Bee Cave allots $160,000 to arts groups
The Bee Cave City Council showed support for the arts on Tuesday by approving funding for a local theater group and the city’s art foundation.
The Magnolia Musical Theatre is a newly formed organization that aims to bring quality musical theater to the Hill Country. Council members approved $100,000 for the group, which will come from either hotel occupancy tax funds or economic development board funding. Additionally, the council approved $60,000 in hotel occupancy tax funds for the Bee Cave Art Foundation’s Buzzfest, its tech art festival.
“I think these kinds of things are great for putting Bee Cave on the map,” said Council Member Kevin Hight. “And showing us being supportive of the arts and helping local businesses at the same time.”
The funding approved for the Magnolia Musical Theatre will go toward the production of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” at the Hill Country Galleria. The event is planned to take place next year from July 19 through Aug. 13, and will be free to attend. The production marks the beginning of the theater's planned annual free summer musical, with the goal of making musical theater more accessible, said Andrew Cannata, the group’s executive artistic director.
Cannata worked as the executive artistic director for Zilker Theatre Productions in Austin, where he organized and produced the “Little Shop of Horrors” musical in 2021 at the Hill Country Galleria. With the pandemic, Canna said, “Little Shop of Horrors” drew about 400 people per show. The organization estimates “Beauty and the Beast” will draw 750 to 1,000 people per show.
“What I learned in my time as the executive artistic director … and as a performer since 2008, is the power of musical theater and how it can change lives in people who cannot normally afford to go see predictions of this quality,” Cannata said. “The average ticket price in Austin and surrounding areas to see a professional production of musical theater is 45 dollars per person. … For a family of four, it becomes unaffordable to go out and see high-quality theatrical productions.”
“I am super excited,” Mayor Kara King said of the city funding for the theater group. “This definitely fits the definition of economic development. Both of my sons work at a restaurant here at the Galleria, and they said every night and closing night (of “Little Shop of Horrors”) … people were definitely here to eat and shop at our businesses.”
The funding approved for the Bee Cave Art Foundation is going toward its third annual Buzzfest at the Galleria. For the past two years, the foundation has hosted the festival, which includes immersive tech art installations, music performances, dancers and acrobats. About half of the $60,000 in funding will go toward the art installations, while the other half will go toward advertising the event, said Debby Childress, the foundation's director.
Advertising of the event is important to the foundation, Childress said, because of the draw it has for people outside of Bee Cave.
“It was clear that a lot of the people weren’t from here, and I don’t know it they would have ever come out to our community without (Buzzfest and “Little Shop of Horrors”) because I don’t know if they would have had a reason to come here,” said Mayor Pro Tem Andrew Clark. “It was fun to have those people. It created a different energy. You could feel it, which I think is really neat.”
Additionally, the Bee Cave City Council approved a program for fundraising with local school groups and the Hill Country Galleria ice rink.
Rough Hollow Elementary School requested to host a spirit night on the skating rink on Dec. 15. Tickets for the ice rink are $15 but the Rough Hollow Parent Teacher Organization will receive $5 from each ticket sold from the fundraiser event.
The rink is open to the public through Jan. 2.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Bee Cave allots $160,000 to arts groups
