Capital Region Cares Capital Region Cares 2017-2018 | Page 142

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Success story
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e
s
best
in the house
CALIFORNIA MUSICAL
THEATRE FINDS A NEW
WAY TO TELL OLD
STORIES
p h oto : co u rt e sy o f c h a r r c r a i l
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CAPITAL REGION CARES 2017 | comstocksmag.com
BY Jennifer Snyder PHOTO: Adam Flemming
T
hose who have seen past
California Musical Theatre
productions of Beauty and
the Beast were in for a treat
this year: The “tale as old as time” is
decidedly new and improved thanks
to a recent influx of grant money from
the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts
Commission.
The one-time facilities and cap-
ital improvement grant was funded
with City of Sacramento parking rev-
enue from Lots X & Y in downtown.
Originally, the parking revenue was
set to go directly into the City’s gen-
eral fund, but instead was set aside
to create a grant giving opportunity
through SMAC.
While several organizations were
granted funds through the process,
$39,000 was awarded to California
Musical Theatre to match funds they
had put toward the purchase and in-
stallation of a new state-of-the-art
projection system. The system aims
to add a distinct visual element to
the in-the-round productions for
which the theater company is known,
and the system will be installed and
maintained by local talent through
Sacramento’s Stagehands Union.
According to City of Sacramento
Convention & Cultural Services Di-
rector Jody Ulich, whose department
oversees SMAC, the funding was set
aside specifically for improvements
like those California Musical Theatre
was looking to make.
“From looking at the grant ap-
plication, it was ver y well written
and ver y clear what it was that
they were tr ying to accomplish,”