BY ABBY FOX

The Academy Players of East Greenwich are in their 55^th season, but fear their days as an organization are numbered.

“We want to make it work,” said President Scott Morency. “I don’t want to be known as the President that closed Academy.”

But because of a poor turnout for “Pippin,” their first show of the season, on top of the school district’s new policy of building fees, which on average are $55 an hour and have set the Academy back about $4,000 for renting out the high school auditorium for “Pippin,” the Players aren’t sure how to make ends meet.

They’re hoping fans of the Academy Players will show up for a fundraising entertainment night Jan. 23 at the Varnum Armory, called Fund Drive ’55, from 6:30 p.m. to midnight. With Charlie Hall and the Ocean State Follies, Jeanne Sullivan Evans, Kris Hansen Kollective not to mention permission from the town council to serve alcohol, Morency and others are hoping that the fun they’ve cooked up will encourage enough people to stop by and give a $25 donation at the door, to help save the group.

The Academy Players lost its footing a few years ago when the Odeum closed and performances were moved to the high school. “We saw a significant drop in attendance since moving from the Odeum,” Morency said; and a recent survey of patrons at “Pippin” proved people don’t like driving to the high school to attend shows. But, they hope, if the fundraiser is a success, and if the next two shows, “Our Town” and “Nine” make money, the all-volunteer group will stay alive.

The Players have plans to perform “Our Town” at the Armory, which is fitting, Morency said, because in the group’s first days, they played there. “It’s a great space,” he said. And they plan to do “Nine” at the new Park Theater in Cranston. “It’s an amazing, 1,000- seat theater,” he said. “It’s state-of-the-art.”

The Players’ goal is to raise anywhere from $5,000 to $8,000 Saturday night and hope that what they don’t raise then they will get from long-time fans and friends, who can contact Morency at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or go online to academyplayers.net to donate.

“Everything is hinging on what happens in the next three months,” he said. “If our fundraiser, ‘Nine,’ and ‘Our Town’ don’t succeed, no ifs, ands, or buts, the Academy’s done. We unfortunately do not have the membership we’ve had in the past and we aren’t breaking even, much less making money.”

Morency said he’s been grateful to the Armory – “They don’t want us to leave,” he said – and St. Luke’s, who has donated rehearsal space.

“We have no money,” reiterated Vice President Terry Shea. “Some organizations wouldn’t like to admit that, but we have nothing to lose. It’s just a matter of the rising cost of everything; it’s just untenable. We can’t get ahead. We won’t be going back to the high school because we can’t afford it. We don’t have money in the bank to produce ‘Our Town’ and we can’t even print up posters until we get money from the fundraiser, and that’s going to hurt us because we won’t have enough advanced publicity. We’re in tough shape.”

The fundraiser “is a way for us to return to Main Street and we’re trying to put together a show that will appeal to everybody; there’s something for everyone: theater, rock bands, comedians, a real variety show,” he said. “For a $25 donation, they can come, watch, leave, patronize Main Street. We need the money, we want to entertain and it’s the time and place to do it.”

He and Morency said they both have a lot of hope that they’ll end the season on more stable ground than when they began. “I’m very excited about ‘Nine,’; we had a great turnout for auditions,” Shea said.

The season’s schedule is “Our Town” Feb. 19, 20, 21, 26, 27 and 28, and “Nine,” on May 6, 7,8, and 9.