Final act for the Alpine Playhouse

ALPINE — It's curtains for yet another Utah County community theater effort.

The group that put together the Alpine Playhouse two years ago announced Tuesday the theater's imminent closure. It is the third Utah Valley theater in the past five years to close.

"Our financial resources have run out and so the doors will soon be closing," said Robert Brown, owner and publicist for the theater.

Brown said "The Foreigner" will be the final show for the playhouse, running April 28-June 3, replacing "My Fair Lady," which was promised earlier on the theater's schedule.

" 'The Foreigner' is a hilarious comedy that showcases some of the top talent that the Alpine Playhouse has been blessed with," Brown said. "We will go out with a bang as this will be one of the best shows that we have presented."

The Browns opened the playhouse in a building that was formerly a warehouse located behind the old Day's Market building.

Brown said the performing-arts dance company run by his wife, Kimberly, will take over the theater's portion of the building.

"We knew in the beginning it wouldn't pay for itself," Robert Brown said. He said the hope was that a private individual or a corporation would step forward and offer to underwrite the operating costs. That didn't happened.

"We've had really good crowds, but without a significant influx of cash, we can't continue."

Brown and his wife organized an eight-member volunteer advisory board that included veteran actress Aimy Kersey, set up a nonprofit theatrical association and spent their own money to gut and refurbish the interior of the old building with a stage, lights, sound and seating for 100.

They started out with an ambitious calendar that included original stage plays, comic productions and big-time musicals such as "Sound of Music" — all family-friendly shows.

The Browns had hoped to reach a point where they could afford to pay cast members and directors. That point never arrived.

Kersey said it's very sad to see the theater close because it closes off opportunities to community members and youth who love the stage. She thinks Alpine could do more to support the arts, perhaps pass a tax similar to the Cultural Arts and Recreation Enrichment (CARE) tax.