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Reprise Theatre Company officially calls it quits

Jason Alexander and Lea Thompson in a 2008 Reprise production of the musical "I Love My Wife."
(Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times)
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It’s officially curtains for Reprise, the Los Angeles theater company founded in 1997 that has brought numerous musical revival productions to the Freud Stage at UCLA. The company, which has been on hiatus since early 2012, cited its inability to raise funds for the decision to permanently shut down.

Reprise sent an email to subscribers this week notifying them that the company is ceasing operations.

“We spent the past sixteen months on hiatus to explore different sources of funding, possible new venues, and the potential of expanding our programming,” the email said.

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“While we discovered many exciting possibilities, we ultimately concluded that sustained funding was not available to us, and we made the difficult decision to cease operations.”

Jason Alexander, the former “Seinfeld” star, has served as artistic director of Reprise since 2007 and has also acted in some of its productions. Last year, the company hired Stephen Eich, an L.A. theater veteran, to serve as an advisor to its reorganization.

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Leaders of the company were not immediately available for interview.

When it went on hiatus last year, Reprise had an annual operating budget of approximately $2.5 million, with about $1 million coming from fundraising and the rest from ticket sales, according to the company.

Reprise’s last mainstage production was the 2011 revival of “Cabaret.”

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