It is with a mixture of sadness and anticipation that the Artistic Directors and Board of Hotel Obligado have decided to dissolve the organization in December 2008. This decision comes after several months of weighing the pros and cons of maintaining our quickly growing organization while struggling with a lack of financial and administrative resources.

Co-founders Robin Marcotte and Dawn Falato agree that Hotel Obligado is no longer the appropriate vehicle to express their artistic visions. Marcotte plans to collaborate with other Philadelphia artists and theatre companies. Falato is continuing her theatre career in Philadelphia and New York. Helen Faller, the company's development director, will continue freelancing as a grant writer and focus on developing her new record label featuring the music of Central Asia (www.mosaiqa.com).

This is a bittersweet moment for Hotel Obligado. We are very proud of our track record of creating innovative productions over the last eight years. However, we also acknowledge that when a labor of love becomes more labor than love, it is time to re-evaluate how we approach our art.

Most of all, Hotel Obligado would like to express our gratitude to our supporters and the arts and nonprofit organizations of Philadelphia. They are responsible for our success and for the thriving arts community that empowered us to grow. We strongly encourage Hotel Obligado's many fans to continue to support innovative performing arts groups in the area.

This has been a wonderful journey and we are grateful to be able to close our doors with so much pride for our work.