A Letter To SARTA

Juan Ramos sends the following letter to SARTA. I reply:

Your opinion is widely-held among many people, maybe even a majority, and it's odd that SARTA takes little action on it.

It was great seeing you last night! That's what the Ellys do best - bring together everyone in one place, even if only for a night. - Marc

Here's Juan's letter:

In the fall of 2000, I attended my very first Elly Awards Ceremony. After enduring four hours of assault to my eardrums from the screaming audience majority under the age of 18 and a very sore bottom from the dreadful wooden seats at Luther Burbank High School auditorium; I decided to write a letter to SARTA. Just to make sure I was taken seriously, I also included a check for $500.00. I strongly suggested that two separate ceremonies be held: One for youth, high school and college productions, essentially educational theatre. And one for community theatres only. This would allow the youth element to thrive in their . . . youth at their very own ceremony and in the process bring much needed dignity and sophistication to the community theatre element, allowing for things like a pre-ceremony cocktail hour, silent auction, etc. Much to my surprise my letter was published in the SARTA newsletter and SARTA was set to have two separate ceremonies in the fall of 2001. Sacramento Bee Theatre critic Marcus Crowder read my letter and thanked me for voicing some of his concerns regarding the ceremony. Unfortunately for all of us, 911 put an abrupt halt to that and justifiably so. The unity and support was essential to our healing, so it was consolidated back into one ceremony.

I attended the 2006 Elly Awards Ceremony only because I was a nominee. Not an uncommon reason to attend, I suspect. I had not attended one since my first experience in 2000. Although a more streamlined version in a more appropriate venue, some of the same problems still exist and a new one has been created. The youth and education categories again brought the ceremony to almost four hours. This was particularly hard in my case because my partner is in a wheelchair with two fractured ankles and his elderly mother also had problems sitting for such a long time. I noticed several empty seats after intermission. Despite the attempt by the presenters to extol the audience to hold their applause until after all the nominees were announced, it was pretty much a hopeless cause halfway through. The loud audience response was very appropriate and not a problem for me. It's good to see and hear support groups cheer on their winners, that's part of the overall excitement.

I was however, particularly bothered by the fact that community theatres were grouped with community colleges in the same categories. Although not so much an issue in the Drama and Comedy categories, it was particularly evident in the Musicals category. Of the 11 awards given, community colleges received 7. This included all of the technical awards, choreography, costumes, direction, musical direction and overall. I find that totally unfair. It comes down to the fact that every area community theatre struggles financially, because they rely totally on volunteers, their respective patrons and audience members. Musicals in particular require extra financial resources to cover the added demands of lighting, set design, costumes and musicians. Community colleges have a reliable source of income plus directors and technicians (professsionals) who are paid to do their work. The actors and technical assistants for the most part are students who are doing it for school credits and in my experience even non-students have to enroll for at least one credit if they are cast. Several exceptional local community musical theatre productions were also conspiciously absent from the nominations this year, I believe in favor of community college productions. Please don't tell me that there is a shortage of local community theatres or community colleges to warrant separate categories because I know that is not the case. Community colleges compete with each other in sports, they can compete with each other in theatre awards. Local community theatres also need to compete with each other to creatively enrich and stimulate their respective productions and audiences . . . on a level playing field. This is an inbalance that needs to be addressed.

Thank you for allowing me to voice my opinion for what it's worth. Thank you for the vital and essential services you provide to the local theatre community. Thank you for the Elly Awards.

Juan Ramos