By Charles Brousse
After a couple of quiet weeks to relax, decompress with relatives and friends and maybe lift a glass or two of Aunt Ellie’s famous eggnog, it’s time to direct attention to the 2016/2017 season’s second half. In anticipation, here are some non-performance related news items from my multi-company theater beat. Â
Insiders say that artistic director Jasson Minadakis and his Marin Theatre Company (MTC) cohorts are still exchanging high-fives over their good fortune in snagging Lauren Gunderson for a three-year playwriting residency. According to Theatre Communications Group (TCG), which gathers such arcane statistics, Ms. Gunderson was tied for sixth place among the most frequently produced American playwrights at TCG member theaters across the country during the 2015-2016 season. MTC will lay claim to much of her time in various capacities until 2019; her first project, Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley, recently closed after an extended, sold-out run.
MTC is also welcoming the arrival of Keri Kellerman as managing director, replacing Michael Barker, who left last April to take a similar position at Connecticut’s venerable Westport Country Playhouse. Kellerman is a seasoned pro, with years of experience not only in the administrative and fundraising sectors, but in the nurturing of new work as well. Sounds like a perfect fit.
According to Ross Valley Players’ (RVP) Business Manager Alex Ross, people who work at the Marin Art and Garden Center’s (MAGC) beloved Barn Theatre are really jazzed about the prospect of installing new seating and risers in their rustic home, which is one of America’s longest continuously operating community theaters. Already, more than $100,000 of the estimated $135,000-$140,000 cost is in hand. When accomplished, this will be a boon to theatergoers who have had to put up with uncomfortable chairs and restricted sightlines.
In addition, the company has been able to extend its lease with MAGC to the end of 2018 while the latter’s board of directors engages in strategic planning. One hopes that this will lead to a happy outcome for both parties.
The San Rafael office of the Mountain Play Association is beginning to gear up for this year’s production of Beauty and the Beast, which opens May 21. Although last year’s West Side Story, which was hit by a Sunday rainout, didn’t do as well as expected, Executive Director Sara Pearson anticipates a better result this time around.
Ms. Pearson also reports that the recent gala that showcased many of the best performers from previous Mountain Plays raised about $105,000 in donations and pledges. Another fundraiser, the first of its kind in the organization’s history, will offer a concert version of the musical Hair on Saturday, June 10 (one day only) to mark the 50th anniversary of its debut at New York’s Public Theater. In other news, the Mountain Play board is embarking on a revision of the organization’s strategic plan that may result in substantial changes. Stay tuned.
Over at Marin Shakespeare Company (MSC), escrow may be closing as you read this for the purchase of a building at the east end of Fourth Street in San Rafael, to serve as company headquarters and as a venue for classes, storage and all kinds of year-round activities. The project will probably be two years in the making and will require a capital campaign to augment the large donations that are already being used for improvements at their Forest Meadows summer performance space. Any plans for MSC to become a year-round production company in addition to the summer shows? Speaking to Managing Director Lesley Currier by phone, I can visualize her smiling enigmatically as she replies that it’s too early to say.
According to the company website, plans for AlterTheater’s announced production of  Bondage, by Star Finch—including whether it will be presented at American Conservatory Theater’s Costume Shop space after its run at an unnamed storefront on San Rafael’s Fourth Street—have not yet been finalized.
That’s it, except that MSC’s Currier would like it to be known that longtime Marin theater activist Ann Brebner, age 93 and ailing, could use financial support for her 24-hour home care. If you’re so inclined, visit gofundme.com/annbrebner.
