Well, this announcement isn't exactly a surprise since the Willows Theater company management team began their concerted effort to abandon the Willows Theater in Concord in favor of whatever venue they could arrange in Martinez a number of years ago. Now they are shutting down the venue which attracts the majority of their patrons to performances, in favor of a smaller, less satisfactory cabaret styled venue which attracts probably less than 1/3 of the patrons who attend in Concord. They complain about having to pay rent in Concord ($40k/year, I believe?), but are apparently OK with the $350k debt load they are saddled with in the Martinez cabaret facility (wasn't that building an auto parts store at one point?). Well, whatever - it is a sad day as we have been season subscribers for many years, and will miss them. We wish them well in Martinez, but do not plan to be a part of that experience once we get whatever remaining value we can out of this year's already paid for season tickets. We will seek out traditional live theater venue options elsewhere.