Folsom's New Stages

Fans of live theater, concerts and art shows are gifted with the brand new 80,000-square-foot art facility just 25 miles outside of Sacramento’s art hub. Three Stages is just the beginning of an entirely new focus on the arts for Folsom Lake College.

“Three Stages has already changed the cultural life of the campus and of Folsom dramatically,” said David Webb, marketing consultant for Three Stages. “With national touring companies like "A Chorus Line,” Joffrey Ballet and iconic figures like Gloria Steinem coming onto campus, suddenly the Highway 50 corridor has a new state-of-the-art facility in which people can see not only national and international artists, but the best of the region's performing arts groups like the Sacramento Ballet.”


Three Stages hosts three performing arts venues, at art gallery, an enormous recording studio with the ability to hold an entire orchestra and extensive classroom and rehearsal space.


“Folsom Lake College started out as a very basic school, just some trailers on a lot,” said president of the board of trustees, Terry Cochran. “We’ve grown into a full-fledged community college offering everything there is to offer and it is a magnificent addition to the community.”


The facility’s detailed design, high quality sound and décor make Three Stages “the jewel in the crown of the district,” Webb said.


“This is the one place in the area you can go and find out about all regional and national arts,” said Dave Pier, executive director of Three Stages. “Everyone is under one roof and they can just focus on what they do best: art.”


But the $50 million project is facing a dilemma: how to operate within its resources without spending money on hiring more faculty or programs.


At this point the only thing detaining Three Stages from exercising its full potential is the budget.


“With the awful budget situation there was a pushback and we were not able to add all the stuff we envisioned adding,” said David Hamilton, dean of visual and performing arts at Folsom Lake College. “Its sad that we can’t offer a third of what we would like to. But each program is focusing on what they can do now.”

The plan is to add two to three more full time staff and programs that will use the Three Stages facility to offer degrees and certificates in music, theater and technical stage managing and design, Hamilton said.


“This is the worst budget situation for California Community Colleges in the history of the state,” Hamilton said. “But the district is committed to premier programs in the arts. We just won’t have growth for awhile and opportunities outside the current instruction we are able to offer.”


Cochran believes that the Los Rios Community College district is in a better financial state than other community colleges in California because of smart financing and no contemplation of any lay-offs.


“Most of the funding for this center was from private individuals and bond issues that people voted on, hardly anything from the state,” Cochran said.


The important part is that students and faculty are moving into the specifically designed spaces and using them to increase their ability to teach and perform art, Hamilton said.


“There is nothing like this center anywhere in the valley,” Hamilton said. “The idea is to have the best instruction and also to bring in art from the community and professional art as well. It is a huge asset to this area. I can already hear people saying, ‘It’s just up the hill’ or ‘It’s just down the hill,’ because it is so close to all of us.”


Already, Three Stages has contracted local performing artists like El Dorado Musical Theater to partner with the facility and use it as a contracted performance venue.

“Folsom had always shown an interest in the arts, but the level of talent and quality of shows the theater attracts will make Folsom a destination for performing arts,” said Wade Sherman, executive producer for El Dorado Musical Theater. “A world class venue like Three Stages will lead to more exposure for all the major local groups. Over time, I think Folsom Lake College will develop curriculum worthy of the facility as well.”

Even in light of the budget crisis, Webb wants everyone to know that Three Stages has avant-garde programs and spaces to offer for students, for the community and for the region.


“Five years from now, the community won't know how they ever lived without Three Stages,” he said.