I just sent a donation to PCPA Theaterfest, not because I am rich, but because PCPA makes my life richer with the live theater they bring to me year round. I came to Santa Maria in 1985 to perform at PCPA in Gypsy, and last performed and taught there in 2000. I know from the inside out what a great school for both performing and technical theater PCPA offers the state of California. The PCPA Conservatory is the only professional theater in the country that partners with a community college. It is truly unique. Here in Santa Maria, we have theater professionals teaching and working with their students year round in shows of the highest caliber. Of the 60 current students, a majority are local young men and women learning skills that will support them for years to come.
I encourage all my friends, and all friends of theater, to send a contribution to the PCPA Foundation today at P.O. Box 6803, Santa Maria, CA, 93456. Then, next time you see a show at PCPA in Santa Maria or Solvang, or your children see a PCPA Outreach show at their school, you can say that you helped keep the curtain up on plays and musicals that enrich all of our lives.
This article appears in May 7-14, 2009.