Monday, June 22, 2009

Creative Arts Theatre & School in Arlington undergoing organization changes

By Pegasus News wire

Creative Arts Theatre & School has begun a wave of changes to create an organization that can survive and thrive in the economic downturn and build for a brighter future for the coming recovery.

Staff changes include layoffs of a number of long-term staff personnel, as well as reduction in staff hours. The goal is to continue the tradition of summer classes and workshops while the board re-tools the organization for Fall. And the building has been put on the market for possible buyers or leasers.

"CATS would not exist if these people had not acted on their strong vision years ago," stated Charlie Bowles, board president and acting executive director. "And it would not have persisted through 30 years of economic change if they had not kept the vision alive all those years. The tradition of teaching stage skills remains strong."

"It's important to give children a practical hands-on experience of how to communicate on-stage, and the opportunity to shine," says Kim Howard, director of education. "We want our students to be comfortable on-stage, in front of audiences, as well as in front of their peers.

The organization has two primary missions: First, we develop the potential of young people from diverse backgrounds through performing arts training and performance opportunities. Second, CATS is devoted to enriching and inspiring youth by igniting within them an enduring passion for the arts. CATS offers classes and workshops year-around to youth through age 18 in the triple-threat skills of acting, musical theater, and dance -- skills required to participate in theater arts as college students or professionals. But, CATS provides an even more important skill to children who take classes: a self-confidence in communicating and expressing their ideas to peers, teachers, and audiences of all sizes.

Howard adds, "Whether a child goes on to a theater career or not, CATS has succeeded when a child moves into the world with confidence and the skills to tell their story."

CATS has trained over 12,000 children to be comfortable on-stage, many of whom have acted in front of over 250,000 people who saw their shows. Most of those audiences were children seeing live theater.

One feature of CATS is unique to community theater schools. "CATS always uses our kids as actors and tech crew in our shows," reported Kathey Ward, CATS artistic director. "We use a few adult actors who act to support our kids on-stage, but kids do most of the roles and crew work in most of the productions. Our kids get lots of opportunity to practice their skills. It's the thing that most parents claim as the main reason for choosing CATS."

The economic downturn has hit arts and theater communities hard and CATS is no exception. Years of strong economic conditions, with large donations, sponsorships, and grants have given way to sparse funding opportunities in smaller amounts for more-focused projects. But costs for buildings, staff and operating expenses grow unchecked. CATS had to face the reality that it must cut costs to continue its 30-year tradition of providing theater arts training to the youth.

"We've had to separate CATS from our building and put it up for sale," cites Bowles. "And we've had to separate some key people who made this vision work, people who gave their hearts and souls to the vision. But the CATS tradition can thrive in any location if we sell the building. The tradition is the vision and the children."

CATS will release its educational schedule and 31st year of children's theater productions by the end of June. And the Fall 2009 programs will roll-back prices and make changes to the schedules to allow more children to experience the excitement of live theater.

Source: Creative Arts Theatre & School

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