The MPC Theatre department chair resigns after trying to bridge the old guard with the new.

When Teddy Eck took over as Monterey Peninsula College Theatre chair in January 2019, he was excited to build something new. Overwhelmingly, change was good. Eck wanted to reinvigorate the theater department. He wanted to bring in new material written and directed by an increasingly diverse student body, not just stage classic plays with more diverse casting. They produced shows like a fresh take on Frankenstein and Perseverance, a collection of student work highlighting their experiences during the pandemic.

But change was easier said than done. After two-and-half years on the job, Eck handed in his resignation, which was announced May 29.

Part of the reason for his departure, Eck says, is that his new direction clashed with the old guard. Specifically, he says he couldn’t get the support he needed from the MPC Theatre Trust.

The nonprofit was founded in 1988 to raise funds for MPC Theatre endeavors like tuition scholarships, hiring directors and creating sets. The Trust was also in charge of the box office.

Eck says he kept hitting snags with the Theatre Trust, and then in 2020, he took a deep dive into the Trust’s finances. He prepared a memo titled “Theatre Trust and Previous Department Concerns,” outlining his claims that the Trust was circulating funds back to its members, who were involved in theatrical productions. “There was some really shady shit going on,” Eck says.

Specifically, Eck raised his eyebrows at the box office. Until recently, the box office had been run by Ticket Guys, a company owned and operated by Sky Rappoport, who until 2014 was an MPC employee and also a founding trustee of MPC Theatre Trust. A $2 fee per ticket sold went to Rappoport’s company, even during a time that the department badly needed funding. “We’re a community, and this is public money that they took from us and from the community,” Eck claims.

Rappoport says the system was like any third-party ticketing service used by venues. “It wasn’t like we were doing anything sneaky. [MPC] knew what we were doing,” he says, adding that the $2 fee was below market rate.

The MPC administration mediated talks between Eck and Trust members, in which each party’s role was clarified. That led the nonprofit to rebrand as the MP Theatre Trust – MP, as in Monterey Peninsula, rather than MPC, for Monterey Peninsula Community.

And the college itself is taking over box office operations from here on out. In a statement. Diane Boynton, the dean of liberal studies, wishes Eck well and expresses gratitude for a job well done building up relationships with the community. As for the future of the program: “Plans are underway to support our theatre program both in the immediate future as well as in the long term. We look forward to providing an excellent student-focused and sustainable theatre program for our students and community as we move forward.”