April 2019

A message to all the friends of the Montclair Operetta Club:

As you probably know, our performance space for ten seasons, the Westminster Arts Center at Bloomfield College, has been closed since January 1, 2018 for extensive physical rehabilitation.  The work included a new roof, work on the facade and improvements to the areas surrounding the building.  We have watched this work with great anticipation, waiting for the day when we could return to mount our next production.  In February the College announced that the theatre would reopen in May and that requests for dates in the fall would be entertained.  We immediately asked about our traditional November dates and received confirmation that we would be on the calendar.

We learned this month that Bloomfield College has decided to sever its ties with the arts community of Bloomfield and Essex County.  The Westminster Arts Center will no longer be available for use by outside arts organizations.  This was certainly a surprise.  President Levao and then-managing director of WAC Greg Allen invited the Club to perform at Westminster as part of their vision to create a place where the arts could flourish for the benefit of the campus and the wider Bloomfield community.  For much of each year, the Club, 4th Wall Theatre and several other arts organizations have kept WAC busy with performances of many kinds.

This decision puts the Club in the position of looking for a venue that it can afford and at the same time is accessible to its many patrons.  If you know of such a venue, please contact us as soon as possible.  Please write to info@mocmusicals.org or leave a message at 973-744-3133.

We are appealing to Bloomfield College to reconsider its decision.  We urge supporters of all arts organizations to express their feelings to the College, by letter, email or telephone.  Please address your concerns to the following:

Mr. Richard Levao, President	Dr. Marcheta P. Evans, President *
Bloomfield College 467 Franklin Street Bloomfield, NJ  07003	Bloomfield College 467 Franklin Street Bloomfield, NJ  07003
richard_levao@bloomfield.edu
973-748-9000 x1290

* Mr. Levao will retire as President and Dr. Evans will succeed him on June 1, 2019.

You may also wish to do as we are doing and send a letter to the editors of the two weekly newspapers that serve Bloomfield.

Bloomfield Life	The Independent Press
1 Garret Mountain Plaza P. O. Box 471 Woodland Park, NJ  07424	c/o Worrall Community Newspapers 1291 Stuyvesant Avenue P. O. Box 3639 Union, NJ  07083

On Facebook, please visit the groups Citizens of Bloomfield and Bloomfield Pulse.

When you write or call, please express your support for all the arts organizations that use WAC, and your disappointment that this center for culture is closing, depriving you of more chances to experience music, drama and dance so close to home.

The Montclair Operetta Club is grateful for your support.