Chicago’s Lookingglass Theatre, one of the most innovative and vibrant members of Chicago’s theater scene, announced Friday that it is pausing operations after a 35-year run. The move includes massive cuts in staffing and no further productions until spring of 2024 at the earliest.

The current production of “Lucy and Charlie’s Honeymoon” will finish out its run on July 16.

The news was made public via a letter to donors and supporters from artistic director Heidi Stillman and theater board of directors chair Diane Whatton.

“While the pandemic has been declared over, theatres in our country are still feeling the effects of needing to shut down for so long. Since re-opening, audiences and donations have not returned to 2019 levels, and the American Theatre is struggling to survive,” the statement read, in part. “We are announcing today that we have to take the heavy, but intentional, step of reducing our staff and will be producing less and in different ways in the coming year as we re-imagine our future.”

The letter also addressed the Tony Award-winning theater company’s Michigan Avenue home at the Water Tower Water Works.

“We have received capital funding from the State of Illinois to re-envision and renovate the outer lobby space in the Water Tower Water Works building in partnership with the Chicago Public Library. We believe this will be both literally and figuratively transformational; this dynamic new community space will help revitalize the Michigan Avenue corridor and gather all points of Chicago together,” the letter stated.

The theater company also announced a $2.5 million fundraising effort to help secure the future of the theater.

Lookingglass ensemble members include “Friends” star David Schwimmer, Joey Slotnick (“Twister”), Kareem Bandealy (“Chicago Fire”), J. Nicole Brooks (“South Side,” “The Chi”) and playwright/director and Goodman Theatre Associate Mary Zimmerman, among others.

Among the company’s many critically acclaimed productions are Zimmerman’s “Metamorphoses” (which earned her the Tony Award for best direction of a play in 2002), and the circus-centric “Lookingglass Alice” by David Catlin.

In a statement on Friday, Erin Harkey the commissioner for the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events called the theater’s temporary closure another example of the hardship the industry continues to endure as a result of pandemic shutdowns.

“Chicago’s theater scene is one of the greatest in the world. They were hit hard by the pandemic — and they have never fully recovered. Lookingglass Theatre Company is the latest example of a theater having to make a tough choice, which is happening in greater frequency throughout the country,” Harkey said. “... We’re going to continue to encourage our neighbors and visitors to get back in the habit of experiencing live shows, rallying to drive ticket sales, and employ a cohesive strategy that will support all of our theaters, including Lookingglass.”