By Oliver Lees
A Sunbury youth theatre troupe is raising money after COVID-19 lockdown disrupted its run of performances.
The Treehouse Youth Theatre Company (TYTC) had planned to run six performances of its original cabaret show, entitled Tonight Belongs To Us: Musicals of the 21st Century, but were forced to postpone it after lockdown measures limited capacity at the Boilerhouse Theatre in Sunbury.
TYTC president and show director Cassidy Pitts said the fundraiser will help the company to cover the costs of renting the larger Barcham Theatre in Gisborne.
“We looked at other places, but there’s not actually any suitable theatres in Sunbury,” she said.
“Renting out a stage like [Barcham Theatre] is quite costly, we were originally doing six shows, but now we’re keeping it to three to keep costs down.
“Our show in March, 2020 had to be cancelled due to the first lockdown. That was very hard, everyone was devastated to not be able to go on and show what we’d been working on for so long.
In the first 24 hours of opening the fundraiser, the company raised more than $900 toward its $4000 goal.
Ms Pitts said she was “blown away” by the support.
“It’s so great to see the community support the arts, we couldn’t believe it watching those numbers go up and up and up.”
TYTC’s cabaret show has been rescheduled to October 1-2.
To view the fundraiser, visit: www.gofundme.com/f/treehouse-youth-theatre-needs-your-help
