Later this week, freeFall Theatre will launch its monthlong run of Le Petit Prince, an adaptation of the classic French children's book of the same name.
"It's actually the most translated book in French and outside of the Bible, the Quran and the collected Quotations of Mao Tse Tung, it's the most read book in the world," said freeFall artistic director Eric Davis on Monday. "So we hope people will join us."
The production, though, won't take place in the auditorium where the west St. Pete theatre staple presents most of its stage offerings, but in an alternative venue on site.
That's because the theatre had the unlikely misfortune of being one of the few structures in St. Pete to get hit with severe damage during Hurricane Irma.
But the company has been raising money through private donations and, most recently, was able to land a significant Small Business Association loan to help cover repairs.
"The roof, unfortunately, was badly damaged in the storm and so it essentially ruined the theater that we perform in, so as with all of these things, the costs have gone up as they start to pull the layers away," Davis said. "We're so lucky that we're able to have this support from the community and also this incredible loan that the SBA was able to provide."
He said staffers from U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist's office reached out to freeFall staff to initiation the loan application process.
And on Monday, Crist was there — oversized $152,400 check and all — to make their application approval official.
"We were able to work, our office was, with the Small Business Administration to get this loan for you, $152,400 to help you out and make sure you can keep doing the great work that you do and help the arts in our community," Crist said. Adding that connecting community entities like freeFall to federal resources to assist in their disaster recovery efforts is "just doing what we're supposed to do, and that is help our constituents out."
"As we know as Floridians, hurricanes are not unusual. Dealing with natural disasters is something we've grown accustomed to," Crist said. "But helping each other out is what this is all about, and making sure that a good small business like FreeFall or any other that has damage as a result of a natural disaster is what we're supposed to do to help, whether you're talking about military helping veterans, helping senior citizens with their social security, constituent service is what it's really about as a member of Congress."
Cast members from the upcoming production — including the little prince himself — were on hand to thank Crist and show him and his staffers around the property. Davis said the loan and other funs raised will help freeFall get through the next several months with no interruptions to its schedule.
"Well, they're coming along quickly and we hope that for our next show we'll be right back in our permanent space. We would have only been in our temporary space for two performances," he said.
