The second time was a charm.

Bristol Theatre Company Chairman Marie Knapman got some great news last week. Their application for more than $18,000 for the purchase of lighting equipment was granted by the Champlin Foundation. Their first application was unsuccessful, primarily due to the fact that the Company, which leases the first floor of the Reynolds Building on High Street from the Town of Bristol, did not have a lease term long enough to make the grant makers at Champlin confident that their gift would have a long-term impact.

The new lease, for five years, renewable for another three, came through in the nick of time.

“About 10 minutes before the Champlin application was due,” said Ms. Knapman. “Champlin wouldn’t look at anything less than a five-year lease, and even that was pushing it.”

According to Ms. Knapman, there are four major expenses to staging an all-volunteer community theater production: rights, lights and sound, the pit band (if the production is a musical) and in the case of the company’s summer productions, air conditioning.

“Lighting and sound is a huge expense that we pay over and over for the same equipment,” said Ms. Knapman. “We have to wait for the weekend before the show for it to get loaded in, we’re at the mercy of the company that’s loading it in, and if things go wrong, we have to wait from someone to come down and fix it.”

It’s also a huge cost, at about $3,000 per production. With the company’s current schedule, that’s close to $9,000 a year. So for the same cost of about two seasons of rentals, the grant will cover the brand-new lighting equipment that the Company will own and maintain.

What’s more, it will allow the theater company to expand its offerings to smaller-scale plays that would not have the bigger box office receipts that would guarantee a break-even, given hefty rental expenses. “We can also rent the space to other groups that need lighting but cannot afford to lease it,” said Ms. Knapman, like local school groups. “It opens up a lot of opportunity. It’s another step to becoming more profitable.”

The Bristol Theatre Company will turn its fundraising efforts towards sound equipment next, which is a little less costly than lighting equipment. Ms. Knapman is waiting on quotes so she can set that goal.

It’s all looking up for a theater company that enjoyed several Motif Awards nominations earlier this year for their production of “Tommy,” and just learned that they have also received Broadway World nominations for the same show, including Best Musical, Best Ensemble, Best Director (Greg Geer), Best Lighting, and Best Set Design.

A Christmas comedy this year

The Bristol Theatre Company’s next production is just around the corner: “Ant’ny Claus: A Dysfunctional Family Christmas” is a departure from traditional holiday fare, but it promises to be a fun one.

“We’ve done ‘Christmas Carol,’ we’ve done ‘A Wonderful Life,’ this is different for us,” said Company Chairman Marie Knapman. “Ant’ny Claus” was penned by Rhode Island comedian Frank O’Donnell. The premise: if Santa gets sick, who takes over? In this case, it’s his younger brother Ant’ny.

“Frank isn’t charging us rights, so it’s kind of a fundraiser for us,” said Ms. Knapman. Mr. O’Donnell has a foundation, the Keri Ann Memorial Foundation, named in honor of his 15-year-old daughter who was killed in a car accident on I-95 in Richmond in 2010. “He raises money for kids who like to do the things she loved, like theater and dance. Some of the proceeds from our ticket sales will go to the KAO foundation.”

“This cast is very talented at improv,” said Ms. Knapman, who in addition to her perennial role as producer, has a small on-stage role in “Ant’ny Claus.” “I am not, and if they do not give the exact line to me, they won’t be getting the right line back,” she said, laughing. “I’m much better at pointing out the location of the bathrooms and the emergency exits — my usual job.”

The show will run Friday through Sunday, Dec. 6 to 8, and Thursday to Saturday, Dec. 12 to 14. For more information and tickets, visit www.bristoltheatrecompany.org.