The Official My-School's-Theater-Program-Is-SERIOUSLY-Underfunded Thread

[Cruel_Sandwich]

Posted: 12/8/05 at 6:35pm

Anyone else in an underfunded theater program?

[Musical_nerd]

Posted: 12/8/05 at 6:41pm

Be happy you GET a theater program.

[Marlene]

Posted: 12/8/05 at 6:42pm

How about my school's lack of a theater program? And our underfunded productions?

[Plum]

Posted: 12/8/05 at 6:48pm

Can you shorten the topic name? I'm working on a small monitor here. Sorry.

And the arts are always the first thing to go when governments are feeling the pinch.

[Mythus]

Posted: 12/8/05 at 6:58pm

Represent! We've got NO money. Every single theatre classe was cut and the drama teacher left to get married. The entire - and I mean the entire drama club is student-run. We've got absolutely no money. It's kind of sad.

[One Song Glory]

Posted: 12/8/05 at 8:15pm

The theater in our school sucks. It's too small.

[walkingthroughfire13]

Posted: 12/8/05 at 8:18pm

MY school doesn't even have a theatre. We have no theatre and our program sux. We never find out about the competitions in time. The only good thing is our musical, and that's because of the directors.

Posted: 12/9/05 at 12:59am

Yea they cut our budget hella this year! It sucks!!!!!

[arykahmarye]

Posted: 12/13/05 at 12:55am

My Theatre Club is finally getting new curtains this year after at least 5 years of giant rips and holes the audience could see through. You could drive a Hummer through these things and they wouldn't catch on the vehicle. It was disgusting and embarassing.

Of course the only reason we're getting new ones is i accidently ripped one down in our closing performance last year. I consider it well worth it.

[hot_brdwy_diva]

Posted: 12/13/05 at 12:33pm

Why don't you guys get all the theatre people together and do a fund raiser?

My HS always did tons a fund raisers. Like when we did Charlie and the Chocolate Factory... we sold candy bars but we put our own wrappers on them... and in 5 we placed "Golden Tickets" When you bought a candy bar... you also bought a chance to win a prize... that is if you had the golden ticket.

During Christmas time we have breakfast with santa. This is a large scale thing to do but always made us most of our money. It would be two mornings and man did tickets sell fast. In the cafeteria they would serve pancakes sausage...etc. (we weren't allowed to do it in the theatre lobby per the fire marshall.) 12 of us would dress up as the reindeer and dance to Rudolph as someone dressed as a reindeer with a big red clown nose ran around like crazy. So then we always came up with something to get the kids from the cafeteria to the lobby where santa would be. (Holiday Train...) After everyone is done with Santa they go into the Theatre where we would put on a kids-oriented show. The students usually make up a show using children characters. One year it was Charlie Brown and Snoopy's Christmas... another year is was Blue's Clues Christmas(all the character's were blacklight painted on slim wood boards that are easy to carry.) it looks so magical. Just like a cartoon in front of your eyes! Blacklight is awesome.(PM me if you want to know more)

We also had paper placemats printed where businesses would pay to have their ad on it.

They always finish it with a living manger scene while silent night is sung. Breakfast with Santa was always HUGE at our school.

Advertising for businesses in the show pamphlets helps raise money. We had a Patron thing in all our programs. Gold patrons, Silver Patrons and Bronze Patrons. I forget how much they were for each list but lots of businesses went in for it. (I think it was Gold- Above $100 Silver- Above $50 and Bronze - Below $50) The list was always on the very last page with a thank you note for their support.

See, you just have to get the community involved!

Updated On: 12/13/05 at 12:33 PM

[PB ENT.]

Posted: 12/17/05 at 7:49pm

I Can Help!
Here's a fundraiser that I put together for one Eastern Performing Arts program http://www.easternpac.com this past Sept. It was a first time for this town and it was a HUGE success!

Host a "Taste of the Towns" evening at the lobby or cafeteria of your school.

You will need some modest sponsorship monies (about $1,000- $1,500 should cover everything including a small amount of advertising). Go after local businesses, banks, town officials, school connections. Take this to a school committee for help. Get adult and student volunteers and allow a 4-6 week set up.

1. Invite 10 local restaurants (more if you have the room) to present their best cuisine for an evening of sampling. Tues/Wed. are the best nights (trust me).

Restaurants provide: food, staff ( 1 or 2), sterno for warm foods, plates, napkins, menus, brochures, discount coupons (We were turning down restaurants that wanted to participate!)

School provides: Two 6 ft. tables (1 to present, 1 to set up) for each restaurant (a white table cloth for each.)
School provides: covered dinning tables to sit at. (school cafeteria tables are fine for both).

School provides: drinks, (juice fountains are best, with some bottled water also).

Our Expenses: Table cloths $50 (white cloth for presenting restaurants) $40 plastic disposables (for dinning tables).
Centerpieces: fresh fruit or gords for each table $50.
Juice fountains: (2) $80 (bottled water was donated as was gift cert. from local market for juice ingredients. We also invited a local gourmet coffee shop as a restaurant, as well as two gourmet bakeries)

Advertising: about $1,000 for newspapers. We papered the town with about 12,000 school made fliers!

Two Florists donated beautiful flowers both on floor stands and two for the fountain tables.

Entertaiment optional(we did a live radio show broadcast $400)...or you can display artwork and or talent from the school. Hire an MC local or celebrity if you can afford it.

*optional. Do a raffle! (Get a license) approach about 10 local businesses (diners, retail stores, beauty shops, sports stores, movie theater,etc.) We made $1000 just in raffle tickets!

Our "Taste of the Towns" got rave reviews from the restaurants and the community. We raised over $3,000.00 clear profit. Everyone is waiting the next one in 2006!

If you are interested in any further details about the set-up, please e-mail me. This is lot of work but proved to be a win/win event.

Pati b.
PB Entertainment
[e-mail]

Updated On: 12/17/05 at 07:49 PM

[Taryn2]

Posted: 12/18/05 at 12:57am

After U.I.L. competition last year, and seeing other school's P.A.C.'s, I am so grateful for what we have at my school. it's new, and beautiful, and while our actual theatre area is amazing, we get next to nothing as a budget. we're expected to put on two plays, a musical, and enter in U.I.L. every year and we get a $1000 a year to do it all. we fundraise...alot. My theatre teacher is always going on about when she used to work in Los Fresnos, California she got an $80,000 a year budget. (I wonder why on earth she left!)They were going to hire her an assistant this year, but then backed out and said it would cost too much. After All, all the basketball players have to have $200 shoes.

hot_brdwy_diva, That candy bar thing is brilliant. we're doing Charlie and the chocolate factory next year, and i'm so telling my director about this!

[Caroline-Q-or-TBoo]

Posted: 12/19/05 at 2:47pm

my school only does production when we have left over money from all, and i mean ALL, other departments. and we are in a money strapped school district. we haven't done a musical in 8 years

[dancing_through_life]

Posted: 12/22/05 at 4:26pm

Oh yeah not only are we underfunded, we don't get any support from our administration and student body. We have to schedule all of our performance dates a year in advanced to secure the fact we'll actually get to perform. So our lovely principal decided in october before our spring musical, which had been on his calendar since march, that he was going to schedule Prom the night of one of our shows. That pissed me off to no end but we made him change it after everyone had their parents call in. Our theatre and chorus teachers went and talked to him and told them basically to get over it or find us another place to have prom because everything else is booked. Yeah my school sucks