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MPC Needs Help to Keep Theatre Thriving SHORTCUTS ART 52 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • S P R I N G / S U M M E R 2 0 1 4 J ust before Christmas 2013, Gary Bolen, chairman of Monterey Peninsula College's (MPC) Theatre Arts Department, received a big lump of coal in his stocking. "I got word that to help bridge MPC's $2.5 million budget gap, we were going to lose 80 percent of our operating budget for fiscal year 2014-15," he says. And it got worse: in addition to cash cuts, the department will lose two full-time classified positions and $40,000 in funding for part-time instructors. But as the cliché has it, the show must go on. Because the cuts don't kick in until July 2014, three productions already on the marquee have been produced: "The Taming of the Shrew," "Heaven and Hell on Earth" and "25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee." "We are currently trying to raise $50,000 to mount 'Oklahoma!' and other projects," Bolen says. In past years, MPC Drama would present four main-stage productions and three Studio Stage productions. "It now looks like we'll be down to three, total," he adds. Bolen says that the cost of mounting a typical Broadway musical on the Morgan Stock Stage of the MPC Theatre building—a structure that recently saw a $9.1 million renovation—comes in between $35,000 and $40,000. The department doesn't have a full-time fundraiser, and adding to the discouraging picture is the fact that news of the cuts came after deadlines for 2014 grant applications had passed. The S.T.A.R. Foundation of Monterey County (Support Theatre Arts Regionally) has pledged a $10,000 matching grant to MPC Theatre. Founded in 2009, the organization has donated more than $1 million to local performing arts entities. Founder and Executive Director Reg Huston is perplexed by how the arts have become a disposable sector of education budgets. "Our quality of life would be absolutely pathetic with- out the arts," he says. "People take them for granted. They won't miss them until they're gone." To learn more about the MPC Theatre Arts Department, for tickets to productions, or to donate, visit www.mpctheatre.com. —Michael Chatfield Chairman of Monterey Peninsula College's Theatre Arts Department Gary Bolen (front row, far right) is hoping to raise funds to save the theatre, which was just denied 80 percent of its operating budget. The theatre department is also losing instructors. Photo: Kelli Uldall 044-70 Shortcuts_SU05 Carmel Magazine 4/25/14 4:28 PM Page 4