Michael McCormic Jr. has a passion for the arts and having grown up in youth theater, he knew the innerworkings of putting on a successful stage production. As he entered adulthood, he became discouraged by the lack of all-ages performance opportunities and decided he wanted to do something about it.
So, in December of 2024, he helped launch Columbia Theater Arts Foundation – a semi-professional theater company in Clark County with the mission of making excellent live theater available to everyone, regardless of economic status. Their first event was a Big Band Christmas concert, which ran completely as a ‘pay-what-you-will’ show. It generated enough interest and funding that he decided to push forward and do a full-length production. In October, Columbia Theater Arts Foundation and a talented team of actors and musicians put on The Sound of Music at Washougal High School and the response was remarkable: all of the shows sold out.
“With tickets for professional productions costing $50-100 just to get in the door, it’s not feasible for many low-income people or large families to experience the arts this way,” he explained. “The audience response from our latest production was overwhelmingly positive and the general consensus was that people felt like they got a professional quality show without having to pay a set ticket price. For some, that meant they were more comfortable paying extra after the show because they believe in the mission and quality of our work.”
While the pay-what-you-will system is unique, so is the foundation’s willingness to make the arts accessible to people who want to be on stage. “We’ve positioned ourselves as a company that is open to performers of all ages and experience levels,” McCormic explained. “We offer paid stipends for professional and pre-professional level actors to elevate the quality of our productions. At the same time, we welcome amateur performers to grow and develop their talents alongside more experienced actors and actresses.”
McCormic shared that fundraising for the foundation started last December with the Christmas show and they raised about $30,000 between December to September. About half of that was from a few dozen donors and the other half was a small handful of larger donors who believed in the organization’s mission. The Sound of Music was supported by Wealth Investment Services as the mainstage sponsor and Director’s Circle sponsors, which consisted of MyADU, Hammer Falls Construction, Maddox Industrial Transformer, and Schwabe Law Firm.
McCormic said that the pay-what-you-will ticket system can be unpredictable and uncontrollable, but based off the audience feedback so far, it was well worth it. “Over a quarter of our seats for the show were $0 tickets, meaning there were many people in our audience who got to experience live theater who otherwise would not have been able to,” he said.
Looking ahead, McCormic is excited about what’s coming. Right now, he and his team are working to grow their base of volunteers and are actively looking to increase funding. The next big event will be the second annual Big Band Christmas show, and a 2026 season lineup should be announced later this year.
“We want all of Clark County to know what we’re doing,” he said. “To sum our model up in as few words as possible, we believe in the philosophy of ‘ask, never demand’. We’ve built the structure to welcome people into…it’s really encouraging and gives me a lot of hope for the future.”
