Last semester’s musical production of 9 to 5 showcasing the costumes and sets
those involved were able to put their whole hearts into. ANGELINAPEREZ/THEQUADRANGLE
By Zoe DeFazio, Web Editor
Manhattan College Players are facing extreme budget cuts that have forced the group to place limitations on their usual production plans.
According to Tess Nunan, producer for Players, the club typically receives 23 thousand dollars a year to create productions. This year, however, they only received four thousand dollars from student engagement.
The recent musical “9 to 5” was shown during the spring semester of 2023. The production for that show cost over 16 thousand dollars.
Players no longer have enough money to purchase rights to productions and now will have to put on shows that are in the public domain, limiting the
Nunan explained that the group has been looking for ways to expand their funds in order to cover their expenses.
“But we’re hoping that the money from the GoFundMe and other fundraising endeavors can help us spread through the season a little more like than just the 4000,” said Nunan.
Players are now downgrading their resources and can no longer afford professional help regarding future productions.
“We usually hire out people, specifically theater professionals, to help us with lighting, costumes and all that stuff. But we can’t hire any help this year,” said Nunan. “Traditionally, costs go to set materials. The royalties. And scripts are a lot of money in themselves, which you don’t realize until you’re jumping into putting up production on props and costumes.”
Ana McCabe, the developmental director, still remains optimistic despite the low budget. Although it may not be ideal for players, the show will still go on.
“It’s really making us think outside of the box, and really having to focus and discover what’s truly important to put on a show where it’s like, previous in previous years, we knew time was important, but we had a lot of work like with overload, to divide the money up towards those things,” said McCabe. “And now we really have to basically skim down what’s, what’s the necessities and what’s not the necessities and I think that’s like a new challenge and a new way of thinking that we’re having to learn along the way.”
Sabrina Boyum, a member of players, isn’t so optimistic. She believes that the cuts will limit the ways in which the plays are set up in terms of equipment.
“I think this year, audiences may be disappointed by the lack of variety between the shows just because we will be working with the same things every show rather than having a professional bring in a new set of lights or having a professional bring in a different source of costumes or microphones and things like that.” Said Boyum. Boyum feels that the budget cuts put a limit on students’ creative abilities.
“I think the biggest impact the budget cuts have on the productions is that the production team doesn’t get to flush out their creative ideas like we normally do,” expressed Boyum. “I think this year, audiences may be disappointed by the lack of variety between the shows just because we will be working with the same things every show rather than having a professional bring in a new set of lights or having a professional bring in a different source of costumes or microphones and things like these [make a difference].”