Want some laughs? How about something for the kids? Broadway shows? Incredible music from around the world? Christmas fun? Dance? Cirque performance? Heck, how about some Morgan Freeman action? Cal Poly Arts has all that and more in its upcoming season.
Cal Poly Arts, which presents many of its performers at the Performing Arts Center San Luis Obispo (PAC), has been programed by Molly Clark since she took over the directorship in the 2022-23 season.
“My guiding principle in creating a season is that we want to have real diversity in the voices that are being represented, the genres that are being represented, the stories that are being told in an effort to welcome as many people into the program as possible,” she explained. “I say this often, but it’s true. When I’m thinking about our season brochure, I don’t expect that any person in our county is going to look through and say, ‘I want to go to everything in this season.’ But my hope is that there’s enough variety and thoughtful programming that nearly every person in our county can find at least one event that would interest them.”
The program truly offers something for everyone, and you can find a complete listing of events at calpolyarts.org.
Clark’s origin
Clark has been working in arts administration for nearly two decades with organizations such as the San Diego Youth Symphony and Conservatory and UC San Diego where she was artistic director of their presenting arts program, ArtPower.
“When this opportunity came up at Cal Poly, I jumped on it,” she said. “I just thought it was a unique opportunity to usher Cal Poly Arts into the next generation. The College of Liberal Arts had been looking to diversify the program, welcome new audiences in, and that was exciting for me. It’s a challenge, for sure. But I’m passionate about this career and the arts—particularly music has always been a big piece of my life. I’m just so fortunate to be able to do this for a living, and to be able to do it here in our beautiful little bubble.”
If this year’s season seems bigger than ever, it is.
“That was intentional, too, because it’s the 40th anniversary season,” Clark noted. “I started right as we were reopening from COVID shutdowns, so we had this huge program the first year I was here.”
A lot of it was rebooked shows that had been canceled. Clark used the next season to scale back a bit and regroup.
“With the 40th anniversary, we felt like we needed to celebrate, so it’s a little bit bigger. We have more of a footprint with the Broadway series. Most of those titles have two-night runs, but we also wanted to make some splashes with it too, like having Morgan Freeman.”
Morgan Freeman’s Symphonic Blues Experience is scheduled for Nov. 16 at the PAC. It’s also worth noting that the Broadway shows are very expensive to book. According to Cal Poly Arts board President Mary Kay Harrington, even when they sell out, they’re money losers, which is why they now have a two-day run.
“That way they cut a little bit of the cost because they don’t have to set up twice,” Harrington noted.
Kinky Boots runs Dec. 1 and 2, The Choir of Man runs Jan. 9 and 10, and The Book of Morman runs on March 3 and 4.
Cal Poly Arts? The PAC?
“Cal Poly Arts is a unit of the College of Liberal Arts at Cal Poly,” Clark explained. “We’re specifically focused on the programming, the residencies of artists, and the mostly international touring artists that we bring into the PACSLO, which is the venue. We rent the PACSLO just like any other organization does. We are separate organizations, just like how the SLO Symphony rents and pays for the use of the venue and all the tech and labor. We do the same thing.”
The Foundation for the Performing Arts Center is the entity that maintains and rents the venue, and they’re unconnected to Cal Poly Arts, which started 40 years ago. The PAC opened its doors in 1996. It exists thanks to a partnership between the city of San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly, and private fundraising. The 1,280-seat venue is more than double the capacity of the 480-seat Spanos Theatre, which is still used regularly for smaller shows.
“With the construction of PACSLO, that allowed Cal Poly Arts to really expand its programming beyond what it could do in the Spanos Theater,” Clark explained. “I feel super fortunate to have a venue like that in our small market. It is not typical for a city of this size to have a venue that large and with those sorts of technical capabilities, and so from my standpoint, it’s a huge opportunity for us.”
Be part of the arts
“We try to strike a balance between artists who are known, and may have some household name quality, but also we’re really excited to be able to introduce artists to our community who are making their debuts [here],” Clark said. “They may be new to our community, but [they’re] very, very much established in their particular genres and disciplines.
“I would really encourage folks to—yes—go see your favorite artist, go see the artists that you’ve been listening to forever,” Clark continued. “Go see Patti LuPone, who’s a Broadway icon, but also push yourself to discover someone new, because I really feel that those are some of the richest experiences that we have. There’s nothing like experiencing live performing arts. Without sounding too cheesy, I do feel like the arts are a vehicle for healing, and when we’re sitting in spaces, experiencing something beautiful or even tough, next to strangers, and being able to find any sort of union and community in that, it’s really special.” Δ
Contact Arts Editor Glen Starkey at gstarkey@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Aug 28 – Sep 7, 2025.