News

Advocacy Update: Arts, Culture, & Creativity Month

April 11, 2024

It’s Arts, Culture, and Creativity Month in California! If you’ve seen a spike in arts advocacy content on your social media in the past week, there’s a good reason for it. Last week kicked off Arts, Culture, and Creativity Month, an annual, month-long effort to highlight the work of artists in our state. Much of…

American Conservatory Theater and Theatre Bay Area Partnership Opens New Doors for Melissa Yandell Smith Library

March 4, 2024

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) and Theatre Bay Area have forged a new partnership for artists all around the Bay Area to access A.C.T.’s Melissa Yandell Smith Library collection. The Melissa Yandell Smith Library contains nearly 15,000 titles including play scripts, books, videos, language and music recordings, music scores, and theater periodicals. The collection has been…

Announcing CA$H Theatre Fall 2023 Grantees

December 15, 2023

We are proud to announce the following recipients of the Fall 2023 CA$H Theatre grants. Learn more about CA$H Theatre. CA$H Performs CA$H Performs is a $5,000 grant that supports fully produced performances of theatre projects that are open to the public. Aureen Almario Bulong, meaning whisper in Tagalog, is an evening-length, multidisciplinary shadow puppet performance…

Rolanda D. Bell, a Black woman with red curls, smiles in the spotlight, holding a bouquet of flowers.

Introducing the 2023 RHE Foundation Artistic Fellow

October 31, 2023

Theatre Bay Area and the RHE Charitable Foundation announce Rolanda D. Bell the 2023 RHE Foundation Artistic Fellow. Bell was introduced as the awardee on Saturday, October 28, 2023, at Theatre Bay Area’s TBAConnect: A Fall Conference for Creatives. Bell, a stage and screen actor based on Oakland, CA, garnered acclaim recently for her powerful…

Kimberly Ridgeway, a Black woman with her hair in braids, speaks into a microphone.

Introducing the 2023-24 Arts Leadership Residency

October 31, 2023

Photo by Cheshire Isaacs Kimberly will be working with Central Works co-Artistic Directors Jan Zvaifler and Gary Graves on producing their 2024 season and developing their 2025 season. All Central Works seasons are developed collaboratively, and Central Works plans to fully involve Kimberly in all aspects of leadership work. Kimberly Ridgeway is a Director, Actor,…

Arts Advocacy

Stay up to date on local, state, and federal opportunities to increase funding and access to the arts.

Get Informed

Grants & Awards

TBA’s grant program supports a diverse community of theatremakers from across the Bay Area — learn about upcoming funding opportunities and meet recent grant awardees.

Meet the Grantees

Career Guide

It can be hard to break into a new industry or area as a theatre artist so check out these tips and tricks to get the job!

Grow Your Career

All News

The Business of Show Biz: Burning A Bridge

November 15, 2017

by Velina Brown Q: I saw the letter you posted on Facebook regarding the show about…

Proposed Increases to NEA and NEH: A Letter from Brad Erickson

May 1, 2017

Dear Colleagues, Advocacy works! Monday morning we received word from Americans for the Arts and…

Arts and Community Members Assemble at City Hall for San Francisco Arts Advocacy Day

March 21, 2017

Theatre Bay Area staff joined nearly 400 artists, arts administrators, cultural producers, and cultural ambassadors…

Arts Advocates Take Capitol Hill for Arts Advocacy Day 2017!

March 20, 2017

Rachel Fink and Brad Erickson standing in front of the Capitol Building. Rachel is a light skinned woman with short dark curly hair and glasses. She is wearing a grey cardigan, black dress, neclaces and a name tag on a red chord around her neck. Brad is a white man with short grey hair and a close shaved beard. He is wearing a black suit, blue button up, and a black plaid tie.

Theatre Bay Area Executive Director Brad Erickson (Americans for the Arts’ Co Captain for California) and Managing…

The Business of Show Biz: Mind Your Own Beeswax

June 3, 2016

By Velina Brown Q: I was recently in a play with someone who just didn’t have…

The Business of Show Biz: Wanting to Quit the Show

December 18, 2014

By Velina Brown Q: Okay, weird question. I just started rehearsals for a show. I…

10 Tips for Choosing Your Audition Monologue

August 7, 2014

By Melissa Hillman Finding the right piece can be one of the most stressful parts…