Shakespeare Santa Cruz meets fundraising goal to fund summer performances
In what Shakespeare Play On is calling a “Herculean” fundraising effort, the nonprofit has raised enough money to fund a two-play Shakespeare Santa Cruz season this summer.
This comes after professional repertory company Shakespeare Santa Cruz closed at the end of the 2013 season with nearly 80 plays under its belt. Shakespeare Play On formed in the wake of the closure to lead the charge for its revival, and is comprised of a Board of Directors, artistic leadership and an advisory board that includes such luminaries as Sir Patrick Stewart and Academy Award winner Olympia Dukakis.
The recent fundraising push for $885,000 resulted in $1.1 million raised.
“When Shakespeare Santa Cruz was closed at the end of the year, there was a prevailing feeling that the community had not been given a voice in its fate,” Co-Artistic Director Mike Ryan said in a press release on Monday, Feb. 3. “The campaign of Shakespeare Play On has given them that voice, and their answer was definitive: this is a community that values the arts and one that wants its Shakespeare Festival. They have given us the means to bring it back to them, and we are extremely honored to be doing just that.”
Former artistic director Marco Barricelli will return for the 2014 season as co-artistic director with Ryan. Several former staff members are on board for the season, and Shakespeare Play On is currently in negotiations with UC Santa Cruz over use of The Sinsheimer-Stanley Festival Glen. More details about the triumphant return season will be released in early March.
“We are, indeed, like a phoenix,” Barricelli said in the press release, “and, thanks to this wonderful community, we will rise from the ashes and continue to bring stunning professional theatre to the area.”
Stayed tuned to Good Times for more in-depth coverage about the revival of Shakespeare Santa Cruz. Visit shakespeareplayon.net for more information.
