About This Project
My name is Rich Wexler. I am the executive director and founder of Project Arts. We need your help. Our main mission is to provide professional theater experiences for teens who don't have access to theater, music, or the arts. We work in a unique manner in which we provide thorough education and training in a variety of theater and performance skills. We do this through a multidisciplinary educational process that includes workshops that focus on teaching skills, group dynamic activities, vocal and acting training, and multiple performances to give our cast a realistic experience of theater. Our casting process targets LGBT teens, students of various socioeconomic backgrounds, and diversity in culture.
Project Arts chooses alternative musicals that deal with social justice issues and address those issues throughout our production. This gives our cast a unique understanding of their characters and the context of the show. Avenue Q, in fact, is a version of Sesame Street that delves into topics more relevant to adults.
We have completed three musicals in our seven years of existence. We are currently producing "Avenue Q School Edition" at The Rotunda. The experiences of the kids who were in our last production, "Rent School Edition" were life-changing. The experience changed my life profoundly as well: I witnessed the teens hard at work, spending hours learning and rehearsing and, as a result, performing at a professional level.
Inspired by Rent's success, I completed graduate school at Drexel University with a Master's of Education and a certificate in Special Education so that I could run Project Arts as a teaching professional and offer additional opportunities for youth. I also worked for Spiral Q Puppet Theater and performed independently as a puppeteer. Hence, upon graduation, I decided to begin a third production.
We need enormous support for this endeavor. Massive budget cuts to schools in the Philadelphia region eliminated arts programs. Even the High School for Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA) almost canceled their yearly musical due to lack of funds. This is why our program is essential and we're seeking your financial support.
Please give if you can. A contribution of even $5 would help us a great deal.
How you can help us and what the money will be used for
Our minimum goal is to raise $5,000. If we exceed this amount, however, it will further support our endeavor. We have a budget of $21,000 dollars. This may sound like a lot of money, but for a show of this magnitude it covers only the basics. We have costs for a full set, puppet rentals, rights for the performance, and hiring professional teachers for our workshops. (Here is a link to our wonderful staff:
http://projectarts.info/aboutstaff.html).
We believe in paying our employees a fair wage, because mostly people in theater work for free or very little money. Working in this manner would make our theater company sustainable for our employees. We have additional expenses that include promotions, posters, playbills, etc. Anything you can contribute would facilitate us in giving our cast a life-changing experience and prepare them for a future in the arts. They perform seven shows and work intensely for eight weeks.
Here is a general breakdown of our costs. We were able to get half from grants from our partner organization The Rotunda. But that only covers half the budget.
(for the rest of the major costs)
Stage - $1500 (we got a professional stage donated by Mazeppa productions who put on Avenue Q last year) We just need to hire a team to put it together.
Puppet Rental - $1,300
Mic Rental - $2,200
Pay for Employees - $4,000
Posters/Programs -$500
Perks - We have great perks to offer you. We have a silk screened original poster made by Box Brown, who is a very well known comic artist in the United States working out of Philly www.boxbrown.com We also are offering free tickets, advertising space in all our promotions, dinners with the staff, and invite to cast party!
The Impact Of The Project
I invite you to watch clips from our last production to illustrate the impact and quality of our projects. Our educational process, theatrical process, and social justice training make this a life-changing experience for our teens. We also are one of the only theater companies in Philadelphia that works with such a diverse cast. We work with LGBT teens, teens of all races, teens of varying socioeconomic backgrounds, as well as teens that our new to performing. Avenue Q will have the same impact with your support.
Other Ways You Can HelpIf you can't afford to give anything we understand. Instead please spread the word on our theater company. Here are our various links.
Facebook Group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/775969642432114/
Facebook Fan Page
https://www.facebook.com/RichVJYakovWexler
Twitter
https://twitter.com/Projectheater
Ticket site
http://projectartsavenueqschooledition.bpt.me/
Video fundraiser link
http://youtu.be/525Ff-xsT3M
Indiegogo Page
http://tinyurl.com/nvnew2f
Ticket Sales page
http://projectartsavenueqschooledition.bpt.me/
Website
www.projectarts.info
