Arts Activities Support

Over 90% of our cast indicated on a cast survey that they were proud of the final product and excited to have premiered a new work. Our audiences were responsive with lots of laughter in addition to applause in every single performance - which does not always happen in shows! The chance to "light the torch" of a new playwright and composer was huge and for them to see their work come to life! We did achieve our artistic goals! Reluctant Dragon was a very well written, funny, entertaining show that was a fun production to produce, and fit our Rosetown style perfectly. The playwright was very familiar with Rosetown Playhouse and was able to write in the additional small characters and "group" scenes that provide opportunities for many. The composer and the arranger composed 11 songs from solos to all cast songs that were challenging and yet accessible, and they enhanced the storyline beautifully. We choreographed most of the songs and that enriched the cast experience. The message of the play itself was very timely and very affirming of avoiding stereotypes, "not judging a book by its cover," allowing fear and ignorance to cloud what we really know about others. What didn't work as well was the "producing" of the actual new piece and we learned that we need to have someone driving the process as the piece is being written - script revisions, lyrics and music. We had people hired to do the work, but no one really in charge of pushing deadlines etc. which made for some frustrations near audition time. The strengths of creating a new work were the artists: playwright, composer- both brand new to doing this work and composer/arranger- more experienced. Another difficulty with doing a new work is that people are unfamiliar with it and so we need to do a better job of publicizing what it is, giving some musical and script examples, highlighting the opportunity to do something NEW instead of the same old shows. Our audition numbers were lower than what we often have, still plenty of people to perform the show well and plenty of talent. The same issue happens with advertising the show itself to an audience. When it is a new work, it is harder to sell to the audience. The title recognition of "Reluctant Dragon" was not as strong as we anticipated. We did reach our intended community, with a small but significant amount of diversity in our actors and audience. One of our KaRen immigrant students who has been involved (along with others) in Rosetown shows had a lead role in this show which was a milestone for that relationship between Rosetown Playhouse and the Karen students we have been working with. Our audiences were what we expected. We had an ASL interpreted performance and had hearing impaired audience. We created a "family pass" ticket which helped reduce the price of tickets for our families who come multiple times to the show. We gave comp tickets and did not turn away anyone for lack of funds. Meeting our goals for making the project accessible to all who might wish to participate probably had more to do with the timing of the show and has encouraged us to rethink the rehearsal schedule (time, lateness) and timing of December for performance particularly since we are intentionally not doing "Christmas" themed shows.