Pacifica Spindrift Players
The Mission of the Pacifica Spindrift Players (PSP) is to present high quality theatre to Pacifica and its surrounding communities. We offer revivals of traditional plays and musicals, as well as contemporary theatre for the 21st century. PSP also provides opportunities for adults and young people to learn the art of live theatre by creating a living classroom through the play production experience.
Pacifica Spindrift Players Values:
Non-Profit: PSP is a not for profit organization, and we are volunteer driven. Dedicated volunteers work in all areas of the theater, from front of house to performers to our Board of Directors. Please contact us if you’re interested in volunteering!
Fostering Community: We love to give back to our community! PSP reaches out to our community by participating in Fog Fest, loaning and donating equipment to high school productions, and offering special benefits and talent showcases for deserving causes.
Education: PSP believes that anyone interested can learn the art of theatre. We encourage new people to join us and learn – both onstage and behind-the-scenes.
In 1959, Margaret Moseley and Sheila B. Hyman had a dream for a little theater in the new city of Pacifica. Through the PBR (Parks, Beaches, and Recreation), a meeting was arranged at the Sea Bowl coffee shop, where 10 residents showed up and the dream became a reality. The group called themselves the Pacifica Players and their first play was “The Tender Trap” followed by “The Drunkards” performed at the Firehouse the same year. In 1965, Sydney Clark and others met to organize The Spindrift Playhouse. Without a playhouse or a realistic hope for one, the group rehearsed for their first production “No Exit” in the Clark living room and performed the show at the Pacifica Library meeting room. A few years later the Pacifica Players and the Spindrift Playhouse combined to become the Pacifica Spindrift Players.
The building, which now is the Pacifica Spindrift Players Theatre, was originally a Baptist Church located where Cabrillo School is today. It was purchased for fifty dollars by the City and on October 31, 1962 it was moved on rollers up Crespi Drive to its current site at Oddstad Park. Initially the building was used as a Community Center and home to the Pacifica Spindrift Players, senior recreation activities, and childcare. Originally, the main hall was used for senior lunches and children’s activities as well as plays – for every performance, the tables had to be folded up and the three-seat wooden folding chairs set out for the audience. When the Community Center moved to its current location (former site of the telephone building on Crespi Drive) the old church building was extensively remodeled. Following the earthquake of 1989, which destroyed a theater in San Francisco, ninety-eight real theatre seats were purchased and refurbished and raked risers were built to accommodate them. Subsequent improvements to the theatre included a professional sound system and lighting. In 2013 and 2014, the Rotary Club of Pacifca took the PSP building under their wings as a special project. Thanks to them the outside of building now has a new coat of paint and new shingling on the roof!
The tentative beginnings of theatre in Pacifica, originally housed in a garage, a library room and school multipurpose room, now resides in its own “playhouse” theatre! The Pacifica Spindrift Players, loving called PSP, is a non-profit organization committed to providing quality live community theatre to Pacifica and the Bay Area. PSP offers opportunities for adults and young people to learn and develop the art of live theatre through play production experience. We present revivals of traditional plays and musicals and diverse, contemporary theatre for the 21st century. PSP supports our local community by loaning theatre equipment , props, and costumes to local school drama departments and other community theatres, and by supporting The Spindrift School of Performing Arts—Pacifica’s only non-profit performing arts school that trains and inspires students of all ages in the performing arts.
Inspired by former President of the PSP Board, the late Tom Stack, the school was founded in 1994 by Alex & Martha Bootzin who saw a need for arts instruction in the community and in the local schools. As Pacifica’s only non-profit performing arts school, SSPA has grown into a vibrant, expanding organization. The school has worked hard to establish roots here in the community by providing a stable base for children to train in the arts and providing the best artists possible to train them.
SSPA provides high quality performing arts experiences & training in shows, classes, private lessons and summer camps year-round to well over 3000 students each year, including grant and in-school programs. You can find SSPA providing outreach classes, grant based programs or in-school programs to every school in Pacifica as well as schools and pre-schools on the Penninsula and even in San Francisco.
SSPA Mission Statement: To train and inspire students of all ages in the performing arts while instilling the qualities of confidence, self-discipline, creativity & respect for others.
Visit the Spindrift School of Performing Arts web site at www.SpindriftSchool.org
