by the Editors

The heartbreaking news of the closing of Capitol City Playhouse and all its communal implications was quickly and completely overshadowed by the devastation of Michel Jaroschy's death. Michel suffered a fatal heart attack on the evening of October 11th. The loss of a space as integral to a shaky theater scene as was Capitol City Playhouse is worrisome and very troubling. The loss of a man who had as much to do with the survival and growth of Austin theater as anyone, and more than most, leaves a void that's impossible to fill. It's been said that Capitol City was Michel and that Michel was Capitol City. Well, you can put folding chairs in a warehouse and detour play-goers to an alternate venue; you can surender a pivotal position in a location that was built on your own inspiration; but you cannot replace the spirit that made it all possible.

By now you will have read many personla accounts of the feeling of loss associated with Michel's passing. You probably know now how committed he was to his art and his building. You know how many people owe him their careers (or blame him for the lack of one in lieu of living the impoverished dream of acting or directing). You will have heard and read about what a tragic loss this is. Now it is Michel's ideals and the furthering of them that requires your thought and energy. The "warehouse district" that is growing so rapidly of late, namely the area between 3rd and 6th and from San Antonio to Brazos, owes more than it collectively knows or is willing to recognize to Michel and his theater. He'd been there since '82, making a reason for peple to go to that part of town at night. People who go to the theater often enjoy dinner before or after a play, maynbe coffee or a drink as well, even a show later on. You figure it out. The arts in all their forms solid foundation upon which other businesses can establish themselves and grow. And when that foundation gave rise to the development that everyone wanted to see for that area, Michel was shoved off it. Plays and events then could not rival the financial potential the space now held. And now Michel is gone and his theater looks for a new home and a chance of surviving into spring of '97.

This is the problem. In it lies the solution. Any business requires support. Any bar or restaurant needs its regulars as well as its occasional visitors. The same goes for all businesses. According to Producing Director Richard Brown, Capitol City Playhouse will maintain the space at 214 W. 4th Street until December 8th. The Glass Menagerie will run the course of its schedule (through December 7th). On December 8th, the Gilbert and Sullivan Group's one night show will still go off as planned with the dancing of Pepe Greco. But that's it -- they'll move to a temporary space on the West side of town as they look for a new space for the spring season.