But for the big hearts and amazing foresight of one Mexican family, a newly built structure in Colonia La Luz might have become another OXXO store. Instead, with a lot of help from a lot of friends, it will become the new home of San Miguel Playhouse.

The theater lost its home on Independencia when the owners of the property put it up for sale. With no lease on the property they have been occupying since 2014 and the threat of eviction hanging over their head, the troupe couldn’t plan a new season. As they say in the business, the theater went dark in May.

Well, soon enough, the lights will come on, the curtain will rise, and live theater will again be a part of the cultural spectrum that makes San Miguel such an enriching place to live.

The new 100-seat theater will be on Boulevard de la Conspiracion, right across from the Tuesday Market, near Calle Golondrina.

The structure was built last year and has never been occupied.

The president of the theater board Marcela Brondo and board member Frederic Dannen announced the acquisition of the building and plans for its future at the gathering of the Midday Rotary on Tuesday in the Biblioteca.

The building is owned by “a very cultural Mexican family” which does not wish to be identified, according to Dannen. They have provided a long-term lease — after spurning OXXO — with the ability to renew. The family has also offered the non-profit SMA Playhouse a three-month window to get the theater up and running and generating income.

In other words, a home of some permanence and stability.

Like all homes of permanence and stability, the future looks not only bright but dazzling.

Both Brondo and Dannen have been champions of multi-cultural arts programs. Brondo especially created programs that brought live music and theater into barrios and colonias where these are not usually traditionally a part of the community.

“They don’t come to Centro because they feel they don’t belong there,” explained Brondo, “and that is sad. So sad.” Brondo imagines a steady stream of kids and adults meeting on this common ground with the traditional patrons of art, theater, and music and together sharing the cultural experience.

“Through the arts we have the opportunity to know ‘us’ better,” she says. “Theater, the arts, are a mirror for us to hold up.”

As Brondo wrote recently on the San Miguel Community Foundation website (which will be hosting their fundraising efforts), “The new theater and concert hall will be available for use not only by San Miguel Playhouse, A.C., but by any number of reputable event providers in San Miguel and elsewhere, for the presentation of live theater, live music, film, dance, conferences, holiday pageants, school talent shows, and so forth. Hence, the other half of the A.C.’s mission is to give the community a well-constructed performance space, critical at a time when San Miguel’s available venues are decreasing in number.”

The expectation is that rather than intermittent and seasonal performances, the Playhouse will be a roaring engine for cultural events seven days a week. all year long.

Along with live theater, they plan to produce chamber music concerts featuring artists from all across Mexico. “The acoustics will be suitable for classical music,” says Dannen, himself a classically trained pianist.

When SMA Playhouse was forced to vacate its longtime home, they still held a few cards. Or, rather seats. While the landlord owned the building, the Playhouse owned all 135 seats, fixtures, lighting, staging — in other words they were able to haul away their entire theater sans walls and roof. They gutted the place and tucked it all in storage for this day.

Now, it won’t simply be plug and play.

The interior needs to be carefully designed to get the most out of the space. An acoustics specialist will be needed to ensure that the auditory experience is at peak performance levels. New LED lights are needed to replace the old equipment. A better sound system will be needed. There are permits to be obtained.

Asked what it will cost to move in, the board members are clear on one thing: “A lot.”

“There is no budget yet”, says Dannen, although they figure that lights and sound alone may run up to $1 million pesos.

A proper budget is being drawn up and a new website will reflect the new home. Once the costs have been tallied, everything will be posted to the website. “Total transparency,” promises Dannen.

Meanwhile, being so tantalizingly close to opening its doors once again, the San Miguel Playhouse is turning to the public for help. They want to start fundraising right away and the San Miguel Community Foundation has adopted their cause and added the non-profit to its extensive list of charities.

Brondo and Dannen encourage their patrons to visit the umbrella foundation and contribute what they can to the future of the San Miguel Playhouse. “They can collect on our behalf,” says Dannen.

For now, there is no opening date. The whole project is so new that the groundwork has barely begun.

But with a little help from their friends, the marquee will be lit, the doors will be open and the show will go on. Something we won’t be seeing any time soon at the Bellas Artes’s theater or Angela Peralta Theater.

It felt like spots for live performances were becoming an endangered species in San Miguel, like news outlets of late. It feels nice to add a new stage.