More than half of the Montezuma-Cortez High School theater students confirmed to travel to Scotland this summer for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the worlds largest performing arts festival, have canceled their trip due to raised taxes in the U.K.
The students, along with their parents and M-CHS theater director Bennie Palko-Herrera, have been trying to raise funds for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for almost a year. The travel and expense costs for each student is now $6,500. Every family is responsible for half that cost, with the other half planned on being raised from various fundraisers. Twelve students were originally confirmed to go; now it looks like only five will make the trip.
Members of the theater program visited many businesses and residents in Cortez on Friday to deliver live goats as a practical joke for April Fools Day. It was just one of the ways the theater department has come up with to help build their funds.
We have raised about $8,000 out of the $30,000 we need, ... so were behind, Palko-Herrera said. Weve been trying to not sell more stuff to the community. It hasnt been working like we thought.
Fundraisers so far have included the Ironish Chef Competition that Mr. Happys and Main Street Brewery restaurants participated in, a Christmas Show that students performed in December, gift-wrapping on Christmas Eve, mimes at the Pinon Projects comedy show, a split the pot at the Cortez vs. Durango basketball game, volleyball games concessions, and bumming for money before the recent Little Shop of Horrors performance.
When students arent studying for school or memorizing lines, they are working toward their trip. Palko-Herrera said upcoming fundraisers will include a theater yard sale over Easter weekend on April 22 and 23 with donations being taken starting Friday, April 8; student directed one acts, where students run the entire show on May 5-7; and a four-week aerial fabric dance camp in June for ages 9 and up that involves aerial acrobatics while hanging from a special fabric. Theater students are also continuing their Get Stuff Done campaign to rake leaves, mow lawns, clean gutters or whatever needs to be done for the people of the community, in addition to the Have you Given $5? campaign, asking for each community member to spare five bucks.
Palko-Herrera said their group just received the performance schedule for the Fringe in Scotland. They have chosen to perform an adult contemporary drama by John Olive called Standing On My Knees. The play is about a schizophrenic poet who wants to be a writer so badly that shes willing to stop taking her prescribed fog-inducing, stabilizing pills for the sake of her art. Four of the theater students will act out the play in front of the worlds audience Aug. 8-11 at the festival. The fifth student will run the lights and sound for the performances. With only four actors, the show will be changed a little.
The nice thing about a more intimate piece is you dont have to worry about so many schedules and you can do stuff thats a little more difficult, a little more higher level because you have more time with those four actors versus having to spread out the time with a cast of 10, Palko-Herrera said.
The show has been cut down to a running time of 80 minutes because no performance at the Fringe can be over 90 minutes.
The five students committed to going all have the support of their families behind them. Not going is not an option for them.
The families have all said pretty much that were going, said Palko-Herrera. Were going no matter what. This is too important of an opportunity.
For more information, contact Palko-Herrera at 565-3722, ext. 114.
Reach Paula Bostrom at paulab@cortezjournal.com.