N.Y. LIGHT OPERA COMPANY TO CLOSE BECAUSE OF DEBTS

The Light Opera of Manhattan, a company that performed operettas year-round, is closing, a victim of red ink.

LOOM, as it was often called, took pride in having all 13 Gilbert and Sullivan works in its repertory. It also performed Victor Herbert, Sigmund Romberg, Franz Lehar and Johann Strauss operettas.

In 1984, the company was told that its home for nearly a decade, the 284-seat Eastside Playhouse, would be torn down so a high-rise apartment house could be built. The company moved into a school auditorium, performing on weekends. Then in February 1985, LOOM moved into the 160-seat Cherry Lane Theater in Greenwich Village.

“We were almost always in the black during our years at the Eastside Playhouse,” said LOOM president Jean Dalrymple. “I think we would have built up a similar following in the Village, given a little time.”

She said the company recently lost the loft space where it stored sets and costumes.