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V O L U M E 7, N O. 19
Small California theaters get big boost from Senate bill after a catastrophic year 2020 was a difficult year for all indeed, but for performing arts it was the pits. Luckily, State Bill 805 is here to help get performers working again and audiences back to the theatres they’ve missed so desperately during the pandemic. On April 26, 2021, The State Senate Labor, Public Employment and Retirement Committee passed Senate Bill 805 (SB 805), “Save The Performing Arts Act of 2021,” authored by Senator Susan Rubio (D-Baldwin Park) representing the 22nd District. SB 805 will create a critical funding infrastructure to help small nonprofit performing arts companies throughout the state of California to continue to be an important social justice vehicle for marginalized voices. Testimony in Sacramento, CA was given by Dolores Huerta, Labor Rights Icon, Co-Founder of the United Farm Workers of America and President of the Dolores Huerta Foundation, and Josefina López, award-winning Playwright and Screenwriter (Real Women Have Curves), and Founding Artistic Director of CASA 0101 Theater located in Boyle Heights, CA. Learn more at www. saveperformingartsact.org SB 805 will create a funding program that will administer grants based on the size of company (i.e. smaller companies get larger grants) to help small theaters comply with AB 5. There will be a maximum revenue cap for eligible organizations. This funding will apply to all performing arts industries, including theaters, operas, and symphonies. It will also create a
Sierra Madre Playhouse – Photo by Terry Miller
low-cost payroll services to nonprofit performing arts organizations. “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for small theaters,” Senator Susan Rubio said. “I grew up in Downtown Los Angeles at a time when you couldn’t escape drugs, gangs or violence. Everyone you knew, one way or another, got pulled in. Luckily, I was a very creative child and the arts became my escape. I was able to put my energy and creativity to work in positive ways. I spent seven years performing and volunteering in small theatres and saw the transformative work our community produces. So I want to thank the
Committee for passing SB 805. This is about providing equity and protecting emerging voices and artists from marginalized communities.” Dolores Huerta, said: “In this critical time in our country, community theaters are desperately needed to enlighten, educate and motivate people to engage in social change. What is at stake is not an industry per se, but the vehicle of the voiceless and the downtrodden have to bring about change in the consciousness of the public at large. Not to mention, they represent the only access children in disadvantaged communities have compared to
their more affluent counterparts. SB 805 provides a solution to help create and preserve opportunities for emerging artists, performers and people in the performing arts sector - particularly workers from marginalized communities. For all these reasons, I enthusiastically support SB 805 (Rubio), ‘Save The Performing Arts Act of 2021.’” Josefina Lopez, said: “I started my own small theater so that I could produce my plays and empower my community to learn to write plays and tell our stories. CASA 0101 has been my way of making my community visible and heard. It has also been my
way of creating community so we could heal some of the trauma in Boyle Heights and also to give a voice to the wounds our community has carried by being left out of the history books and neglected economically and in other social ways. Small theaters are the only way marginalized communities get their stories told. If you are not a white male, small theaters allow for dreams to come true; they allow us to be the protagonists of our stories so we can see ourselves as the powerful people that we truly are.” The SB 805 Coalition consists of the Dolores Huerta Foundation and 48
organizations/individuals throughout the state of California, including 5 Theater Leagues, 40 small 99-seat theaters and 3 independent artists. The SB 805 Coalition Members include: Foundations: Dolores Huerta Foundation; Leagues: Theatrical Producer’s League Los Angeles, Theatre Bay Area, California for the Arts/California Arts Advocates, San José Arts Advocates; Theaters: 24th Street Theatre, Actors Co-op Theatre Company, Altrena Playhouse, Breath of Fire Latina Theater Ensemble, CASA 0101 Theater, Celebration Theatre, Chance Theater, Coin & Ghost, Collaborative Artist Bloc, Company of Angels, Dezart Performs, El Teatro Campesino, Fountain Theatre, IAMA Theatre Company, Infinite Jest Theatre Company, The Inkwell Theater, Inland Valley Repertory Theater, Interact Theatre Company, Macha Theatre Company/ Films, Moving Arts, New American Theatre, Numi Opera, Open Fist Theatre Company, Ophelia’s Jump, Playwrights’ Arena, Rogues Artists Ensemble, Rogue Machine Theatre, Sacred Fools Theater Company at the Broadwater, Santa Cruz Actors’ Theatre, Sierra Madre Playhouse, Skylight Theatre Company, Skypilot Theatre Company, The Robey Theatre Company, The Victory Theatre Center, Theatre of NOTE, Theatre Unleashed, Teatro Visión, Teatro Máscara Mágica, Theatre West, Town Hall Theatre: Independent Artists: Producer Michaela Bulkley, Actor Robert Fancy, and Actress Cristal Gonzalez.