For over 40 years, SARTA has been serving theatres and theatre goers of all ages in the greater Sacramento area including Sacramento, Yolo, Placer, San Joaquin and El Dorado counties. We continue to support our theatre community with a newly created website, free to all community calendar, a weekly Twitch broadcast which brings news to the community, increased social media presence and local event promotion, and our twice weekly newsletter. SARTA continues to focus on outreach to our communities with youth scholarships, low-cost workshops, special hosted events for actors, SARTA sponsored cookie receptions at local theatres and the launch of small grants for small theatres! Additionally, SARTA offers Memberships that provide additional benefits to artists and producing community theaters, such as: Discounts on local productions, advanced notice and special pricing on SARTA events, and additional promotional opportunities.
This past year has seen the creation and execution of three new programs - the Youth Education Scholarship (YES), SARTA’s Tonight Starring!, and SARTA Cabarets. The YES program allows SARTA to offer monetary scholarships ranging from $100-$300 to underserved youth who wish to attend theatre workshops, be it acting, singing, dancing or all three. After application and committee review, our first year saw the distribution of 4 different scholarships to local youth.
Tonight Starring! gives actors a chance to perform, via staged reading, in a role that they might not otherwise have been cast, or in a show that might not have otherwise been produced. Some examples include Bryna Turner’s Bull in a China Shop, Ibson’s Hedda Gabler, and most recently, “Farragut North.” These staged readings focus on non-traditional casting opportunities to open different interpretations of the material to the public, as well as to promote diversity and inclusivity within the theater community.
This past year, SARTA also became a producing organization with our new Cabaret performances! In collaboration with a local director, these performances bring the best of Broadway to patrons in a family friendly setting, promoting networking and supporting the talent of our local community.
We continue to focus on bringing low-cost education workshops to the community as well as providing networking nights such as Broadway Karaoke night. SARTA remains committed to promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility as we work to strengthen our programs and find new and better ways to support our vibrant theatre community.