New Generations Program
Objective#2: Future Audiences
Future Audiences: Round 9 Recipients
Alabama Shakespeare Festival (Montgomery, AL) will expand its Southern Writers’ Project (SWP) to continue attracting culturally diverse audiences.
American Repertory Theatre Company (Cambridge, MA) will expand the boundaries of theatre, exploring the best texts from across cultures and ages.
Bedlam Theatre (Minneapolis, MN) will increase support and further evolve its social and community programming, a decade-old and continuingly effective approach for building new, young audiences.
Epic Theatre Ensemble (New York, NY) will enhance and expand its Gateway program: free mobile theatrical productions designed to attract, engage, and enfranchise young and culturally specific, first-time theatre-goers.
HartBeat Ensemble (Hartford, CT) will fully fund a community liaison position to effectively develop new audiences from the diverse communities in Greater Hartford.
Imagination Stage (Bethesda, MD) will expand programming that engages children ages 2-4. In addition to mainstage productions and storytelling, ISI will create intimate, participatory plays and installations for this age group.
Junebug Productions (New Orleans, LA) will cultivate New Orleans audiences of emerging artists and youth primarily in the African American community by expanding the Free Southern Theater Institute (FSTI) mentorship program that offers training in developing ensemble theater productions for social change.
Oregon Shakespeare Festival (Ashland, OR) will build on emerging connections with Latino audiences through Spanish-captioned performances, bilingual events, audience services and focus groups that deepen the impact of 2008’s Festival Latino.
San Diego Repertory Theatre (San Diego, CA) will dramatically strengthen community partnerships which engage young and culturally diverse audiences from National City and other communities through open rehearsals and expanded “Surround Events.”
Syracuse Stage (Syracuse, NY) will partner with local organizations to present a series of pre and post-performance events for every play; creation of exhibits and events related to our plays; tour BACKSTORY productions to civic organizations; expand its web-based outreach and enrichment.
Teatro SEA (New York, NY) will focus on expanding a/d strategies to coincide with the expansion of its new theatre/facilities by incorporating the expertise of professionals/consultants.
Ten Thousand Things Theater (Minneapolis, MN) will add five performances for each of the three shows toured per season: two of the five performances will be to rural Minnesota; and the other three performances will be for its urban audiences.
viBe Theater Experience (New York, NY) will increase the number and engagement level of urban teenage audiences at its productions by expanding its performance runs, and by conducting pre-performance playmaking workshops at schools and community organizations.
Future Audiences: Round 8 Recipients
Alliance Theatre (Atlanta, GA) will develop new means of communicating with their audience through the Active Audience Project. The two tier program will allow audience members to purchase $18 rush tickets via text messaging and will enhance the theatrical experience by offering their audience real time dramaturgy sent via a series of text and visual messages.
CENTERSTAGE (Baltimore, MD) will expand their Friday Night LIVE series from six events per season to every Friday performance and also develop a microsite; increase distribution of e-cards and postcards; and expand partnerships with cultural organizations, restaurants and clubs.
The Coterie Theatre (Kansas City, MO) will engage 16 – 21 year olds through The Coterie at Night, a series of adventurous, interactive performances performed at separate venues exclusively at night, with opportunities to socialize after the show.
Dad’s Garage Theatre Company (Atlanta, GA) will increase virtual interactions with younger audiences by incorporating video and audio into their e-marketing campaigns, redesigning their website and using text message contact.
The 52nd Street Project (New York, NY) will hire additional staff for New Platforms, an expansion of arts programming that introduces area children to new art forms such as dance, design and spoken word.
The Foundry Theatre (New York, NY) will hire a community outreach co-producer from the grassroots organizing sector to augment civic dialogue programming and further the company’s community building initiatives.
GALA Hispanic Theatre (Washington, DC) will strengthen marketing and program engagement initiatives that target Latino professionals, local business owners, community groups and families with young children. The initiatives will include conducting audience surveys; expanding family and bilingual programming; developing a more dynamic web presence; partnering with corporations; and enhancing relationships with professional Latino and international organizations.
Lexington Children’s Theatre (Lexington, KY) will cultivate public audiences by reaching out to underserved rural communities in Rowan and Elliott counties. Theatre workshops and classes for young audiences, a weekend family series of plays and a newly created parent advisory group will help establish a more engaged and participatory family audience base.
The Theater Offensive (Boston, MA) will expand their Repeat Offenders initiative through the creation of the Cruising Crew, a new team of diverse individual fans who will act as hosts, curators and ambassadors to their communities.
Future Audiences: Round 7 Recipients
Brava Theater Center (San Francisco, CA) will expand and improve their audience development work for multicultural lesbian and Spanish speaking audiences by launching a broad-based media campaign (particularly with viral marketing and radio), engaging not-for-profit organizations and networking with social, cultural and affinity groups that serve these constituencies.
Center for Puppetry Arts (Atlanta, GA) will expand their Latino audience development initiatives; specifically the production of bilingual marketing materials and presentation of bilingual puppetry performances.
The Children’s Theatre Company (Minneapolis, MN) will expand their teen liaison program. In spring 2007, the theatre’s staff will recruit approximately twenty teens from local high schools to paid positions in the 2007-2008 season. According to their interests and talents, teens will be assigned to work in the artistic production, education, or marketing department.
Free Street (Chicago, IL) will expand their audience development plan for Chicago’s Polish community and the residents of neighborhoods on the south and west sides of the city through the production of six new works performed at various street and traditional venues and created by ensembles of youth, emerging artists and theatre professionals.
The Neo-Futurists (Chicago, IL) will enhance marketing to their under 30 audience by extending their marketing coordinator’s responsibilities and resources and enhancing the design and functionality of their website. They will also hire a graphic designer to take on the creation of all printed materials and develop more in-depth audience development research projects that emphasize touring and teaching opportunities.
Oregon Children’s Theatre (Portland, OR) will expand their audience development plan for children, teens and young adult parents through internet-based engagement. They will develop interactive educational video content for each production, document and share online features about their script development processes and promote ticket buying through email communications.
Out Of Hand Theater (Atlanta, GA) will strengthen their events programming for younger adults through enhanced marketing efforts, and purchasing audience tracking software and technical equipment and increasing design budgets. They will also seek a media sponsor for The Game, a game where teams race each other around the city following clues, some of which are contained in theatrical spaces.
Pasadena Playhouse (Pasadena, CA) will enhance their outreach program for at-risk teenagers from the greater Los Angeles area by training additional volunteers, cultivating additional organizational partners, solidifying plans for the addition of a literacy component and expanding the theatre’s ability to arrange interaction between group participants and Playhouse artists.
Passage Theatre Company (Trenton, NJ) will expand their audience development plan for middle and high school students, members of the Trenton community and surrounding areas of Mercer County by producing new theatre works as part of the Anti-Violence Arts Initiative (AVAI) which engages children and families in theatre production, both as artists and audience.
Perseverance Theatre (Douglas, AK) will expand their audience development plan to reach Alaska Native audiences statewide by extending the responsibilities of their director of outreach and developing Exodus from Ugiuvaq, an original, documentary-style examination of the forced exodus of the King Island people from their home in the Bering Sea in the 1960’s. They will also remount Raven Odyssey for an extensive tour to every cultural region of the state.