So, what did Tboy learn at Jim Graham's office today?
Well:
- that the Source Theatre Company as a legal entity will shortly cease to exist
- that the Source name will nonetheless live on in some form as CuDC takes over and rehabs the space, at an estimated cost of $1.5 million
- that among the financial angels backing the CuDC proposal -- who've already ponied up $300,145.00 in cash and pledges -- are Gilbert and Jaylee Mead, Victor Shargai, the Meyer Foundation, and "most of the theaters in town," plus any number of people strong-armed by Pat Murphy Sheehy in the handful of weeks since the call for proposals went out
The new Source will be unlike Flashpoint in that it won't be an incubator space -- in other words, the grow-'em-up-and-kick-'em-out model that governs the fledgling arts groups based at Flashpoint won't be ported uptown.
Instead, the new Source will offer both affordable spaces for rent and a home for one or more resident companies--presumably the two, Actors Theatre and the IN Series, who helped agitate for the space's preservation as an arts venue. (Though that may not be a foregone conclusion; CuDC would seem to be a businesslike outfit, and Tboy expects a lot will depend on those companies' ability to demonstrate sound fiscal circumstances. Their respective administrators both seem pretty confident about their prospects, though.)
Other random thoughts:
Someone, Tboy forgets who, referred to Jim Graham as "the godfather of this whole process," though she may have meant "Godfather," which would make Tboy chuckle, given the arm-twisting that went on at some of those meetings.
Graham has promised to keep pushing for the city to forgive the outstanding mortgage on the Source building--a forgiveness that's apparently built into CuDC boss Anne Corbett's business plan. 
(Though we don't know for sure: After initially agreeing to provide copies of the full CuDC proposal to Tboy and the two other reporters at the meeting, Corbett checked in with her lawyers and changed her mind. She served up a one-page executive summary instead; it's posted there on the right, so you can see the outline for yourself.)
In the meeting, Corbett said the full plan counts on a certain revenue stream from rentals of office space, the theater, and classrooms/rehearsal space. She envisions an annual operating budget in the vicinity of $200,000 - $250,000, and expects the renovation process to take several months--after the actual closing, which all concerned hope will occur in 30 to 60 days.
Oh, and good news for all you festival-lovers: As you'll see in that outline, CuDC has pledged to revive the Washington Theatre Festival, which it sees as both a tradition worth honoring and as a substantial cash cow. Indeed, Corbett's business plan counts on that, too--and she says she's confident that there's room in D.C. for both a resurrected Source festival and Capital Fringe.
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