Does anyone know if there are government grants available that a new community theater might fit into? We are looking for something that will set us up in a building, buy the lighting and sound and other necessities, and give us a bit of a budget to get our first season off the ground. Any ideas or suggestions?

I would look locally for money. Many communities have a Community Foundation thaat makes grants in (usually) specific areas such as arts, youth and so on.

Talk to the local people you think have the money to help you - don't ask for money - talk about your goals and see what their reaction is - find out what their philanthropic goals are and tailor your presentation to their goals - if they support youth activities, tell them how your project will help youth and so on.

In my experence it is easier to get local funds for capital projects than operating expenses - they don't want to get stuck in something that becomes a permanent drain.

Most of the people I have talked to with big $$ want to see a track record - you need to be somewhat successful and need money to be more successful rather than backing a new organization.

You can also go to the library - there are many books out there that just list organizations and people who make grants along with the application guidelines.

I have also found a lot of information on the internet - just surfing but have never applied for one that way.

As far as getting your first season off the ground - start small - we spent two years moving from place to place each night working to audiences in the low double digits. We did full productions including Neil Simon's Chapter Two (although that was too big of a show to move every night - it almost killed us). We did a lot of readers theater productions. Our reputation has spread and now we get around 50 to some of our shows - we have had to find bigger venues - we recently entered into an agreement with the local Grange to use their building.

I have seen theaters make lights out of coffee cans and use residential style dimmers. I got an 8 channel two scene board, two dimmer packs and 8 PAR 38's for $2,000. The plug into normal electric outlets. That works fine for us because we move every night. We used my stereo equipment for two years for sound - until we got a grant for some good stuff.

Good Luck.