McCarter Presses On Despite State, Federal Funding Cuts

McCarter Theatre Center, a longtime partner of Princeton University, received news May 2 that the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) would rescind thousands of dollars in grants from the performing arts center as a result of the Trump administration’s cost-cutting initiatives.

“It was sort of a one-two punch,” Martin Miller, McCarter’s executive director, told PAW. Earlier this year, the state of New Jersey told McCarter that it would be decreasing support, and then it was notified of the NEA cuts.

“We’ve just started getting back the momentum from post pandemic, people are really starting to come back. Our audiences are starting to be full —  we’re in another pivot … — it’s tough,” said Debbie Bisno, director of university and artistic partnerships at McCarter.

The combination of cuts totals more than $200,000 for the theater this year. McCarter is a nonprofit organization independent of the University, and its operating budget is $16.5 million for fiscal year 2025. Miller told PAW that a cut of $200,000 might seem inconsequential in that context. “But when you’re a performing arts organization … your capacity to take risks and grow is always defined by the margins,” he added.

NEA funds helped pay for this year’s production of “Legacy of Light,” a play by Karen Zacarías, which finished its run at McCarter in April. Sarah Rasmussen, the theater’s artistic director, directed the show, which is about women in science — both in the past and today — discussing Enlightenment ideas and their impact.

“There are literally lines in the play where Voltaire, philosopher, writer, is saying these ideas in the Enlightenment, they have formed your U.S. Constitution,” Miller said.

Rasmussen emphasized that people shouldn’t take arts organizations for granted. “They are supported by people who show up in the audience and who are generous with their philanthropy,” Rasmussen said.

For Bisno, this is a challenge — but one she thinks the business is uniquely equipped to handle.

“I think we’re just in the business of surprises, like that is the business of theater,” Bisno said. “So you would think we’d all be walking around here going ‘woe is me,’ but we're actually pressing on.”