With the possibility of Musicfest being discontinued, Merritt may lose a big draw for the local economy.

As an alternative, a new theatre with live performances could be a way to ignite the arts scene and simultaneously boost tourism, according to Jim Bruce, president of the Merritt Live Theatre Society.

“There are a number of communities that really get into cultural tourism,” he said. “It is possible to bring in a lot of revenue with theatre and different performance venues. We could bring a lot of jobs and revenue into this town.”

In B.C. and Alberta, small theatre groups have built up a loyal audience base and attracted people from out of town for dinner and a show.

The town of Rosebud, Alberta, has become synonymous with theatre since opening a venue in the 1990s.

With a population of less than 100, Rosebud has seen a huge influx of 40,000 tourists per year since the theatre opened.

Bruce is hoping Merritt can pull off a similar feat.

He has started the ball rolling with an application for a $2,000 grant to fund a small conference or seminar with the founder of Rosebud Theatre.

“Laverne feels that our area is ideally suited for this sort of thing because he likes to look for an area that has a high frequency of travellers going by,” said Bruce. “He helped Chemainus get their theatre going and, of course, there are tour buses going by constantly for their dinner theatre there.”

Bruce has been involved with community theatre for many years and knows how difficult it can be to get theatre groups started and, eventually, making a profit.

But he is confident the possibility exists.

About 30 years ago Bruce helped resurrect the Shuswap theatre group, which also struggled to get funds.

“They said to the directors, ‘We want you to each sign this form for the bank, and this is backing with your house for the cost of this production.’ You get used to weird things like that happening and you don’t think about it or worry about it too much. It teaches you to be a business person, in a way,” he said.

The Merritt Theatre Society held its first show at the Capital Stage at Iron Mountain Music this summer, but will need a bigger venue for its production of A Thousand Clowns in December.

The play will be performed at the Legion, with a stage constructed specifically for the show.

Storage and cost of props, lighting and costumes has to be determined by the cast and crew, who are all volunteers, but with fundraising and sponsorship, Bruce said expenses can be managed.

At a fundraising steak dinner on Oct. 28 at The Grand Pub and Grill, patrons enjoyed dinner and cast members’ performances of scenes from the play.

The Legion may end up being the permanent home for the Theatre Society if enough funds can be raised, said Bruce.

“The Legion is up for sale, and we’re probably one of a number of people who are tentatively interested in it, although that would be with a lot of backing. And we’re sort of going to wait and see how the production goes and see if there’s a group of people that come out of it to say, ‘Yeah, that building should be used for theatre.’”

A Thousand Clowns runs Dec. 10, 12, 13 and 14 at 7 p.m. at the Legion with doors at 6 p.m. Tickets are available from Country Bug Books, NVIT library and cast members.