10/08/2025
Ain’t nobody gonna break my stride!
The Athens Theatre is deeply saddened by the Volusia County Council’s decision to postpone all cultural grants this year — $611,758 in funding that supported 32 arts organizations across our county. This decision reaches far beyond budgets; it touches the heart of who we are as a community. For generations, the arts have shaped Volusia County into a place where imagination is nurtured, where children discover their voices, and where neighbors come together to feel inspired, connected, and part of something beautiful.
For more than a century, the Athens Theatre has opened her doors to everyone. She has been a constant companion to this city through change and challenge, through joy and loss. Within her walls, thousands have found laughter, comfort, and belonging. We proudly rent our historic venue to a wide range of community partners, offering a welcoming space that reflects the diversity, imagination, and freedom of our community.
Recent discussion has focused on rental events such as The Rocky Horror Picture Show and its pre-show drag performance. It’s important to note that these are not Athens Theatre productions, but outside events that help sustain our nonprofit mission and our six-show mainstage season. Rocky Horror celebrates its 50th anniversary this year — half a century of laughter, music, and antics that generations have shared together. For many, it was their first taste of theatre that felt alive, rebellious, and free. And just as audiences once embraced films like Mrs. Doubtfire and Tootsie without controversy, Rocky Horror used humor and transformation to bring people together — long before “drag” became treated by some as an ugly four-letter word.
The Athens Theatre stands for artistic freedom, equality, and the First Amendment — the same principles that have allowed artists for generations to tell the stories that move us, challenge us, and bring us together. To see funding for all cultural organizations postponed over a single disagreement is profoundly disheartening. It risks dimming the very light that has helped this community grow strong, compassionate, and proud.
We stand shoulder to shoulder with our fellow arts organizations who have also lost this vital support. Together, we will keep creating, keep inspiring, and keep our stages alive. Because when art disappears, so does connection — and when the arts thrive, a community’s spirit shines brighter than ever.
At 103 years old, the Athens Theatre still wakes each day with purpose. She has weathered wars, recessions, hurricanes, and heartbreak — yet each time the lights rise, she stands tall again, glowing like a promise on Indiana Avenue. She has heard every kind of laughter, held every kind of dream, and carried every kind of hope. Her strength comes from the people who fill her seats, lift her curtains, sweep her floors, and believe that joy, empathy, and imagination are worth protecting.
And so, we will keep her alive. We will keep lifting the curtain. We will keep filling her with music, stories, and laughter. Because she is more than brick and plaster — she is the heart of DeLand. And as long as that heart keeps beating, this community will never be without a home. ❤️
