Theatre In This Moment

Theatre in this moment, now more than ever, has to be an event. There has to be a reason that people want to leave their streaming to come to the theater. We produce these major musicals in this tiny theater for you; they become events that are unmissable.

Why Is Membership Important?

Theatre is essential throughout one’s life for developing empathy, broadening understanding, and heightening awareness of the communal nature of our existence. Our programs are a critical component in creating these meaningful artistic connections among seniors, adults, teens, and children. 

The rich relationships among our creative teams, our staff, and the community we serve are at the very essence of 3Below. We strive to connect the community to our work and our work to the community, through programs that foster civic dialogue, fuel intellectual curiosity, and welcome new audiences to the theater.

3Below depends on the support and generosity of our members and sponsors to keep our doors open and sustain us as a vital community resource. Your membership will help bring diverse and exceptional events to the screen and on stage.

Become a 3Below member today and help enrich lives, inspire minds, and celebrate our community’s diverse perspectives.

The Pandemic

Across the country theaters are suffering. Many have announced a pause in new productions and laid off the majority of its staff. Some theaters have simply closed for good. Each struggles with reduced contributions and severely depressed ticket sales. While many arts agencies have rebounded, the worry is that theater audiences have changed their behavior, now seeming to prefer streaming nightly entertainment from the couch. These are truly uncharted waters.

As the pandemic took hold, 3Below never let our bond with you break. We took over the roof at the top of the garage above the theater, built a stage and was among the first theaters in the nation to invite back audiences. People weeped on the roof because they had somewhere to be. They didn’t want to miss out – they wanted to once again be part of a community. During the shutdown we asked how do we stay relevant once we reopen? The answer has become clear. It’s going to take a lot of creativity, a lot of risk, and a commitment from our 3Below family to attend, participate, and support.

Creating a Thriving Membership and Finding New Sponsors

It is through our memberships and sponsorships that we will find the roadmap toward success as we struggle to reconnect with lagging endemic audiences. Embracing digital ways to connect with our audiences, hosting events on the roof, rethinking 3Below’s traditional calendar and re-configuring the theaters themselves have helped. We look to you to bring single tickets and group tickets back to pre-pandemic numbers and increase even more.

Our survival is very important to local businesses. Restaurants and hotels look to us to be open as we bring over 100,000 people downtown every year. 

Our Secret Sauce

If there is a secret sauce for 3Below’s success, we may have it. Everyone who enters 3Below is met and welcomed by 3Below Ambassadors. It’s a simple touch but a telling one for the downtown theater that has forged a very human connection with its community. 3Below is not just a theater; it’s your theater.

Punching up the social components of going to the theater is helpful because that’s the major advantage theater has over streaming. 3Below intends to make itself a draw no matter what’s on stage. The venue is so creative with surprises around every corner, 10,000-square-feet combining three theaters, a bar and café and community events. We are custodians of a public asset, not guardians. We are not the gatekeepers. We’re the ones holding the doors open.

The Community

Theaters have to find a way for the community to care deeply about them. That means finding the means to be welcoming, whether it’s an open door or an arm outstretched. This is not a world of “if you build it, they will come?” This is a world of constant renewed innovation and invitation, a willingness to pivot, and a sense of gratitude that extends in both directions.

Sustainability

You Belong at 3Below: Your membership will help to provide a secure financial footing upon which we can continue to generate and present thoughtful, moving and engaging theatre on all of our stages for all ages. Your membership helps sustain 3Below and allows us to differentiate ourselves through moving direction, brilliant design and remarkable singing and acting. Every member of 3Below — on the stage, in the audience, behind the curtain and beyond — feels a personal connection to your support. It’s what allows us to take risks and bring wondrous, joyful, heartbreaking and fascinating worlds to life. It is also an investment in our future, supporting play development and training programs for the theatre professionals of tomorrow.