Skip to main content Skip to footer site map

Photos: Unique Coalition Launches 'Catch Up California' Campaign At Rally To Fund Performing Arts Equitable Payroll Fund

The coalition announced a request for $50 million to launch the Equitable Payroll Fund, a grant program designed to support small nonprofit performing arts organizations.

An unusual coalition of management and labor launched a kick-off event on Friday, January 27 to secure budgeting for SB 1116, the groundbreaking arts funding bill that passed the state legislature and was signed into law last year, but remains unfunded in the most recent budget.

The rally at Antaeus Theatre Company in Glendale, dubbed "Catch Up, California," featured leaders of both the Theatre Producers of Southern California, known as TPSCA, and Actors' Equity Association, the labor union representing American actors and stage managers in the theater.

Speakers at the rally included SB1116 author California State Senator Anthony Portantino (D-Burbank); Actors' Equity Association president Kate Shindle; actor/TPSCA board member Marc Antonio Pritchett actor/Antaeus artistic director Bill Brochtrup; Playwrights' Arena artistic director Jon Lawrence Rivera; Ophelia's Jump producing artistic director Beatrice Casagran; and actor Kirsten Vangsness. Actor/director Jason Alexander, who was not able to attend in person, contributed a videotaped statement.

The coalition announced a request for $50 million to launch the Equitable Payroll Fund, a grant program designed to support small nonprofit performing arts organizations - and workers directly - by providing reimbursements of payroll expenses. This program will support jobs for both production and non-production employees and, in a reversal of the arts funding norm, will reimburse smaller organizations at a higher rate.

Currently, California's arts investment is less than a third of New York's, and less than a sixth of Minnesota's - even as nonprofit arts generate billions of economic activity in the state. A recent wave of closures of small nonprofit performing arts venues statewide has put the health of the sector in jeopardy.

"The future of California's vibrant and eclectic small performing arts organizations has never been in greater peril, with new reports of closures every week," says TPSCA president Martha Demson. "We implore the California legislature to recognize our rich cultural and artistic legacy and to act now to fund the Performing Arts Equitable Payroll Fund. This innovative program will help restore sustainability for our vulnerable theatres, ballets, operas and symphonies, ensuring a place for California's diverse community of artists and creative innovators in the years and decades to come."

"It just makes economic sense to keep the arts going throughout the state," said Alexander. "There's a whole economy that thrives when these arts are in play. Not just the handful of actors that work on the stage...all these little economies being served by these small nonprofit performing arts centers. That's real employment. That's real dollars. That's real important to the health of California."

"This is an urgent moment for California to catch up on arts funding and support live arts workers, who have still not fully recovered from the COVID shutdown," said Shindle. "Funding the Equitable Payroll Fund now will save theaters across the state. It will ensure a better future for thousands of middle-class arts workers in California, as well as all the small businesses that depend on a thriving theater in their neighborhoods. I'm grateful for the leadership and commitment of Senator Portantino as we champion this legislation together."

"We are deeply concerned about the rising number of theater and live events venues closing across California," agrees California Arts Advocates CEO Julie Baker. "These closures represent a loss of jobs and livability. Public investment is critical and necessary for arts to be accessible for all and for communities to benefit from the economic and social impact of arts and culture. We were thrilled the Governor signed SB 1116 and now urge the Legislature and Administration to breathe life into the bill by funding it in this year's budget. This is a smart investment for CA to make."

Photos: Unique Coalition Launches 'Catch Up California' Campaign At Rally To Fund Performing Arts Equitable Payroll Fund
Actors Equity Association President Kate Shindle

Photos: Unique Coalition Launches 'Catch Up California' Campaign At Rally To Fund Performing Arts Equitable Payroll Fund
Leo Marks, Jeannine Wisnosky, Elina De Santos, President of the Theatre Producers of Southern California Martha De



Holocaust Museum LA to Present WHO WILL TELL OUR STORIES? Photo
world premiere of Angel Corella's 'Carmen'

LA Theatre Week 2023 Extends Through April 2 Photo
Given the incredible response from theatregoers and partners alike, the inaugural LA Theatre Week has extended through Sunday, April 2nd. This celebration of the performing arts offers tickets to more than 75 productions starting at just $20. Audiences are able to experience high-caliber shows at prices that democratize access to the best of LA culture.

ArtsUP! LA Presents ROMEO ROCKS THE 80s Photo
ArtsUp! LA will present Romeo Rocks the 80’s, a new jukebox musical featuring an all-blind cast and extraordinary musicians with different disabilities. 

FOA Foundation Awards $100,500 in Art Grants for 2023 Photo
The FOA Foundation has announced the twenty-one organizations awarded $100,500 total in arts grants for the 2023 year. The FOA Foundation helps fund the many art-related non-profits in the Laguna Beach community, emphasizing those dedicated to education and the cultural enrichment of the local community through the arts. 


More Hot Stories For You


MUTANT OLIVE 2.0 Extends Through at The HudsonMUTANT OLIVE 2.0 Extends Through at The Hudson
March 29, 2023

The hilarious, heart-wrenching Mutant Olive 2.0 by writer/performer Mitch Hara (Smothered on Amazon Prime) has extended at the Hudson Theatres, where performances will continue every Tuesday through April 25.

MUSIC AT THE ODYSSEY Show Sells Out, Second Evening Of Rodgers & Hammerstein and Cole Porter AddedMUSIC AT THE ODYSSEY Show Sells Out, Second Evening Of Rodgers & Hammerstein and Cole Porter Added
March 29, 2023

With the performance on Friday, March 31 sold out, Odyssey Theatre Ensemble's Music at the Odyssey series has added a second evening of music from Rodgers and Hammerstein and Cole Porter on Friday, April 28.

A Noise Within's Daring To Love Season Closes With THE BOOK OF WILLA Noise Within's Daring To Love Season Closes With THE BOOK OF WILL
March 29, 2023

A Noise Within's 'Daring to Love' season fittingly closes with a love letter - to William Shakespeare and a life in the theater. Geoff Elliott and Julia Rodriguez-Elliott co-direct The Book of Will, a comically outlandish but true story of love, loss and laughter by Lauren Gunderson.

West Coast Premiere of EVOLUTION OF A SONERO Comes to The LATCWest Coast Premiere of EVOLUTION OF A SONERO Comes to The LATC
March 29, 2023

Sonero [noun]: an improvising lead singer in salsa music. Latino Theater Company in association with Chicago's UrbanTheater Company presents the West Coast premiere of Evolution of a Sonero, bringing the streets of the Bronx to The Los Angeles Theatre Center for a limited three-week engagement May 13 through May 28.

RuMBa Foundation Of Long Beach Pledges $540,000 To Fund Long Beach Symphony Family Concerts Through 2027RuMBa Foundation Of Long Beach Pledges $540,000 To Fund Long Beach Symphony Family Concerts Through 2027
March 29, 2023

Long Beach Symphony has announced the extraordinary support of the RuMBa Foundation of Long Beach with a pledge of $540,000. This tremendous gift will allow for two RuMBa Foundation Family Concerts per year, ensuring all children can attend for free through 2027.