Each year, UCSC’s Performance, Play, and Design (PPD) receives a total of $105,012 to fund six to seven student productions and pay student staff. Each production can cost anywhere from $8,000 to $10,000, which includes the cost of materials and set pieces, leaving the department around $30,000 to cover 17 student workers’ hourly wage.

Because of this, PPD students have learned to utilize their small budget, down to the penny. Still, thanks to Measure 11, which was passed in 2003, PPD provides around 18,000 UC Santa Cruz undergraduates one free entry to each show. 

However, this may not last much longer. 

“People see themselves on stage in ways that they aren’t seen in other forms of media,” said Madison Charles, a third-year theater arts major at UC Santa Cruz. “If we can’t accurately represent what the UCSC students want, what they need, what they look like, who they’re being on stage, [then] we’re not doing our job. We need this money to be able to represent that.”

Courtesy of Steve DiBartolomeo from UCSC’s Theater Arts Department’s production of “The Comedy of Errors.”

As UCSC Campus Elections approach in May, PPD hopes to put Measure 11 back on the ballot and rebrand it to “Save UCSC Dance and Theater.” The updated measure will increase the quarterly fee from $2 to $5 and increase an additional three percent every year, until 2030, to accommodate for inflation. 

“[UCSC’s theater arts productions are] the only theater arts [productions] in the UC system that is funded by students and entirely by students,” said Michael Chemers, the chair of the PPD department. “We don’t get funding from the university, so this is really a make-or-break moment for us.”

Before 2004, UCSC’s PPD productions were funded by the university through the state. When Measure 11 passed, it allowed PPD’s productions to expand even further. However, within a year, the university cut their funding due to budget cuts. Today, the measure remains the only funding that supports their productions. 

“When this measure was initially written, it was supposed to be the icing on the cake. It was supposed to enhance a fully funded theater program and just give us a little bit of extra money to do musicals or things that cost more money to produce,” said Eric Mack, the operations and facilities manager in UCSC’s PPD. “Then, in 2003 or 2004, we got hit with budget cuts. And basically, all of our production funding was cut. So, if we hadn’t had the student fee for the last 22 years, we wouldn’t be doing production at all.” 

Celeste Lagrange, a fourth-year theater arts major at UC Santa Cruz and the student production liaison for PPD, maintains that the insufficient funding does not only endanger PPD’s performances but also students’ futures.

Theater arts majors are required to take THEA 50, a two-credit production class, three times. Without an adequate number of productions, students may not be able to complete requirements in time.

“Before COVID, we used to do three shows a quarter, and now we’re down to one or two … If there are less shows and less production opportunities, there’s less [student positions] for that class,” Lagrange said. “So, no matter how many students need it, they’re not getting the opportunities they need to succeed in the major.” 

The cast of “The Inspector General” prepare to hit the stage with the help of the crew. Photo by Heather Tran.

As well as production, Measure 11 also pays 18 student workers the California hourly minimum wage — $16.50 — for their labor. Mack expresses that funding would allow for the department to pay students more.

“40 percent of what we collect every year goes to labor. Labor is always the most expensive thing wherever you go,” Mack said. “But, frankly, a lot of our students get jobs elsewhere because they can get paid better … We would be able to attract, retain and pay the students that are working hard for us a fair wage.”

Many performing arts groups like the African American Theater Arts Troupe (AATAT), who do not get direct funding from this measure, will still benefit greatly if the measure is passed. Stageworkers, who are paid through Measure 11 funds, support AATAT’s student performances. Ikem Okoh, a member of the AATAT, shared the importance of student workers in their productions. 

Ikem Okoh (middle) in “Blood at the Root,” one of the shows in Rainbow Theater’s spring 2024 programming. Photo by Sarah Bell.

“AATAT, or any student organization, can’t truly run properly without staff positions,” Okoh said.
”We are dedicated students. We work hard, but there’s only so much we can do without that support from [student workers].”

For many students, including Okoh, these spaces are crucial for their academic journey. 

“I would say for a lot of us in AATAT, these spaces are the only reason we stayed at UCSC,” he said. “A lot of us were prepared to transfer out for various reasons, but being able to find that community early on and really establish those connections very early is the primary reason that most of us stayed on this campus. There’s really nothing like these spaces anywhere.”

In order for any ballot measure to pass, 25 percent of undergraduate students must vote. In previous years, the measure has been added to the ballot but, due to a low turnout rate, has not passed. 

This year’s voting opens Monday, May 5 and runs until Friday, May 16. If “Save UCSC Dance and Theater” is added to the ballot, it could allow PPD to produce performances at an even larger, higher-quality scale. 

“We want to see these shows happen,” Celeste Lagrange said. “We just don’t have the funds.” 

The cast of “The Inspector General” thank the back-of-house production crew. Photo by Heather Tran.

Additional Reporting by Naomi Schulze.

Upcoming PPD performances in February 2025: 

“Comedy of Errors” by William Shakespeare

Feb. 21, 7:30 p.m.; Feb. 22, 7:30 p.m.; and Feb. 23, 3 p.m.

At the Theater Arts Center, eXperimental Theater

Directed by Patty Gallagher

“Paradise Blue” by Dominique Morisseau 

Feb. 21, 7:30 p.m.; Feb. 22, 7:30 p.m.; Feb. 23, 3 p.m.; Feb 28, 7:30 p.m.; March 1, 7:30 p.m.; and March 2, 3 p.m.

At Theater Arts Mainstage

By PPD and AATAT

Dance Showcase: Random With A Purpose XXXlll: The Calling (RWAP)

Feb. 28, 7:30 p.m.; March 1, 7:30 p.m.; March 2, 3 p.m.; March 6, 7:30 p.m.; March 7, 7:30 p.m.; March 8, 7:30 p.m.; March 9, 3 p.m.

At Theater Arts Center: Second Stage

By Theater Arts Department