WINNIPEG — Last winter, it looked like it could be the final curtain for the Winnipeg Jewish Theatre after 26 years in operation. 

But now it seems the show will go on.

In February, due to declining attendance and financial challenges, the WJT created a real-life drama with the unexpected announcement that its board had fired Michael Nathanson, the artistic director for the past seven years, and was cancelling Shiksa, by local playwright Cairn Moore, which was slated to be its final production of the season.

Although the WJT board is still being tight-lipped about the circumstances of Nathanson’s dismissal and the theatre’s finances, board members have gone back to the past and appointed former WJT artistic director (1994-2005) Kayla Gordon as the interim AD.

“I spoke with [WJT president] Judith Putter last June and said that I would be happy to help if I could,” said Gordon, who continued working in theatre after her stint with the WJT. “I started back here during the summer.”

In a statement posted on the WJT’s website when the theatre was shut down, the board left open the possibility of a revival. “We are examining our financial position and considering how we may proceed forward. We apologize to our patrons, supporters, donors and to all of the artists and theatre practitioners who have helped us grow over the years for this abrupt end to our season. We look forward to returning to the stage in the future.”

To help her in boosting the theatre’s fortunes, Gordon has brought on board Tracy Goltsman as production manager and Karla Berbrayer as marketing and development manager. 

Berbrayer, Gordon said, brings with her deep connections in the Jewish community as well as a strong background in music and theatre. 

“I haven’t worked with Karla before, but I have admired her work over the years,” Gordon said.

In her younger days, Berbrayer toured on stage with the Up With People singers. She is the founder and producer of both the long running Music N’ Mavens series and the Israeli concert series at the Asper Jewish Community Campus and is the music producer for the Rady JCC’s Tarbut: Festival of Jewish Culture. She is currently president of the Jewish National Fund branch in Winnipeg.

“Karla is the right person for this project,” Gordon said.

As for Goltsman, she has worked with Gordon on a number of productions over the years. “Tracy has been my right-hand person for several productions,” Gordon said.

Local observers say longtime theatregoers had complained of a drop in the theatre company’s Jewish content and that season ticket sales had declined precipitously in recent years.

The interim artistic director is promising to put the “Jewish” back into the WJT, suggesting that Nathanson put too much emphasis on serious drama at the expense of light-hearted, more appealing fare.

She said the WJT will stage its next production, A Jew Grows in Brooklyn, in December, partly as a fundraiser. The former Broadway play, written by Jake Ehrenreich, is about growing up Jewish in postwar America.

As for 2015, Gordon said the WJT is negotiating for the rights to the Canadian premiere of a current Broadway hit, which she said she can’t identify yet.

Gordon added that a “Circle of 18” campaign will be launched shortly in an effort to encourage friends of the WJT to step forward and help put the theatre back on a solid financial footing. 

“At one point, we had over 9,000 subscribers,” Gordon said. “I hope that we can rebuild our subscriber base. It would be a shame if we had to close our doors permanently after so many years.”

The WJT was founded by music teacher Bev Aronovitch and a group of friends and supporters in 1987. It was the first new Jewish theatre in Canada in many decades and started as a non-profit community theatre producing two plays a year. In 1992, it became a member of the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres operating under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Theatre Agreement negotiated with Canadian Actors’ Equity Association.