THE FORUM THEATER

The Forum Theater

BACKGROUND
Lone Pine has been a magnet for performers and audiences alike – the landscape attracting filmmakers for location shoots. This attracted visitors to see where the movies were made, and an annual film festival and film museum were born. Over 20 years ago the Southern Inyo Community Theater performed 4 plays a year at the local school auditorium to rave reviews but has been closed for over 12yrs now.
The Forum Theatre in Lone Pine, CA was once a garage housing camera cars for the movie industry. In 2005 April Zrelak a local resident, saw the need for a dedicated performance and entertainment venue here in Lone Pine - in fact the whole of the Eastern Sierra, as most per-formances in the valley have to be done in school auditoriums. She converted the space into a safety compliant, entertainment and meeting space complete with stage and drapery and bathroom with wheelchair access.
It provided the local community with numerous programs, like music performances, music lessons, poetry, movie screenings, a used items exchange, etc. Community members much cherished this “warm and friendly space” that provided “thought-provoking” entertainment (please see attached testimonials with the letters of support document). Sadly it closed its doors in 2007 to a public outcry and petitions to try keep it open and a potential collaboration with HealthyCommunities, which unfortunately did not come to fruition.
A brief series of radio performances occurred at the LL saloon but ceased to happen after the bar closed its doors back in 2016. There are Currently no dedicated performance spaces in Inyo County.

PRESENT DAY
Our board of directors recently voted for the re-opening of the forum to be one of our top initiatives for 2020.

We are currently restoring the theater to re-use, revitalizing and managing The Forum Theatre to provide another venue for arts and culture in Lone Pine and Inyo County at large.

We will offer a variety of performances in a series, such as plays, poetry, dance, movie screenings, music, and more for the community and visitors to the area to enjoy.

Due to COVID- 19 our plans to reopen to the public have been postponed. We are however working to restore the venue. We have a wish list of items needed to complete this phase. Please let us know if you have any of these items to sell or donate. A receipt for tax deductions will be provided.

WISHLIST

Theater manager
Stage lights*
Wash lights
Effect lights
Curtains
Chairs and cafe tables
Microphones & stands
HVAC system
Performers & Audience!

Thank you for supporting community programming! Your donation will enable us to put on more shows from The Forum Theater!

A BIG THANK YOU

Funded in part by the County of Inyo.

To JOSEPH BORK who has generously offered the theater space to share with the local community.

To INYO COUNTY for the CPSP (Community Project Sponsorship Program) Grant.
Which enabled us to buy a large proportion of the stage sound and lighting equipment we need.

To ANDREA SHALLCROSS for donating her CPA services.

To BECKY PIERCE for help with grant writing