By Alyssa Moritz
Richey Suncoast Theatre has seen a surge in community support in recent years, helping the New Port Richey venue expand its reach.
“In the time I’ve been here, the support has definitely grown,” said Alyssa Vargas, a 21-year-old actress. “We’ve definitely seen an increase in support for the theatre, but I think since I’ve started there, there’s always been a community of people that love it and come and support it regardless.”
Richey Suncoast Theatre’s community and audience continued to grow to the delight of its staff. Seats in the audience gradually filled over the years to accommodate the full house watching various performances, along with other events.
One play in March, “Calendar Girls,” brought citizens of New Port Richey to support the local theatre with its actors. From live plays to movie nights, citizens had options to choose from to contribute to Richey Suncoast Theatre’s livelihood.
Vargas said that the current staff promoting the theatre on social media helped reach a wider audience.
“Our social media advertisements and market has grown as we’ve gotten some different people in office,” Vargas said.
This increase in attention led to a larger budget for Richey Suncoast Theatre’s performances. This included new stage props, sets and events being held for the theatre.
Jess Glass, a 44-year-old creative theatre director, said that this budget helped allow for more creativity with the theatre’s technology.
“We can do more dynamic things with the lighting designs that we weren’t able to do before,” Glass said. “But also, because we have more income, we’re able to put more money into things like our sets for shows. Things like that just add so much and these are things we definitely couldn’t have done three years ago, even because we just didn’t have the money for the budget.”
Partnering with small local businesses has helped the Richey Suncoast Theatre expand its reach and strengthen ties within the community. The mutual support also fostered lasting connections with area residents.
“We have tribute bands, comedians and we do have movies,” Glass said. “That’s one huge thing: we diversified the offerings of the theatre, which has brought way more people in and more money. Because we’re making quite a bit more than what we were when we were doing theatrical events, it means we can also put more money into our theatrical events.”
Richey Suncoast Theatre received a lot of help from the city of New Port Richey as well, according to the president of the theatre’s board, 43-year-old Angela Sarabia.
One example is a $100,000 grant the theater received in 2024 from the New Port Richey Community Redevelopment Agency for renovations.
“We feel lots of support from the city,” Sarabia said. “So, that grant allows a certain amount of money to be spent on external improvements to the theatre so things that involve the building and things like that. Once we determine we’ve gotten an expense that meets the requirements to the grant, we must pay for those improvements, then we can get reimbursed through that fund […] But we feel very supported by that.”
The local support has allowed Richey Suncoast Theatre to host more events, leading to higher revenue. Compared to 2024, the theater is seeing a significant increase in profits this year, Sarabia said.
“Ticket sale information is harder to nail down, but looking at this year and comparing it to last year, we are on track to more than double our income by the end of the year,” Sarabia said.
With the support from the local community, Richey Suncoast Theatre continues to perform and host events for attendees to enjoy.
“People are coming out to support us, and they do have opinions, and they do have feelings, like it’s really, really exciting,” Vargas said. “That’s again where we feel the community too, that’s their support.”