Santa Cruz Shakespeare

What Santa Cruz Shakespeare does

Santa Cruz Shakespeare (SCS) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit professional repertory theatre company headquartered in Santa Cruz, California (Tax ID 46-4635444), operating as an independent entity since 2013 with historical roots to a 1981 UCSC extension program founded by Audrey Stanley. The company presents year-round programming across spring (Vincent), summer and fall festival seasons (five mainstage productions in rotating repertory), a holiday production (A Christmas Carol), and two entertainment series (Monday Night Revels and Community Revels). Core production infrastructure is the 490+ seat Audrey Stanley Grove outdoor amphitheater at DeLaveaga Park, supplemented by the Veterans Memorial Building in downtown Santa Cruz for spring and holiday performances.

The product surface is fundamentally live human performance: actors drawn from across the country produce Shakespeare, August Wilson, Noel Coward, and contemporary musicals (e.g., Into the Woods, The Last Five Years), with first-time-ever musical and non-Shakespeare productions introduced in 2025 alongside world-premiere Fringe Series staged readings. Supporting products include the ShakesEDU education program (classes, summer camps, Shakes on the Move touring productions reaching approximately 8,000 students annually across the Bay Area, student matinees, teacher professional development with University of the Pacific continuing-education credit, and a Shakespeare and Social Justice workshop), Line 38 food-and-beverage, and workforce development via paid Acting and Stage Management apprenticeships plus unpaid internships.

Revenue is generated across seven streams: ticket sales ($20–$75 per performance), annual memberships ranging $50–$10,000 (with a $25 Hathaway Club for members under 25), gala events and sponsorship tiers ($165–$5,000), charitable donations, education programs ($225–$695 per registrant), on-site food and beverage (Line 38), and parking ($10 per show / $45 season pass). Commercial operations are run on standard SaaS (Salesforce for ticketing/membership, Square for F&B, Ticketleap for spring ticketing). The company is led by Artistic Director Charles Pasternak and Director of Education Rebecca Haley Clark (MFA Royal Conservatoire of Scotland), and was named 2025 "Favorite Theatre Company" and home venue "Favorite Venue for Local Theatre" by Lookout Santa Cruz.

Name

Santa Cruz Shakespeare

Legal name

Santa Cruz Shakespeare

Website

https://santacruzshakespeare.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Santa Cruz Shakespeare is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit professional repertory theatre in Santa Cruz, California, presenting year-round Shakespeare, contemporary, and musical productions at the 490+ seat Audrey Stanley Grove outdoor amphitheater, serving local audiences, families, students, and Bay Area schools via education and touring programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Live Performing Arts / Professional Repertory Theatre

NAICS

Theater Companies and Dinner Theaters (711110), Theater Companies and Dinner Theaters (71111), Performing Arts Companies (7111)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Classical & Contemporary Theatre (Plays/Drama) (MPAGABAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Performing Arts Centers & Presenters (Programming/Booking) (MPAGABAM), Touring Theatre Productions (MPAGABAC), Theater, Musicals & Performing Arts (THAJAFAB), Seasonal & Holiday Events (Ticketed) (THAJAFAJ)

Keywords

• Professional theatre productions
• Outdoor amphitheatre performances
• Theatre education programs
• School touring performances
• Performing arts memberships

Headquarters

HQ city

Santa Cruz

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations

Revenue model

1. Ticket Sales: Primary revenue stream from ticket sales for mainstage productions, spring shows, holiday performances, Monday Night Revels, and special events. Ticket prices range from $20-$75 for general performances.
2. Memberships: Annual membership program ranging from $50-$10,000 with tiered benefits including pre-sales, ticket discounts, early admission, free parking, free food and drink, and cushioned seats.
3. Gala and Special Events: Annual gala events such as the 2026 Inaugural Gala 'Lords, Ladies, and Fools: A Courtly Celebration' with individual tickets at $165-$185 and table sponsorships from $330-$5,000.
4. Donations and Fundraising: Charitable donations through campaigns like Santa Cruz Gives, with donations supporting touring programs that bring theatre to students.
5. Education Programs: Revenue from classes, camps, and workshops including Shakeschool ($225), Bust a Rhyme ($295), Budding Bards ($395), and Fall Theatre Camp ($595-$695).
6. Food and Beverage (Line 38): On-site food and drink experience at The Grove offering elevated menu using fresh local ingredients, plus gourmet picnic baskets for pre-order.
7. Parking Fees: Parking at The Grove is $10 per show, or $45 for a season pass (free for groups of 4+ or certain membership levels).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Santa Cruz Shakespeare is a nonprofit professional repertory theatre company that produces and stages live theatrical performances, including Shakespeare plays, classics, musicals, and original works, at the 490+ seat Audrey Stanley Grove outdoor amphitheater and the Veterans Memorial Building in Santa Cruz, California. Beyond mainstage productions, the company sells year-round educational programming (classes, camps, teacher workshops, touring school shows), annual memberships with tiered benefits, and on-site food and beverage experiences. Tickets and memberships are distributed through its own website, phone box office, and on-site box office.

Product overview

Santa Cruz Shakespeare is a professional theatre company operating as a non-profit organization (Tax ID: 46-4635444) with over 40 years of history in Santa Cruz County. The company presents a multi-season portfolio of theatrical productions including the core Festival Season (five mainstage productions in rotating repertory at the Audrey Stanley Grove), seasonal productions (Vincent spring production, A Christmas Carol holiday production), and entertainment series (Monday Night Revels, Community Revels, Fringe Series). Education programming through ShakesEDU includes summer camps, classes, Shakes on the Move touring productions, student matinees, and professional development for educators. The company also operates membership programs, the Line 38 food and beverage experience, and workforce development through apprenticeship and internship programs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Festival Season Productions
• Vincent
• A Christmas Carol
• Monday Night Revels
• Community Revels
• Fringe Series
• Shakes on the Move
• ShakesEDU
• Summer Camps
• Student Matinees (SMATs)
• Weekend with Shakespeare
• Shakeschool
• Undiscovered Shakespeare
• Shakespeare and Social Justice
• Apprenticeship Program
• Membership Program
• Line 38
• Gala Events

Quantifiable outcome

• Reached 8,000 students through touring productions and school programs in 2025
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Maggie's GurlsminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 2 July 2025Non-profit dedicated to preventing suicide among LGBTQ+ youth, collaborating with SCS on Pink Ladies of the Sonnets drag performance event. Joint presentation of Shakespeare-inspired drag entertainment.
• UCSC Shakespeare WorkshopcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership between Santa Cruz Shakespeare, UCSC's Shakespeare Workshop and UCSC's Humanities Institute to present Weekend with Shakespeare - a full weekend of lectures, discussions and hands-on activities where participants learn about plays before seeing live performances. The Shakespeare Workshop was established as a research center at UCSC in 2013 and builds on a tradition that began in 1981 with Audrey Stanley founding Shakespeare Santa Cruz.
• UCSC Humanities InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-producer of Undiscovered Shakespeare, a public arts and humanities series that brings professional actors and scholars together with the public for staged readings of rarely produced Shakespeare works. Also partner in Weekend with Shakespeare educational programming.
• Santa Cruz Museum of Natural HistoryminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPartner for Family Days @ The Grove events, providing family-friendly activities alongside theatre performances. Joint programming to enhance visitor experience.
• Santa Cruz Children's Museum of DiscoveryminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPartner for Family Days @ The Grove events, providing interactive activities for children attending theatre performances.
• Saturday Shakespeare GroupminorGTM or Marketing PartnerIndependent study group that meets at New Aptos Library and via Zoom, focusing on in-depth study of Shakespeare plays with lectures, readings, and recorded professional productions.
• OLLI at UCSCminorGTM or Marketing PartnerOsher Lifelong Learning Institute at UCSC partners with SCS to provide intellectual stimulation and social interaction for community members, including access to theatre performances and educational programs.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Oregon Shakespeare Festival: Largest outdoor Shakespeare repertory festival in the U.S.; comparable rotating repertory model, outdoor amphitheater programming, and broad repertoire mixing Shakespeare with contemporary work.
• Utah Shakespeare Festival: Long-running outdoor and indoor Shakespeare repertory festival; closely comparable in repertory structure, mix of classics and contemporary plays, and education programming.
• California Shakespeare Theater (Cal Shakes): Bay Area professional Shakespeare company operating an outdoor Bruns Amphitheater; comparable repertory model, similar patron demographics, and direct overlap in Northern California Shakespeare audiences.
• San Francisco Shakespeare Festival: Bay Area nonprofit Shakespeare company offering Free Shakespeare in the Park and touring education programs; directly comparable in mission, geography, and education/outreach strategy.
• Marin Shakespeare Company: Bay Area nonprofit Shakespeare company with outdoor summer festival and education programs; comparable repertory scale, education outreach, and audience development approach.
• Shakespeare Theatre Company: Professional nonprofit theater producing Shakespeare alongside modern classics; directly comparable in mission, repertory focus, and donor-supported operating model.

Broad incumbents

• TheatreWorks Silicon Valley: Silicon Valley-based professional regional theater producing new works and classics; overlaps in Bay Area subscriber base and donor pool but with a predominantly indoor, contemporary-focus model.
• American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.): San Francisco-based LORT-class theater with a conservatory and broad classical/contemporary repertoire; comparable in artistic mission but operates at substantially larger scale.
• Berkeley Repertory Theatre: Major Bay Area regional theater with a much larger indoor footprint and broader contemporary programming; comparable donor/membership model but operates at meaningfully greater scale.

Regional players

• Pacific Repertory Theatre (PacRep): Monterey-area professional repertory theater with overlapping Central Coast audience base and similar Shakespeare/classic repertory programming.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/shakesplayon
• Instagraminstagram.com/santacruzshakes
• Xx.com/santacruzshakes
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/santa-cruz-shakespeare

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Santa Cruz Shakespeare