Reestablishing a Theatre Arts Program
Presented by
For The Good, Inc.
in association with the
Stanley Center for the Arts
A Proposal to
Interested parties
Columnist Tim Chavez, Utica Observer Dispatch
For The Good, Inc., in association with the new Stanley Center for the Arts, will produce an original musical, The Wonderful Wizard of Was, August 22-23, at the Stanley. This revival, originally mounted to both critical and popular acclaim in the mid-1990s, will be the first summer production in the new Theatre Arts Program, developing acting and technical skills through performance with 100 children, teens and adults which will provide the basis of skills for future productions. In addition to the development of life and work skills, the Theatre Arts Program will benefit the greater Utica community with a summer project that will begin to restore a presently vacant and historic landmark building, take dozens of kids off the streets, and generate a positive feeling about the possibilities of diverse community members working together.
This production will be the first in a Summer Theatre Arts Program to be reestablished by For The Good after a decade’s hiatus, to make greater community use of the renovated and expanded Stanley and bring the abandoned New Century Club building back into useful operation.
The New Century Club building is a main feature on Genesee Street in downtown Utica. The cornerstone was laid in 1826. It is on the Historic Preservation National Registry. There exists in it an auditorium style theatre and ample space in which to develop this program while restoring a literal cornerstone of the community. This building must continue to be rehabilitated as its importance to the recovery of the downtown area is crucial.
For The Good requests a sponsorship of donation at the Ruby Slippers level, in the amount of $25,000 for the new production of The Wonderful Wizard of Was, and the establishment of the Theatre Arts Program at the New Century Club building.
The Utica area is presented with a great opportunity and a need. The present state of the local economy for inner city dwellers is and has been bleak for some time. Thirty one percent of residents over 18 in census tract 215 never graduated from high school. Unemployment for Black men in this urban center has been estimated to be as high as 40%. This evaluation was made prior to the economic recession the nation is currently experiencing. The single high school in the city has a large number of low-income families and provides over 57.5% of the students with a free or reduced lunch. This assessment of the economic situation of the city is a singular perspective. The vibrancy, energy and talent in the area is, and always has been, remarkable.
The spectacularly renovated Stanley Center for the Arts is an unparalleled resource for any community in upstate New York. In this proposal we intend to develop the potential and capacity in our very talented community to drive a new industry in the theatre arts on the stage and behind it. This will be accomplished by the work of experienced career professionals in the field developing skills and literally role modeling for participants in the program.
The Stanley Center for the Arts management and Board are committed to involving the community in the use of the Center, which requires development of community members with the skill sets needed to work with the new center. For The Good was organized to foster community development in the city of Utica, and in particular, positive youth development, life skills, employment, wellness, culture, the arts and education. President and CEO Cassandra Harris-Lockwood of For The Good, was the last Executive Director of predecessor organization, Corn Hill People United. During her tenure there she wrote the original version of the Wonderful Wizard of Was while she developed a theatre arts program that, for three years in the mid-1990s, presented a critically successful and popular production involving over 200 kids, teens and adults in all aspects of performance and technical theatre.
The time is right for the Stanley Center for the Arts and For The Good to revive the Theatre Arts Program with this summer production and expand the program over the next three years to build strong competency-based skills development in set design and construction, costuming, makeup, sound, lights and technical backstage jobs as well as acting, singing and dancing. The first production, planned for summer 2008, is the revival of the 1990s success The Wonderful Wizard of Was. New productions of WWW will be mounted in each of the following two summers, while other productions will be developed and added to the program, for performance in winter months and to follow WWW as the featured summer production. In addition to use of the Stanley, For The Good will have developed skills in a diverse community population that can be used in other venues in central New York, including the Turning Stone the Glimmerglass Opera and summer festivals that occur in the region.
At its most basic, this program will actively engage young people in a positive, intensive work/play experience throughout the summer, taking them off the street, giving purpose and structure to their school break and send them returning to school with a sense of accomplishment and achievement.
The Planned Project for Summer 2008
For the Good will produce, in association with the Stanley Performing Arts Center and the City of Utica, The Wonderful Wizard of Was August 22, 23 and 24 at the newly remodeled Stanley Center For The Arts.
The Wonderful Wizard of Was will involve over 100 kids, teens and adults who would have little productive options to be engaged in during the summer. Written by Cassandra Harris-Lockwood, and Directed by T.K Howard, this parody of Chittenango native Frank Baum’s children’s classic features the best songs from the Wiz and the best songs from the Wizard of Oz where Dorothy comes from Utica. Dorothy, who prefers to be called D.J., confronts the Wicked Witch of West Street who wants to grab her “magic cap of red” to go with her own ruby slippers and complete her awesome power. DJ is aided by the Mohawk Medicine Man, whose mother is of the Haudenoshonee or Iroquois people, who are native to the Mohawk Valley. With an urban theme of challenge in the streets, The Tornado is Corn Hill, Utica’s ghetto. DJ and her friends find that working together for the greater good and from their innermost selves is the answer to their problems.
For The Good, Inc., founded in 2002, is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) New York corporation organized to foster community development in the city of Utica; and, in particular, positive youth development, life skills, employment, wellness, culture, the arts and education with special emphasis on peace and justice and the city’s low-income residents and their neighborhoods. For The Good seeks to serve as an integrator of services within the community, partnering rather than competing with other organizations within the community.
Examples of current programs of For The Good that support its Mission include:
• The Study Buddy Club — In conjunction with Hamilton College two Saturdays a month and Utica College Students on alternate weekends, at-risk, inner city middle and high school students are either bused to the Hill or meet their tutors at the inner city MLK elementary school. We provide a nutritious lunch at the main dining hall. Then they are tutored in the subject of their greatest need and enjoy an afternoon of cultural enrichment and mentoring by high achieving college students. It is an outstanding program providing service learning for Hamilton students and irreplaceable academic support for our inner city youth. From its inception in 2002, Study Buddy Club has involved hundreds of male and female students, black, white, Latino and Native American with most students finishing high school and many continuing into post-high school education programs. On any given Saturday afternoon during the school year the Study Buddy Club is the only place where a critical mass of inner city youth are focused on improving their grades and have the support they require to do so. The program is supported in part by Hamilton College.
• Mohawk Valley Contractors' Guild -This construction company incubator makes micro-loans to
tradesmen for needed insurance and worker's compensation so that they can become contractors and bid on major jobs. In exchange for keeping Guild members' books, doing their payroll and other office work, the Guild receives 5% of any given job. Job creation, accumulation of assets for the working poor in order to overcome poverty and infrastructure improvement are all benefits of this program. MVCG is supported in part by an annual appropriation from the New York State Department of Labor. Since 2005 the MVCG has initiated numerous projects ranging from replacing windows and sidewalks to the recent completion of the Qwikee Carwash on Commercial Drive in Utica. The Guild program has created over $1.5 million in gross sales, and employed over 154 minority tradesmen and contractors and 20 additional subcontractors over the past three years.
• The Utica Phoenix — IN its sixth year of publication the Phoenix is a content rich, free newsmagazine which offers well written in-depth articles. It is progressive, multi-cultural, bi-lingual en Espanol, environmentally conscious, alternative health centered, ecumenical, and agriculturally connected. Each month 11,000 copies are printed, distributed throughout the greater Utica and Herkimer areas to a diverse readership.
• King of Kings Basketball League — An anti-gang violence program for men and women athletes, this is an intergenerational league that engages hundreds of community residents every week as spectators as well as ball players, halftime performers and vendors. King of Kings uses basketball for recruitment to provide programming including educational advancement, life skills, job skills and voter registration.
• Urban Cooperative Garden (first season) - Local attorney and benefactor Richard Pertz's, concern for low income inner city residents surviving the impending oil crisis prompted his gift to FTG to create the garden. A grid of 44, 4'x 16'x 16" boxes creates this raised bed system of urban gardening. Working in conjunction with the City of Utica and the Resource Center for Refugees, this system of sustainable farming uses surplus from the country, composted horse manure, old hay and feed bags, to establish this model cooperative garden. Shares are established and are traded by partners with either work or money in exchange for fresh produce.
Key Personnel of the Wonderful Wizard of Was
Director - T.K. Howard
Associate Producer - Doris Yager
Choreographer - Ondrea Grippe-Getz
Set Design - Peter Rashford
Rehearsal Pianist - Andrew Siuta
Budget
The budget for the first production of The Wonderful Wizard of Was is available upon request. Including the start-up costs of preparing rehearsal and production space in the former New Century Club as well as direct production costs and rental of the Stanley, the total project budget is $87,600, Of this expense a portion of the recent generous gift of Academy Award winning actor Adrien Brody is being utilized for start up costs. The City of Utica through in-kind contributions of space and building development is estimated to be at $50,000. Based on joint promotion of the production by the Stanley and For The Good, gross potential ticket sales revenue for three performances is projected to be $ 131,445. Minimal attendance to break even is 3,630 persons for all three performances. The house seats 2,921. Group sales ticket are all ready underway in office and the Stanley Center for the Arts will advance needed revenues for advertising and marketing.
The balance of the total project cost of $87,600 must be raised to ensure that the 2008 revival of The Wonderful Wizard of' Was is a financial success. It will then be assured a source of pride to the community, an exciting first community based production for the Stanley, and a benefit to the 100 young people and adults who will gain skills first-hand, and will serve as the base for subsequent productions of the Summer Theatre Arts Program.
Ruby Slippers Sponsorship - $25,000
Diamond Slippers Sponsorship - $15,000
Sapphire Slippers Sponsorship - $10,000
Emerald Slippers Sponsorship - $5,000
Yellow Brick Sponsorship - $1,000
Your financial help will make summer 2008 a summer to remember for these young people, launch a progressive and for the greater Utica community.
Addenda
1. Budget upon request
Sponsor benefits to be agreed upon by both parties includes various combinations of your company name as “Sponsored by…” or “Presented by…” used in all advertising and promotion placed by the Stanley Center for the Arts and related issues of the Utica Phoenix, Opening Night Red Carpet treatment, complimentary tickets to each performance plus any and all theatre parties.
The highest benefactor of the Wonderful Wizard of Was will receive inclusion of your company’s name in the body of the dialogue as the place where Momma finally gets a “decent job.”