting blame or responsibility,” Hallman said. “ … They have been supporters of us from the beginning, and we’re still in communication in trying to figure out how to solve this.”

Hallman, 45, began staging Mirrorbox shows in 2018, using the CSPS black box space, the Grandon Theatre at Theatre Cedar Rapids and online during the worst of the pandemic. Mirrorbox renovated and moved into its own space in 2022 at 1200 Ellis Blvd. NW, in a building once home to an auto body and brake alignment shop, as well as other small businesses.

“And here we are,” he said, “just fighting the nonprofit theater fight.”

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