.Shakespeare Santa Cruz Safe for 2010

blog_slug_shakesShakespeare Santa Cruz Balances Budget and Moves Forward

On a rainy, windy day at UC Santa Cruz, Arts Chancellor David Yager and Artistic Director of Shakespeare Santa Cruz Marco Barricelli were pleased to announce one of UCSC’s unique theater programs would survive another season.

After concerns that the program would be unable to balance its 2009 budget, Shakespeare Santa Cruz is ready to prepare to enter its 29th season in 2010.  Yager and Barricelli held a conference call at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct.13, 2009 to announce the good news.
“I think everyone on campus, and certainly the staff and collegues, are all very excited about this,” Yager said. “Shakespeare Santa Cruz has performed in extremely high quality for 28 years.”

Shakespeare Santa Cruz, best known for its outdoor and indoor performances during the summer, also has productions during the Fall and Winter seasons.

The program was able to balance its 2009 budget because of donors and supporters who stepped forward in December as well as patrons who came to see the shows this past summer.  Ticket sales for the summer were at 88 percent of their original projections, but Yager said those estimates were made in a different economic climate.  He called ticket sales, given the deep economic recession, “extraordinary.”

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Barricelli and Yager worked closely to coordinate the decision process.  Barricelli was thankful for Yager’s commitment to Shakespeare Santa Cruz.  Yager has been UCSC Dean of the Arts Dean of the Arts since May.

“One of the beneficial things that we have going for us is that Dean Yager is very new to Santa Cruz and the Arts Division,” Barricelli said.  “I am relatively new.  I’ve just completed two seasons here, so I think both us have been able to look at this with different eyes.”

Barricelli and Yager both thanked friends of the program, volunteers, staff, donors, supporters, and patrons.  Yager stressed that, with the increase in private donations and all of the hard work from members of the community, the program has the opportunity to grow more inclusive.

“One of the great things about this kind of thing is that it can be owned by a lot of different people,” Yager said, “and that’s what makes it so exciting.” shakespearesantacruz.org

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