Often rented for weddings, the beautiful grounds of the Montalvo Arts Center is a popular place for hosting social events.
Tucked away in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains, the Montalvo Arts Center, which encompasses the Villa Montalvo mansion, has been supporting artists and showcasing spectacular displays of visual arts, performing arts, fine arts and literary arts since its establishment in 1939. The 175-acre property also includes the Project Space Gallery, a complex for the Sally and Don Lucas Artists Residency Program and two theaters.
The outdoor Lilian Fontaine Garden Theatre can host an audience of up to 1,400, but its use has been limited and declining in recent years due to high costs. These increasingly high expenses render such performances financially unsustainable.
Built on the edge of the redwood forest, the Lilian Fontaine Garden Theater is often used for the Summer Concert series.
On the other hand, the Carriage House Theatre is a lively indoor venue that has been hosting the world-class Carriage House Performing Arts Series for over 60 years. This past season, it hosted names like pianist, singer-songwriter and Class of ‘96 salutatorian Vienna Teng, guitarist John Hiatt and singer-songwriter Marc Cohn.
Once part of a turntable garage, the interior space has been transformed into the Carriage House Theater to host live concerts.
Performances in the historic Carriage House
The indoor Carriage House Theater is an intimate, 300-seat venue situated inside a historic building. Concert season spans September through May, presenting about 35 to 40 music — or, occasionally, comedy — shows.
Built in 1912, the name Carriage House came from its original purpose to house “motorized carriages,” or cars. The octagon-shaped garage had a turntable which rotated to open spaces and allowed cars to be parked.
When the garage was turned into a performance space, shows were held around the turntable before it underwent renovations in the ‘50s and ‘80s. Today’s stage and seating areas are set above the basement where the turntable remains.
Tim Reeves, the public performances manager at Montalvo Arts Center, is primarily responsible for booking shows at the Carriage House.
Usually, artist agencies attempt to find multiple dates in a region for that artist to play (e.g., the Western part of the country over the course of one to two months) so they can travel from city to city in an organized fashion. But it can be a complicated schedule for Montalvo to assemble.
Despite this, Reeves tries to include a variety of interesting music artists and genres.
“We try to book at least one to two Hawaiian artists every year. That was a tradition at least when I started here ten years ago, and it’s still very popular,” Reeves said. “For those people who know Hawaiian music well, there are some pretty big names who are all terrific artists.”
Another popular concert he strives to book every year is the group of performers from Jazz at Lincoln Center, an acclaimed jazz program sponsored by the performing venue Lincoln Center, hosts a new theme each year — this year’s is “New Orleans Songbook,” which was performed on Jan. 29.
Pianist Luther S. Allison and vocalists Quiana Lynell and Milton Suggs from Jazz at Lincoln Center are on tour until April 6, performing “New Orleans Songbook.”
A few interesting upcoming events include a reading of personal letters from famous authors called “Letters Aloud: Thanks, But No Thanks” on March 30, an energetic performance by “Billy McGuigan’s Pop Rock Orchestra” on April 4 and a performance blending Broadway flair with American songbook grooves, sung by tenor Pasquale Esposito on April 5.
Managing the shows is no trivial task: It takes 25 people, everyone from box office personnel to on-stage help. The tasks are even more challenging for summer festivals.
Summer on the grounds
Through the summer months, Montalvo holds at least two major open arts festivals annually that are held outdoors, free and open to the public. “Art on the Grounds” requires just about everyone on Montalvo’s dedicated staff of around 35 people to coordinate on the day of the event.
Then, there’s the Low Rider festival, where 60-70 low-rider cars are parked on the front lawn. Over the course of a single afternoon, well over a thousand people may come for cars, performances and other activities, requiring all staff members to ensure the event runs smoothly.
The Second Annual Low Rider festival was hosted last summer on Montalvo’s grounds.
For the Carriage House, summertime means hosting 3-4 different play readings, each performed by around six actors. According to Reeves, the venue first started hosting these events as the world was emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic. People were searching for programs that didn’t require them to be indoors, and there were lots of initial social distancing and safety precautions in place.
“It was an evening of entertainment that was relatively simple for us to put together, and it gave people a reason to come to Montalvo even during the course of the pandemic, when it was really hard for anyone to find anything to do when leaving the house,” Reeves said. “People liked them, so it continued after the pandemic.”
These play readings are not fully realized productions. Instead, they’re a chance for audiences to hear a play performed by professional actors in a very simple format, including props and furniture but little background scenery. Reeves said that these shows are meant to be fun and entertaining. This is why most of them are comedies.
More from Villa Montalvo
The property also houses the Sally and Don Lucas Artists Residency Program (LAP), an artist incubator complex with 10 studios. Each studio has been designed with a specific type of artistic discipline in mind, spanning visual arts, music composition, dance choreography and more. Hundreds of international artists apply to the selective program for a chance to spend three months on site creating art, with 25 or 30 ultimately being selected.
Among the designer resident buildings of the Montalvo Arts Center are Doyle Sculpture Studio 50 and DiNapoli Writers Studio 51.
The Villa’s education department also runs summer camps and performing arts programs for students, producing shows with casts of those in elementary and middle school.
Montalvo’s grounds are popular for weddings and parties, though the audience of concert-goers is mostly middle-aged and older. With limited public transportation options, younger people can be challenged to get there. Historically, the artists and music genres are catered toward older audiences, but Reeves is also searching for performances that he hopes will interest young people as well.
“My favorite part is seeing audience members walking out after a show having really, really enjoyed the show, especially if it’s something a little bit new and different and not quite so typical for what we present here,” Reeves said. “Those folks have taken a chance because they didn’t really know what they were going to see but they were completely delighted, and that makes me feel good about the work that it takes to make these shows happen.”
For those unfamiliar with Montalvo Arts Center, Reeves recommends people to make a visit, regardless of whether they are typical concertgoers or not.
“It’s an absolutely beautiful place, and there are things going on here all year long. Every season of the year there’s something happening here,” Reeves said. “Even if you’re coming here to walk around and have a look, it’s worth the time because it is a stunningly beautiful place to be in.”
The Montalvo Arts grounds are surrounded by natural beauties.
Upcoming events: See a full calendar at montalvoarts.org/calendar
March 28: You’ve Got a Friend: Carole King, Neil Sedaka, and the Music of the Brill Building • March 30: Letters Aloud: Thanks, But No Thanks • April 2: Performing Arts Series for Students: Deaf Louder with Urban Jazz Dance Company
