Project Grant - Round 2

Outcome one - high-quality level of theatrical production experienced by audience members as well as cast and crew. Outcome two - break even on the show, or enough to provide seed money for the next production.Outcome one - For those participating in the production: In every production there are stand-out performers with tremendous talent, experience, professional training, or all three. These performers often serve as mentors to other performers who may not have the same level of experience or training. Because of who is cast in the production (both highly seasoned St Cloud area and metro area cast members), Guys and Dolls cast members will learn from their peers and experience a production where they are not one of the few mentors but be able to serve as both mentor and mentee and allow for them to learn from other talented individuals. How to evaluate this outcome is difficult to determine except for directly asking production participants through a survey tool. Another way to evaluate a successful production is the interest of cast and crew to return for other productions. For those viewing the production: All members of the cast have what most would consider significant talent. The central Minnesota communities (primarily St Cloud area) will experience a professional quality show with a St Cloud price as well as an ability to experience professional theater without having to drive to the Twin Cities metro area. This outcome will be evaluated in a couple of ways. One form will be audience comments (on comment cards and website) as well as their perceived satisfaction through observation. We understand the latter is highly subjective so we decided to offer audience members a discount on tickets for the Wedding Singer show later in the summer. Using their ticket stub audience members can purchase tickets during intermission or immediately following the performance they are attending. We feel this would be an indicator of the audience members’ enjoyment of the production -- so much so they will feel it is worth an additional monetary cost to them to attend another production staged by the same company. We are always open to suggestions on how to evaluate a live theatre production and would welcome feedback. Outcome two - Members of the Rooftop Theatre board have all had considerable experience with staging theater productions and realize the precariousness of making budget. This is why we include this as a goal and understand that breaking even is not only based upon corralling expenses while still providing a professional production, but also about attendance. Some may think the expected attendance to be ambitious. After discussion with Laurie Johnson, Paramount Theatre's performing arts director, as well as an examination of attendance numbers for two other large-scale musicals at the Paramount Theatre (Chicago [2,450+ for five performances] and Full Monty [1500+ for three performances]), the expected audience members is ambitious but, we don't think, overly ambitious. It is important to note that Chicago had 890 students/seniors (only way it is broken down) and Full Monty had 315 students/seniors in attendance. Therefore the evaluation plan will be the actual number of audience members who actually see the performances.