San Jose Rep managing director Nick Nichols may have devoted his career to those who strut and fret upon the stage, but he was put off by the melodramatic tone of a Merc article last Sunday, which seemed to predict the 30-year-old theater’s imminent demise: “Last Curtain for the Rep?” the header wailed. “Well, the fact of the matter is, we’re here, we’re opening our next show, we were successful in the fundraising we needed to do—we’re in better financial shape than we’ve been in a while,” Nichols says.

Although he concedes that the figures cited in the article are accurate and paint a picture of a troubled company—lagging ticket sales, an operating loss of $406,812 from ’09—he points out that subscriptions are up 14 percent compared to last year, and fundraising is up seven percent. Coupled with the fact that the Rep has made it through what are traditionally its toughest months—December, January and February—Nichols says he isn’t sure why the article seems to indicate the theater is raising death’s pale flag, especially since the audit quoted in the piece came out way back in November.

Out of concern that the article will send a faint cold fear through the philanthropic veins of donors, the Rep’s board is sending a letter to their subscribers today assuring them “we will not only finish out this season, but move into next season,” Nichols says. “We want to make sure this article doesn’t slow that momentum.” If there’s one lesson to be learned from Shakespeare, it’s to take a pulse first.