Dear Friends,
As you know, the pandemic has dealt quite a blow to all of us and it has not spared performing artists and companies.
At the Napa Valley College Performing Arts Center, the set for The Addams Family Musical sits on our stage while our cast of student actors wait, safely at home, hoping they will be able to share their phenomenal performance with you in the fall.
In the meantime, we are diligently working to serve our students and community. Here are some updates from NVC Performing Arts:
  • All NVC theater and music classes have moved online. 
  • Our Production staff are creating videos for technical theater instruction to support distance education theater instruction.  
  • We are joining theater companies to provide free online performances
  • Our Costume Shop Supervisor, Abra Berman, has been making masks for our community. 
  • We joined EarthShakes Alliance, a global collective of Shakespearean theaters and companies, which pledge to put environmental concerns at the heart of their practices and productions and we have begun documenting our set, prop and costume recycling program as well as other eco-friendly practices and opportunities. 
  • To serve our local schools, we are working with the Shakespeare Theatre Association to develop Shakespeare and theater learning activities and resources for K-12 teachers to use in person and online classrooms.
In addition, our resident professional theater company, Shakespeare Napa Valley, is: 
  • Partnering with The Streaming Theatre to join Prague Shakespeare Company and Shakespeare by the Sea in presenting a global reading of The Tempest in June.  
  • In July, Shakespeare Napa Valley’s Student Company, featuring a cast of NVC students, will present a Zoom performance of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.   
  • Dependent upon safe distancing guidelines, Shakespeare Napa Valley is planning to present live performances of The Tempest FREE of charge in late September/early October outdoors, as well as at di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art. 

Shakespeare Sonnet a Week

Starting on Shakespeare’s birthday (April 23), you can look forward to seeing some of your favorite Napa Valley Community members reading Shakespeare sonnets on our websites (ShakespeareNapaValley.org and PerformingArtsNapaValley.org) and social media (@NVCPerforms). We plan to offer these weekly until we can once again perform before audiences. 

Season Updates

In terms of our NVC Performing Arts Center 20/21 music and theater season, we are currently on hold, but will continue to update our audiences of future performances. We have a strong desire to serve as a community partner and provide opportunities for safe gathering to experience the transformative power of the arts to all. 
Thank you for your continued support to Napa Valley College Performing Arts during this time.  

If you would like to donate to support our programs, visit performingartsnapavalley.org/support/individual-giving.  
Sincerely,  
Jennifer King Artistic Director, Napa Valley College Performing Arts 
Faculty Chair, Arts and Humanities 
Performing Arts Coordinator 
Professor of Theater