THE GOOD DOCTOR theater production at Woodstock Town Hall Theatre
Project Overview
BarnArts is bringing community theater to the Woodstock Town Hall Theater with a production of Neal Simon's THE GOOD DOCTOR in March. The production will include 6 performances, March 17-26.
Grant Request
2000
Total Project Budget
11,450
Applicant Information
Name of Applicant / Organization / Business
BarnArts Center for the Arts
Mailing Address
PO Box 41, Barnard, Vermont 05031
Name of Project Coordinator
Linda Treash
Contact's Email Address
BarnArts Good Doctor Budget
Telephone
802-558-5354
Organization's Website URL
EIN
45-5447535
Applicatant / Organizational Description
BarnArts is a community-based arts organization whose mission is to engage and inspire the local community through a year-round program of musical performances, community theater, school workshops, and community events supporting both the existing and developing talents of local adults and children as well as nationally and internationally recognized artists.
Our annual programming includes four community theater productions, a Summer Youth Theater camp, multiple arts-in-education workshops with visiting musicians to area schools and community centers, a 20-week outdoor music series on a cooperative farm featuring local, regional, and international talent, and various community music events.
If you are applying on behalf of an organization, what is your total organizational budget?
$258,326
Project Information
Detailed Project Description
BarnArts production of THE GOOD DOCTOR in Woodstock includes a flexible “black box” approach to using the Town Hall Theatre, allowing us to provide an intimate and rewarding theater experience while keeping tech costs down and making it feasible to produce a straight (non-musical) play in the theater. The play and audience will all be up on the stage together, with acting happening directly in front of and within the seating area (often part of “black box” theater). It’s been more than a few decades since the last time the theater was used for a straight play, but the history of community theater in Woodstock dates back to the creation of the theater in 1900, and we are excited to bring it back for our community. The play is being performed by a collective of 8 local actors/directors, all of whom are both directing and acting in the play, a series of short stories based on the works of Anton Chekov. Chekov wrote the stories in the 1890s, Neal Simon adapted them in 1973 and BarnArts actor/directors are interpreting for 2023. In keeping with our community-focused style, ticket prices will be kept to $20/adults, $15/students and we anticipate seating for approx 85-100 on the stage.
Project Timeline
We have just finished our casting and director assignments and are beginning rehearsals. We are rehearsing some at the Woodstock Town Hall Theatre but mostly in other, smaller locations, since most scenes only include 2-3 actors.
Thursday, March 9th: Tech move-in to the Woodstock Town Hall Theatre
Saturday, March 11th-Thursday, March 16th: Tech Week and Dress Rehearsals
Six Performances: Fri, Sat & Sun, March 17-19 & 24-26
Project Champion
This is a BarnArts production and it is being led and championed by BarnArts Executive Director, Linda Treash. Linda has been the head of BarnArts since 2015. She will be the Producer of the play, and she is also participating as one of the actor/directors.
Working closely with Linda is Cliff Johnson of Woodstock, who is the project's Creative Director, as well as another of the actor/directors.
The other actors/directors include a diverse group: two are new to BarnArts, one has been working with BarnArts for years and the others have worked with BarnArts before, but just once or twice. The result is a dynamic group of individuals, learning about the show and each other, and working together with the goal of bringing great theater to the community.
Project Budget Narrative
The grant funds will greatly help this project succeed. While we can not guarantee the success of any particular production, we do know that attendance to all of BarnArts plays in the past six years has risen steadily. Our budget is based on an average of 65 tickets sold per show, which is a conservative estimate based on our past experience.
Large expenses include a $1000 fee to use the theater, $988 in script and royalty expenses and staff expenses estimated to be $6600.
A full budget is attached.
Project Budget - Itemized
Income Category
Total
Applicant
EDC
Other
In-Kind
Ticket Sales
7600
7600
Sponsors/Advertising/Concessions
1200
1200
Contributions
150
150
Grants
2500
2000
500
Expense Category
Total
Applicant
EDC
Other
In-Kind
Staff
6600
Supplies/Costumes/Printing
2700
Space Rental
1000
Scripts/Royalties
988
What will success look like?
Our primary goals are to stage live theater that inspires the local community and also provides a fulfilling artistic experience for the participants. A bonus goal is using the Woodstock Town Hall Theatre with a "Black Box" approach that allows creative and affordable use of the stage, and may be repeated by ourselves in subsequent years and may work as a model for other arts organizations or theater troupes.
We will know we have achieved our goals when we know our ticket sales, receive feedback from our audience, and succeed as an ensemble of performers.
Community support for this project
This project has the support of the BarnArts board as well as the participants. We also have support of Pentangle, who is collaborating with us to make this project work within the Town Hall Theatre.
We look forward to creating general public support through media promotion. We have already begun social media PR, and we will be sending out a press release in February to local & regional papers that will invite reviewers from The Vermont Standard, Seven Days & the Time Argus/Rutland Herald to attend our opening night. We will also send out press releases with production photos closer to the event as well as distribute show posters throughout the area, further spreading the word on our show and info on purchasing tickets. We are also members of the Woodstock Chamber and will utilize its services supporting promotion.
This is also the time of year that we solicit advertising for our programs, which gives us further opportunity to share about the production. We will actively seek advertising support from Woodstock merchants and accommodations who would be interested in this production being staged in Woodstock and part of the local offerings of the village.
Community support for this project
BarnArts is in its 12th year as a nonprofit and our budget has more than doubled since 2017. We have been producing community theater four times a year for most of those 12 years. While some of our events have larger funding sources or generate higher ticket sales than community theater, we continue to be dedicated to the collaborative & expressive art of live theater. It is the cornerstone of who we are and what we believe in.
Here is a quote from one of our actors:
"BarnArts is an incredible collective of people who join together to grow as artists and people. I have formed a life in the Upper Valley through this group and the amazing community it creates. BarnArts has also expanded my artistic skills tenfold with numerous opportunities to be a part of all aspects of the theatre community- Acting, Directing, Stage Management, Dance, Set Painting and Theatre Education! It really feels like BarnArts prioritizes the betterment of the individual and the group to make each production the best it can be, not the other way around like so many other companies. That's what makes BarnArts so special."
Jill Clough, actor/director/stage manager (Five Women, Streetcar, Midsummer)
We continue to grow in our fundraising capacity to match our expanding organization. We have secured operations grants from New England Foundation for the Arts, New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, Byrne Foundation, and Couch Family Foundation. These operations grants give great stability to our organization, but we still rely on community support for specific projects. Our Race Around the Lake 5K/10K fundraiser supports our Youth Programming and we have private donors, sponsorship, ticket sales and project grants to further support all our events. In past years we have received project-specific grants from Vermont Charitable Foundation, Windham Foundation, New England Foundation for the Arts, George Mergens Foundation and Vermont Arts Council.
BarnArts does not have our own theater, which allows us to be flexible and create new experiences for our actors and audience, but it does create varying costs as each location comes with unique demands and expenses. Our hope is to garner success with this project and be able to return to the Woodstock Town Hall Theatre with the black box approach with some regularity. It may also inspire other community theater groups to try a similar approach in Woodstock or other towns, and we welcome such endeavors!
BarnArts Good Doctor Budget
