MISSOULA — Whether it’s from the National Endowments for the Arts or contracts with the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Air Force, a lot of federal money goes into sustaining Missoula Children’s Theater’s operations.
Currently, that federal money is scheduled to continue.
“That budget supports something like 20 tour actors, so 10 teams, and somewhere around 10 home staff. So that federal money is important to our operations and it makes it possible for us to reach thousands of kids and get them on stage,” said MCT executive director Mike Morelli.
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The money from the National Endowment for the Arts funds MCT’s nationwide tours, while a sixth of their budget comes from contracts with various military branches — which sends actors and staff across the world to perform for service members overseas.
Something that is important on a personal level for Morelli.
“We're doing this for the kids of the families that are there in those bases," Morelli said. "And that is how I was first exposed to MCT because my daughter was in Germany, because her mother and new stepfather had moved there and were running a daycare for the Department of Defense. And my daughter was one of those kids that didn't know anybody, didn't know anything about the place, had moved from Laramie, Wyoming. And all of a sudden she gets in a show and she knows people and she has friends and she can eat lunch with somebody. And, it was magical and it was life-changing."
Even though organizations across the country have seen an uncertain future for their federal funds, MCT is planning on receiving their funding and is proceeding as usual. But, MCT told MTN that there is still some anxiety looking towards the future.
“It is an uncertain time for a variety of reasons. I do think that we feel pretty good because we know that we're serving children and making life better for all kids," Morelli said. "That's a pretty good thing. And so I think that our value is recognized by the military. I think our value is recognized by the NEA, National Endowment for the Arts."
MCT also told MTN that its federal partners have said they are planning on proceeding as planned, although discussions about federal funding to a variety of sources are still ongoing.
And while MCT remains hopeful, the potential for federal funding being cut off still remains on top of their minds — with the warning that thousands would be impacted if that were to occur.
“We're not in the business of making stars. We're in the business of giving students an opportunity to get better," Morelli said. "And so losing that would be very painful for all those kids. And then also for the families, if seven or eight family members come to see every child, you're talking about something like 35,000 to 50,000 people that wouldn't see their children succeed, wouldn't see their children grow in front of their eyes, wouldn't see their children create these new relationships with probably this old friend group in most cases and be seen in a different way. And we have so many stories of what it means to the parents, so many stories of what it means to the family members to see that child blossom. And that would be a devastating loss."
Editor's Note: Missoula Children's Theatre uses the active "theatre" spelling, theater refers to the venue, not the practice of making.
