I must say that I am on the verge of pulling the plug on our benefit. Yes, we'd lose a few bucks doing so, but I am now no longer willing to put up with the crap that I'm putting up with by the people at LACC doing the funding. They are now over two weeks late on our second payment - maybe we'll have it on Monday next, but it could be even a few days after that - that means I miss half our ad deadlines. Furthermore, the way in which they want to do the final check (our original third invoice was due October 15 - they won't pay the third check until AFTER the show is done) is now, given their reprehensible behavior, unacceptable to me, as I have no confidence whatsoever that they will not take three weeks to process it, and there are a lot of people who must be paid out of the third check. When we originally went into this, the then-president of the school told me that all invoices and receipts would be needed BUT could be turned in AFTER the performance. He's gone now and the story has changed - they need all invoices and receipts for the first money spent (this we got them - and had to redo several things to their inane satisfaction) - only THEN do they cut the second check, and they'll not only need all the invoices and receipts for THAT check, but ALSO all the invoices and receipts for - wait for it - money that we won't have spent yet!
I've e-mailed the entire sorry correspondence (I do love my paper trails, and what becomes evident on their end is that they have lied to me from day one of the second invoice being submitted - always telling me the check was on its way when, in fact, it STILL hasn't been processed) to the head of the LACC Foundation and to the head of the Theatre Academy. The Foundation has a call in to one of the higher ups, and the head of the Academy is going over to talk to them in the morning. Depending on those conversations and how fast they get me my very late payment will depend on whether I cancel the show, which I'm prepared to do in the morning.