Park Square Theatre Company

Filing Period

Sep 1, 2010 to Aug 31, 2011

Signed

Apr 13, 2012

Return Version

2010v3.4

Gross Receipts

$3,083,663

Mission

Major Activities

Activity 2

Teen programming - for over 16 years park square has been offering life-changing theatre experiences for teens. Each year, we serve nearly 25,000 students from 280 schools with over 85 matinee performances. To serve the broadest possible range of schools and disciplines, park square offers 4-5 thought provoking productions each year that include both curriculum-based and new works deep in social content.park square's approach to students is mission-driven and authentic. For us, these young people are not a group sales target or part of an elite "outreach" project. They are an essential park square audience. They see exceptional shows filled with top talent. The program is carefully designed to be "an evening of theatre during the day," with dedicated staff, reserved seating, professional playbills, and the other amenities every audience deserves. Study guides (available free and online) are written by practicing teachers. Each guide includes background information for the classroom teacher, as well as discussion questions, and activities that can be copied and used directly by students. To invoke a deeper understanding and appreciation for performing arts, park square provides engaging educational teen offerings. Immersion day hands-on workshops in theater skills are taught by professional artists and designed specifically for students who have had little or no experience with theater. These students participate in 1-2 hands-on workshops with theatre artists, take a break for lunch, and return to see a performance. The professional artists who teach the workshops share their passion for the art of theater, illustrate theater as a collaborative art, and highlight the importance of preparation and interpretive choices. These days are designed to serve 20-150 students. We also collaborate with classroom teachers to customize the workshop and "build a moment" sessions to meet special curriculum needs.-build a moment workshops with designers and actors demonstrate how artists collaborate. Students witness a theatrical moment leap to life as actors and designers illustrate how the collaborative process works by showing a scene at different stages of production. This half-hour program combines presentation of design concepts, performance of theatrical moments by the actors and a question-and-answer period.we regularly provide discounts to low-income schools using the following formula: if a group contains a percentage (e.g. 20%) of students on the statewide free and reduced lunch program, we provide a matching percentage discount (e.g. 20%) beyond the already half-price tickets. We also offer our immersion day (mentioned above) to many schools for just the price of the performance. Despite increasing transportation costs and dwindling budgets, the value clients place in park square's student program has kept it playing to current capacity. Park square brings more teen audiences to downtown saint paul than the saint paul chamber orchestra, history theatre, or ordway's performing arts classroom.student program benefits:some learning can take place best outside the classroom, which is why teachers continue to demand theatre programming relevant to curricular needs, even though the logistics and expense of organizing a field trip can be challenging. Studies continue to emphasize the strong role arts participation plays in increasing key cognitive functions in the brain. Theatre in particular is a unique tool that can help teachers:-connect students to literature. Many teachers find that bringing the book or the script to life is the primary benefit they seek from theatre. Our core repertory (steinbeck's of mice and men, shakespeare's romeo & juliet, a midsummer night's dream, and the diary of anne frank), is directly tied to the reading lists of a majority of minnesota schools. In 2011, we introduced a new production of to kill a mockingbird and a world premiere adaptation of the ancient classic the odyssey. -inspire empathy. Literally "

Filer

EIN

41-1280683