As Gov. Rick Scott considers what to approve in Florida’s largest-ever budget, his decisions will affect several Tallahassee cultural institutions. The potential recipient of one sizeable chunk of state funding is the Theatre Tallahassee community playhouse.
Midtown’s Theatre Tallahassee stands to gain $475,000 meant for facility renovations. Following last summer’s overhaul of the main auditorium, Theatre Tallahassee Executive Director Theresa Davis says the anticipated cultural grant would allow the theatre to turn its sometimes-lobby and sometimes-"coffeehouse" theatre space into a permanent black box theater with about 50 more seats.
“We are the only community theater here in Tallahassee, and we serve the Big Bend region, and we are really excited about the prospect of continuing our renovation," Davis says.
She says the nearly half-million-dollar cultural grant would also go toward doubling the theatre’s dressing room space. Currently, she says, actors in the largest shows often change in hallways and the set-construction shop.
Other Tallahassee-area cultural items up for consideration include:
- Theatre Tallahassee operating grant: $28,414
- Tallahassee Ballet: $51,554
- Tallahassee-Leon County Cultural Resources Commission: $120,228
- Artist Series of Tallahassee: $11,590
- Young Actors Theatre of Tallahassee: $55,000
Scott has two weeks to decide what to veto and what to approve.