UPDATE: An Incredible Response, More to Do! - Cal Shakes (2024)

• August 1, 2024

Make a Contribution to Close the Gap and Complete As You Like It

“Fortune reigns in gifts of the world” – Rosalind Act I scene 2

The public has responded to our request for aid to complete As You Like It with an outpouring of support unlike anything before. In public contributions and private pledges (from over 600 of you so far!), we have reached over $320,000 of our $350,000 goal. We cannot say just yet that the show will go on, but because of this incredible progress we believe that it is within reach if we all pull together. And so we are extending our deadline to Monday, August 5th.

We are hearing from so many of you that what Cal Shakes means to you goes far beyond any one show or performance.

“Kids across the Bay Area desperately need this resource. Other theater companies across the Bay Area desperately need this resource. We all need resources like Cal Shakes to remind us what it means to be human and why it matters so damn much.” – Augusta Thomson – Theater that Churns: Cal Shakes Must Live!

Go Fund Me and private donations and pledges are coming in. The news outlets are telling our story. We believe that we can produce As You Like It in the Cal Shakes tradition, and set the stage for a beautiful future of performance in the hills.

If you have given, thank you. If you can give, thank you. Please continue to spread the word so that we can accomplish this together by Monday August 5th!

Some of you have expressed a desire to speak privately about contributions. If you would like to do so, please contact us directly here: cworsley@calshakes.org

The Finances of Theater: Costs at Cal Shakes

A fundraising goal only tells a part of the story. Where do those funds go? How do we decide how much to raise? And, how does timing come into play?

Theater is always about the future. Everything we do is an act of hope toward that opening night. So what gets spent before then? Well, almost everything.

As with any business, the bulk of the cost of a production is people, labor, skills. A typical Cal Shakes production costs a minimum of half a million dollars, often closer to $750K. As You Like It is clocking in at about $550K altogether.

Here is how costs for As You Like It break down:

• Design and building of set: $40,000
• Payroll for cast, creative team, and show staff at livable wage: $381,126
• Rent for rehearsal space, and Bruns shuttle transportation: $37,500
• Materials and equipment: $28,408
• Contingency: $12,650
• Actors Equity Association Bond (needs to be paid up front but gets returned): $36,456

Your donations also keep Cal Shakes up and running during the off season and during planning periods when we’re not producing anything onstage, and for a facility like the Bruns, costs are very high. In the spirit of transparency, we want to share with you what those costs look like each month. Below are typical monthly expenses without a production, which total approximately $212,500:

To pay staff an equitable living wage for the Bay Area, which is one of Cal Shakes’ core values, payroll runs approximately:

• $78,000/month for our shop staff, who build sets for numerous theatres in the Bay Area’s performing arts ecosystem, including ACT, Shotgun Players, Berkeley Playhouse, Center REP, Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera, and Festival Napa Valley, and who provide additional build support/collaboration for many others
• $60,000/month for Cal Shakes’s core staff at the Bruns

Combined facilities expenses for the Bruns and the scene shop in Concord run $31,000/month, which includes:

• rent
• utilities
• IT support
• janitorial
• insurance (which has increased sevenfold in the past year, as it has also for many local homeowners)
• costs related to transporting water/wastewater to and from the Bruns
• other maintenance, including required maintenance of our protected watershed

Additional programming and operations costs include:

• marketing: $1500.00
• our Artistic Learning Program: $21,000
• grant writing and human resources staffing & expenses: $21,000

That’s a lot of money! But that is what a thriving theater-making ecosystem looks like. That’s what living wages look like. And that’s what employing skilled people to do great creative work for the community, in a unique outdoor venue, looks like. And we believe that work, and what it costs, is worth every penny.