Parking-Lot Sale Shoos Wolves From the Stage Door

“I think we have survived!”

With those words, a jubilant but weary Patricia Terry declared that Santa Ana’s Alternative Repertory Theatre earned enough money at an emergency fund-raiser Saturday to keep it from closing because of a financial crisis. “This puts us back in the ballpark,” said Terry, artistic director of the 2-year-old troupe. “I think we are going to have a third season.”

ART announced in May that poor attendance since February at its 61-seat storefront theater had led to the crisis, and that it would be forced to disband unless it raised $7,000 by the middle of this month.

Terry said the troupe netted more than $3,000 from Saturday’s huge “Slaves to ART Parking Lot Sale,” which drew a steady stream of customers for everything from used washing machines to home-baked goods and Tarot card readings.

The earnings--combined with a $1,000 pledge from a Newport Beach benefactor and recent income from improved box-office business--have put ART close to its stated goal. “We’ll have $6,000 in the bank by Monday morning,” Terry noted.

The troupe, which has come to symbolize the fitful growth of grass-roots arts groups in Orange County over the past two years, has produced seven plays since the fall of 1987. It’s current offering--William Hanley’s “Slow Dance on the Killing Ground”--is scheduled to close Saturday.

Buoyed by the latest turn of events, Terry said the troupe “will absolutely” seek nonprofit status to make fund-raising more practical. And it will pursue more sharply defined marketing plans on the advice of a professional fund-raiser who has “talked us through new strategies.”

One strategy already decided upon is another yard sale--with donated items left over from the parking-lot sale--to be held Saturday at 2312 Santa Ana Ave.

Meanwhile, ART has pencilled in a new season, though it hasn’t yet decided on all the titles. A classical Greek play will lead off (Sept. 29-Nov. 18), possibly “Lysistrata” or “Medea.” A contemporary piece will follow (Jan. 12- March 10), possibly “Joe Egg” or “Waiting for Godot.”

The third production will be the West Coast premiere of “Yalla Bitch” by Lorna C. Hill (April 6-May 26). Hill is the artistic director of the Ujma Theatre in Buffalo, N.Y., where she presented and starred in her play earlier this season. It is about a black woman’s coming-of-age, Terry said.

“Director’s Fest ‘90” will close the season (June 5-July 2) and will be coordinated by Robert Leigh, a drama teacher at Rancho Santiago College in Santa Ana. The festival will be designed as an open forum for writers, directors and actors--preferably from the county’s ethnic communities--who want to stage their work.