While downtown's Rialto Theatre said today it would continue with its upcoming shows, the Fox Tucson Theatre announced earlier today that it would suspend programming starting Monday, March 16, through Sunday, April 5.

"It is with a heavy heart that we have decided to suspend public performances at the Fox beginning Monday, March 16th through Sunday, April 5th," a notice on the theatre's website notes. "At that time, we will reevaluate the situation and continue to work with our touring artist partners to determine if and when rescheduling is possible."

The Fox team also made an appeal for financial support to make up for the losses it will suffer without programming:

Now we must ask for your help. There are serious financial consequences to such a decision, with literally hundreds of thousands of dollars on the line. This is nothing compared to the risk of loss of human life. However, such extreme losses coming all at once could threaten the viability of the Fox in the near term. In the nonprofit arts industry, profit margins are slim and we invest roughly 90% of the cost of an event upfront, funds we cannot recover. When events are canceled, refunding the related ticket revenue results in a complete loss.

In this unprecedented and unexpected moment, we are asking our community to rally around us. While each ticket holder is typically entitled to a refund in those rare circumstances when events are canceled, in this atypical situation we respectfully ask our audiences to consider crowdsharing the financial impact of this pandemic on the Fox.

Please donate back the value of your purchase to support the Fox Tucson. If this approach does not feel right for you, as a second option, we ask you to consider accepting a credit toward a future Fox event. If you do require a refund, we understand and will be happy to accommodate.

These are going to be tough months for the performing arts community.

Here's the complete statement from the Fox Tucson Theatre:

We at the Fox Tucson Theatre are proud members of the live performing arts community. We take our role as organizers and implementors of positive live experiences to heart. We are passionate conveyors of joy, and we believe in the unparalleled power of shared experience to help each of us understand ourselves, one another, and the broader world a little bit better. We know that in a society often divided by fear and increasingly separated by technology, the act of showing up and being present together can be a profound expression of love for community. This is who we are. It is why we do what we do. It is why people embrace special places like the Fox, where we make memories together.

Because our work is, at its core, about making connections and building relationships in real-time and real space, the idea of “social distancing” is anathema to our core values and to our very identity as performance-based artists and artisans. On a typical day, we take care of our community by calling us together to witness and celebrate and question and wonder at the gift of human creativity. Today, however, is not a typical day.

Today, in the face of an escalating public health crisis, we must take a different approach to caring for our community’s health. We must embrace the guidance of our community caregivers in the medical field, whose particular expertise tells us that the tactic needed now is to create intentional distance.

So, it is with a heavy heart that we have decided to suspend public performances at the Fox beginning Monday, March 16th through Sunday, April 5th. At that time, we will reevaluate the situation and continue to work with our touring artist partners to determine if and when rescheduling is possible.

Now we must ask for your help. There are serious financial consequences to such a decision, with literally hundreds of thousands of dollars on the line. This is nothing compared to the risk of loss of human life. However, such extreme losses coming all at once could threaten the viability of the Fox in the near term. In the nonprofit arts industry, profit margins are slim and we invest roughly 90% of the cost of an event upfront, funds we cannot recover. When events are canceled, refunding the related ticket revenue results in a complete loss.

In this unprecedented and unexpected moment, we are asking our community to rally around us. While each ticket holder is typically entitled to a refund in those rare circumstances when events are canceled, in this atypical situation we respectfully ask our audiences to consider crowdsharing the financial impact of this pandemic on the Fox.

Please donate back the value of your purchase to support the Fox Tucson. If this approach does not feel right for you, as a second option, we ask you to consider accepting a credit toward a future Fox event. If you do require a refund, we understand and will be happy to accommodate.

Ticket holders to suspended events may contact our box office at 520-547-3040 or boxoffice@foxtucson.com to donate, exchange, or request a refund. Non-ticket holders, you can always show your support by becoming a member.

Thank you for believing in the Fox and the power of live performance in our lives.