Desert Theatre Ensemble uses Coachella Valley Spotlight grant to improve theatre

Local non-profit Desert Ensemble Theatre has used the $25,000 Coachella Valley Spotlight grant to improve their productions. The grant making it possible for the group to buy new equipment for their theatre at the Palm Springs Cultural Center.

Executive director Shawn Abramowitz said they were able to add more power lines, lights, and stage rigging.

“It really helped us not just in our technical capabilities and being able to purchase needed equipment and make these needed revisions in our theater," said Abramowitz.

The new equipment will help high school interns learn more about technical theatre.

“We're so looking forward to next year, being able to offer all of these different opportunities for more lighting design, for more set design, and actually having a space that we call our home," said Abramowitz.

Graduating seniors get awarded scholarships to continue their higher education in theatre.

“For them to be able to work on state-of-the-art equipment, with professional designers mentoring them, it just opens up all sorts of worlds for them," said artistic director Jerome Elliott Moskowitz.

The organization has been transforming a movie theatre at the Palm Springs Cultural Center into an actual stage.

“The grant has helped us get on the road to turning this into a state-of-the-art theater," said Moskowitz. "But a true theatrical experience involves not only actors, but the lights and the sounds just to create a complete environment that really serves the playwright's intention.”

Their efforts have not gone unnoticed. The group produced several plays that have been recently nominated for desert theatre league awards. For the upcoming season, the group plans to buy a better speaker system to enhance the audience experience.

“The technical aspects of these plays is such an improvement over what we were doing before we had the grant," said Moskowitz.

The grant ultimately helped the non-profit’s mission of helping the growth of artists on and off the stage.

“It's elevated us to a new level in our community because now we have a great backing and great partner, and we're so thankful," said Abramowitz.