Coyote StageWorks closing its doors after 13 years
Coyote StageWorks, a local award-winning professional theatre company, is closing after 13 years.
The theater company was hit hard by the pandemic, as it was forced the cancelation of its 2019-2020 season. Coyote was set to open its latest show on March 13, 2020. The show was postponed as the first stay-at-home order was issued. The set for what would end up be Coyote's last production remained up at the Palm Springs Cultural Center at least in April as the U.S. faced the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.
"It's pretty devastating because we depend on ticket sales, you know so a lot of our money are re-wrapped up into this production that was supposed to open on March 13th and then, you know, the ticket sales of that push us forward, into, you know, the summer and we start fundraising for next year but without that it puts us in a little bit of a bind," Coyote's Founding Artistic Director Chuck Yates told News Channel 3's Peter Daut in an interview on April 9, 2020.
More than a year since the postponement, and despite the state slowly beginning to reopen in many areas, Coyote officials said the company continued to face uncertainty in 2021.
"This period of forced introspection led Coyote’s leadership to conclude that this was the right time to permanently close the company while celebrating its many accomplishments and accolades," reads a news release by the company.
Over the years, Coyote StageWorks produced many acclaimed productions. Highlights include “Boeing, Boeing,” “The Andrews Brothers,” “Suds,” “Dirty Blonde,” “The Women” (the theatre company’s annual benefit gala), “Tru,” “Art,” “Buyer & Cellar, “Agnes of God,” ”Love, Loss, and What I Wore,” “The Lady with All the Answers,” “The Understudy,” “Greater Tuna,” and “A Doll’s House Part II,” among others.”
Many of these productions received local and regional awards and all received critical acclaim, with three productions transferring to theatres outside of the desert area for longer runs.
Coyote StageWorks received the “Theatre Company Of The Decade” award by BroadwayWorld in December. Coyote was also awarded “Set Design Of The Decade” award for their 2020 production of "A Doll's House, Part 2." Yates received the coveted “Performer Of The Decade” award for his role of Truman Capote in the 2013 production of "Tru."
Coyote StageWorks garnered a total of 91 Desert Star awards over the last decade.
Having accomplished what he set out to do, Yates said that he “deeply appreciates that the community embraced our mission ‘to provide a forum for thought-provoking, entertaining, and culturally significant works in an environment that nurtures the creativity of the individual and the enrichment of the community.’ I am a very lucky man to get to do exactly what I wanted to do for 13 years. It’s been such an amazing ride, and now I look forward to my next chapter.”
“Our rich legacy will live on through the Palm Springs Young Playwright’s Festival, which will continue and thrive,” Yates continued. “The Festival was designed to help discover and nurture the next generation of writers from local middle and high school students, and that is exactly what it will continue to do as an independent entity.”
Yates also thanked all of Coyote’s many supporters including David Lee, Annette Bloch, Barbara & Jerry Keller, Patti and Jack Grundhofer, Steve Tobin and The Grace Helen Spearman Charitable Foundation, The Western Wind Foundation, The Palm Springs Cultural Center, Dorothy & Mel Lefkowitz, Ron & Carol Fragen, and John P. Monahan.
Coyote StageWorks benefited from the expert leadership of its Board of Directors, led by David Youse, and comprised of Don Amendolia, Julie Balbini, Harriet Baron, Dennis Flaig-Moore, Kathy Friedle, Tony Marchese, and Larry Raben. It also benefited from the insights and advice from its Advisory Board, comprised of Carol Fragen, Dorothy Lefkowitz, John Monahan, Martin Wiviott, and Barbara Keller (Emeritus).
