02/05/2022
After providing Broadway-caliber entertainment for over 37 years, the Bollinger family has made the difficult decision to close our doors in Claremont on March 20, 2022.
Over the past year, we have encountered numerous obstacles that have ultimately culminated in this decision. Although navigating safety protocols of the pandemic proved challenging, nothing has been more challenging than having to cancel productions during the Holiday season and again in the New Year due to outbreaks. The safety of our employees and patrons has always been of the utmost importance to our family, and the past few weeks have solidified the notion that our ability to keep safe those we hold dear feels beyond our control. These considerations—coupled with a lack of customer parking resulting in reduced audience size, construction next to and behind the theater, and the increasing difficulty of maintaining an aging (80-year-old) building—helped us to make this very difficult decision.
We have devoted over half of our lives to making sure the community at large had access to first-rate, affordable musical theater. Although this is the end of the Candlelight Pavilion in Claremont, we pray it is not the end of musical theater for our family. We ask that you allow us time to regroup, explore new venues better-equipped to handle our unique business model, and let a bit of the dust settle from the ongoing pandemic we have endured together.
Please know that this decision was made with hearts full of gratitude, celebration, and of course, sadness. We have had the honor of welcoming thousands into our “Candlelight Home.”
It has been our greatest honor to serve and entertain you for the past 37 years.
