Needs
At Theatre Off The Square, we strive to educate the public about live theatre, and this most definitely includes the youth of our community.
We have offered summer theatre camp for Grades 3 – 9 now for 10 years featuring sessions such as fight choreography, musical theatre, improv, and more. This past year, we extended into our StageStruck Theatre Academy to provide fall and spring classes and workshops for learners of all ages.
With this program expansion, we have added the following needs: 1) Additional facilities have to be rented. 2) Pay to provide one instructor as well as a volunteer instructor’s aid per class for the safety of the participants as well as that of the instructors. These along with the increase in supply costs have add to the our annual cost of fulfilling our mission to provide quality theatre education in our community.
The fine arts are not always deemed as important as the academics in schools, and in some areas of the country, the arts have been totally cut. Some children have an innate ability to perform but need to be guided and taught to ensure a successful venture into the performing arts. Others are just wanting to do something fun and perhaps out of the ordinary. Theatre is intriguing, thought provoking, challenging and a great opportunity for life-long learning.
As an additional need, we wish to make physical improvements to our venue for the comfort and enjoyment of our patrons and volunteers. This past year, we had to replace our roof, which was an expense that kept us from being able to make other necessary upgrades. We're still in need of updating carpeting and theatre seating, continuing to upgrade stage lighting to LED for energy efficiency and reduction of heat from the incandescent lighting, and building out a permanent stage extension to increase the size of our performance area.