Raising the curtain for 60 years Celebrating sixty years of theater production, Masquers Playhouse in Point Richmond continues to follow its original core values of being a true community theater, according to Peter Budinger, one of two volunteer publicity managers for the Masquers. Run entirely by volunteers, Masquers Playhouse prides itself on high quality productions and maintaining a close relationship with its surrounding community, said Budinger. “We have always been a place to see shows that are intriguing, shows that haven’t been produced in the Bay Area,” he continued. “It keeps us unique and gives people an opportunity to see something they haven’t seen somewhere else.” While the playhouse does occasionally perform classical shows, the majority of its productions are obscure or unpublished pieces. Budinger credits this to the fact that Masquers, unlike most theaters, doesn’t have an artistic director. “What happens at a lot of theaters is an artist director selects the season and then hires directors to direct the shows that they picked,” described Budinger. “Masquers works the opposite way; directors submit shows that they feel strongly about and then a committee interviews them and picks based on those interviews, trying to select a balanced season on the submissions received.” During the early years most of the director submitted shows were from Masquers members, but now the playhouse receives around thirty submissions annually from directors all over the Bay Area. By Jeannie Howard “The rationale is that people are picking the shows they feel strongly about then you have someone who is really passionate about the work that they are putting forth; that has always been appealing and has worked out for a long time,” he said. “Also, an artistic director may have a wide knowledge of the theater but they won’t know everything and by doing it this way we get really interesting pieces that we’ve never heard of.” The intimate 86-seat Masquers Playhouse has always had year-round theater season unlike many theaters which have roughly 6-month seasons. “Our regular season runs from January to December,” said Budinger. “Every season has five shows that run for five weeks each.” Happening simultaneously with the regular season is the Envision program, which consist of two full scale productions. “These shows are generally things that don’t fit neatly into the main season,” said Budinger. “They tend to be experimental things or, lately, we have also been having children’s shows in that program.” Also rounding out their season is the Song Book program, which is a fundraising event featuring a concert style production. “It is a celebration of American musicals, so far, and happens twice a year,” he said. Keeping true to their community roots, tickets to Masquers shows are very affordable. For main season tickets patrons will pay $22, Envision shows are $10 and Song Book, being fundraiser shows, are slightly more at $25. An ongoing challenge of the theater community
Contra Costa Marketplace - Dec 2015
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