The Virginia Repertory Theatre, which held an emergency fundraiser late last year to remain fiscally solvent, was dealt another blow last week when an agreement to sell one of its buildings fell through.

Part of the return to financial stability for the Rep involved selling the former Scottish Rite Temple on Hermitage Road, which it purchased in 2022 for $3.5 million to serve as the home for its children's programming.

That sale was supposed to close last Thursday, but the group purchasing the building backed out at the last second, leaving the Rep in a bind.

A Rep spokesperson said the theater is continuing to protect the confidentiality of the buyer while it tries to finalize a sale. Two other groups are scheduled to look at the building this week, and the Rep is assembling a group of funders in the hopes of obtaining bridge funding until a sale can be completed.

Managing Director Klaus Schuller said that while the theater is continuing to plan for future programming, those shows are entirely dependent on obtaining financing.

One show, "Fat Ham," has already been cancelled. The crew was informed just days before they were scheduled to travel to Richmond.

"Had we brought the cast to Richmond, it was virtually certain that we would have run out of money by opening night," Schuller wrote in an online Q&A. "Not traveling everyone here was more prudent."

Schuller also acknowledged that ticket sales for this season have fallen short of projections.

Theaters count on blockbuster hits to help fund lesser-known or emerging shows like "Fat Ham," which is a reinterpretation of Hamlet with a Black queer actor in the lead role. However, the group's holiday production of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" also underperformed expectations.

Schuller was adamant that politics played no role in the cancellation of "Fat Ham," adding that any other show, including an anticipated summer production of "Waitress," also would have had to be canceled given the circumstances.

"We don't have cash right now," he wrote. "We are not 'holding back funds' to support 'Waitress,' or any other production, the funds simply are not there."

Last year's fundraiser was intended to keep the theater afloat until the building sale closed, and the Rep spokesperson said that financial budgets and audits have been prepared showing that the money was used properly.

But now a new buyer may need to be found, extending the financial crunch for the organization until money from the building sale can be obtained.