A School of Performing Arts!

“The arts can be a powerful vehicle to empower communities and inspire action. The development of artists and musicians can be important in the development of agents of social change. - Arts education programs can develop strong mentoring relationships between young people and socially-engaged artists.”
 
It is our goal to raise one hundred thousand dollars by the 1st of the year or sooner. That’s a big ask, but we believe we can do this!  $100K would get us in a position to lease a space for at least 2 years, pay our staff, and take Truckee Community Theater to the next level. While fundraising efforts will be ongoing, this would power us up and propel us into the future. 
 
You may be asking, “How can I help?”   There are a lot of ways to help TCT with this project.
 
  1. Donate!  Every dollar helps and every donation is tax deductible!  TCT is a 501(c)(3).   www.truckeecommunitytheater.com  *
  2. Promote!  Share our posts on social media, forward this letter to friends or family that might be looking to support the arts this year.
  3. Follow!  Follow us on social media  @truckeedcommunitytheater 
  4. Find!   Find a corporate sponsor or become a corporate sponsor!  We recognize and promote all of our sponsors on our website and social media!
  5. Subscribe!  Subscribe to our monthly newsletter. www.truckeecommunitytheater.com
  6. Mask up!   TCT is proud to be part of the Mask Up Tahoe initiative.  Wear masks, flatten the curve, get us back to work!

*Donations can be made via our secure website or checks can be mailed to us at Truckee Community Theater,  11260 Donner Pass Road, Ste C-1 PMB 306, Truckee CA 96161

What is The Dream Big Project?

Like everyone else, Truckee Community Theater had big plans for 2020.  In January, we kicked off our season with our annual teen musical, “Shrek Jr”.  The show was a huge success and we all had a blast putting it together.  Just days before our beautiful cast of “Steel Magnolias” was to go into their final dress rehearsals, the state of California shut down due to COVID-19.  Our cast of “Matilda” had just started rehearsals. As case numbers continued to climb through the spring, it was obvious the whole world was facing a pandemic the likes of which we had not seen since 1918.  That faithful day, March 13, 2020 when we were told we would be going to “Distance Learning”, little did we know what we were really up against.  Stay-at-home orders, masks, gloves, and of course the great toilet paper shortage. But the day that  Broadway announced they were going dark until Labor Day rocked us to the core. When they later announced it would be until 2021, my heart broke.  Our small theatre company is in the same place.  All theatre companies and performing arts entities are dark and we will be the last businesses to re-open.  To add insult to injury, because we were not considered “essential”, the arts were removed as a line item for charitable giving from most local organizations and businesses.
 
Suddenly dark with no idea when we might be able to return to the stage, we started to think outside the box. This spring TCT produced the first online musical for kids called, “The Show Must Go Online”.  Director Michele Greenwood did an incredible job with our kids. Every one of them filming their parts from their homes.  All of them desperate to get back to the stage to see one another in person. Thankfully this summer, we have been allowed to run our annual theatre camps, but on a much smaller scale.  Registration limited to only 9 participants per director plus camp would have to be outdoors at our regional park and there would be no paid performances for the public.  In a normal summer, our camps have up to 40 participants per camp and each of their shows performs twice for paying audiences of up to 200 people. Our camps really aren’t generating any money for TCT this year, but they ARE giving kids an opportunity to learn and be together. I am so grateful we have been able to pull this off and the smiles on these kid’s faces have made it worth doing.
 
So, where does that leave us? Truckee Community Theater is getting by, but barely. Thankfully our liabilities are few and we have been given some life-support funding from entities like the Truckee Tahoe Community Foundation and Nevada County Covid Relief Fund.  Sadly, without ticket revenue, we are struggling and there is a risk we could close down completely. We have canceled the rest of our 2020 season and while we are hoping to push two projects into our 2021 season, that isn’t looking good right now.  The reality is that we may not be back on stage in front of a live audience for more than a year.
 
Now we at TCT are working hard to reinvent ourselves. We are looking at live-streaming our 10 Minute Play Festival in March as well as other events like a talent show and an evening of Broadway music with some of our most talented performers.  We are looking to create a video podcast that would be run weekly featuring different artists that would include play readings, stand-up comedy, and more. But, our biggest of big dreams has been to create a School of Performing Arts right here in Truckee.  A place where we can share our passion for the stage through classes, workshops, and camps.  A place where we might be able to bring in guest artists for master classes. A place where our high school kids can have a proper dramatic arts education that will prepare them for college auditions and beyond. It would be a place where children, teens, and adults of all ages can come learn about acting, music, dance, set design, costume design, technical theatre, and stage direction. Finally, it would be a home for our Improv Comedy Troup and our 10 Minute Play Festival.  We have already lined up some amazing teachers to offer classes beginning this fall through our local Rec and Park Department as well as online.
 
The DREAM BIG TCT Project is an effort to finally get our company its own studio space. Yes, eventually we do need a theater, but for now, we just need a home. We need a space for all the above mentioned.  Rents in Truckee are very expensive, but there are great spaces out there. Ultimately it would need to be between 2000-3000 square feet to allow us room to play, learn, build, and store our sets, props, and costumes. Once TCT has a physical address, we can aim higher. There are more grants out there for the arts that we would then qualify for by having an address. The space would help us create ongoing revenue to keep TCT going through the pandemic and beyond. Finally, it would get us closer to the BIGGEST DREAM of having our own theater.