Northside Theatre Company in danger of losing season
The Coyote Creek flood in February washed the Northside Theatre Company out of its home at Olinder Community Center. And now it looks like the company’s planned season of shows — and perhaps its very existence — are in peril if reconstruction isn’t done by the end of summer.
Managing Artistic Director Meredith King says she was told at a meeting with San Jose’s Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services department in April that the company could expect the center at 848 E. William St. to be reopened June 30, which would allow time to set things up for the season opener in September. Things looked better when the center passed its air quality abatement test, meaning no mold or toxins were found, in May.
But just two weeks ago, at a meeting with different city staff members, she was told that June 30 never should have been suggested. Part of the issue is that the city is using Federal Emergency Management Agency funds for the reconstruction and therefore must follow FEMA’s guidelines and timetable, including putting the job out to bid.
King was told at the June 13 meeting that reconstruction would take 18 to 24 weeks, pushing back access to the center to sometime between late October to early December — if work started now (it hasn’t). That late date would make it unlikely that Northside, founded in 1980 by the late Richard Orlando, could stage its traditional holiday show, “A Christmas Carol,” which provides most of its revenue for the year.
“We have to get in by Sept. 30 for ‘A Christmas Carol’ to happen, and we need ‘A Christmas Carol’ to happen. It’s the flagship show of our season,” said King, who has been running the theater out of her apartment for the past four months. “If it doesn’t, I don’t know how we’re going to financially recover from this.”
Staging the show or other parts of the season at another venue is difficult because Northside lacks the resources to rent a theater, and suitable venues King has looked into are already booked up with their own holiday shows.
Northside’s supporters and fans of the arts in general have passionately taken up the cause of the theater company on social media. But what Northside needs is either an expedited construction process or a donated “black box” theater to save its season.
“All I know,” King said, “is that we’ve been closed for four months and there’s no end in sight.”
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San Jose Vice Mayor Magdalena Carrasco was the guest host of “Monday Night Live,” San Jose Stage’s annual political satire fundraiser, and the city’s East Side rep didn’t pull any punches while taking shots at her council predecessors, Xavier Campos and Nora Campos. Carrasco even a joke at the expense of Campos’ husband, Neil Struthers. The real punchline: Nora Campos and Struthers were in the audience for the show, and, to their credit, they stayed to the end.
Another frequent topic at Monday’s show was San Jose’s game-changing tango with Google. There were so many Google references — including “Top 10 things city council members promised Google to come to San Jose” — you’d think the Mountain View search engine giant was bankrolling the show. Well, it turns out Google was a $5,000 sponsor.