Tribeca, the heart of Manhattan’s artistic community, contains a theatrical gem that many Stuyvesant students take for granted: the Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC). To most students, it’s just another landmark on the way to school. “I don’t really think about it that often,” sophomore Rayna Foster said. “It’s really just that college right next door.”

“The college next door” happens to have a unique theater program: the BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center. The main goal of the center is to produce shows for both the college and the neighborhood. Performances held at the theater can be either BMCC student-coordinated shows or productions that the center has arranged to have performed. Other organizations can also rent the theater space at the university to hold their own events.

The center has an impressive resume, having hosted British comedian Ricky Gervais, numerous New York City mayors and musician John Pizzarelli. A few less famous but more eccentric events include the Moscow Cats—a show which feature approximately 30 cats dazzling the audience with tricks and an unusual magic show that requires the presence of a tiger.

Coming attractions at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center include a re-make of the famous Broadway show “Machinal,” which is being directed by BMCC Professor Alkis Papoutsis. “Machinal” will have four performances between Wednesday, April 9 to Friday, April 11. Set in the late 1920s, “Machinal” revolves around a woman by the name of Ruth Snyder and her lover, who have both been accused of murdering Snyder’s husband.

Perhaps the most famous aspect of the arts program is its yearly lease of the theater space to the Tribeca Film Festival. “God, when [the Tribeca film festival] comes, it’s just craziness,” Director of Marketing and Communications for the arts program Eli Abdullah said. “It’s a completely chaotic two weeks of celebrities, red carpet and film. I love it.”

The film festival, like other companies who rent the program’s theater space, takes full advantage of the theater’s prime location. “What really sets us apart from [other theater programs] is that we have no other competition in the neighborhood. I don’t think there’s any other entertainment center like us below 14th street,” Abdullah said. The center consists of a mere two theaters, but the size difference between the two allows the theater more flexibility in hosting productions, and they can even hold two performances at the same time. The program’s repertoire consists mainly of jazz music, but the center also includes a separate children’s theater, featuring renditions of stories like “The Hungry Caterpillar.”

Though Stuyvesant’s Korean Culture Night, Norimahdang, was held recently at the Performing Arts Center, Stuyvesant students tend to know very little about BMCC events. Flyers promoting the university’s productions are exclusive to the college’s bulletin boards and classroom walls. There are flag-like advertisements attached to poles near BMCC’s entrance, but they are often concealed.

“I never considered [BMCC] a place where I would see a show,” junior Susan Zhang said. Several shows are free of charge and for shows which require tickets, a student discount program allows Stuyvesant students to avoid the already low prices—very few productions cost more than 15 dollars.

It is not only Stuyvesant students who are unaware of the program, BMCC students are too. Few students pay attention to the announcements that the school makes about the productions. When asked about her knowledge of BMCC’s theater community, BMCC student Ma Zabai said, “I have no idea. Nothing.”

“Advertising is something we have big ideas for,” Abdullah said. “The only students really familiar with the program are the ones who work here.”

Despite the difficulties that BMCC’s theater programs face in attracting an audience, the Tribeca Performing Arts Center must be doing something right, as next year marks the program’s 25th anniversary.

While the unrolling of the red carpet is reserved for film festival celebrities, the theater community intends to hold a large celebration to honor the quarter-century of hard work and creativity. “The party is really all about the people behind the theater,” Abdullah said. “They work so hard, and I have complete confidence that the program will just get better and better. Twenty-five years is nice and all, but I’m really going to be excited for our 50th.”

A calendar of upcoming events at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center can be found at http://www.tribecapac.org/calendar.htm.