By Ruben Fonseca | Development Associate
Thank you for supporting Oregon Children’s Theatre!
By supporting Oregon Children’s Theatre, you are strengthening our community one child at a time. Did you know that over 120,000 children experience OCT every year? Whether it’s through field trips, in-school programs, or our free Educational Theatre Program, OCT brings the value of arts learning from classroom to stage.
Through the generosity of our supporters, Oregon Children’s Theatre has been able to provide exceptional live theater experiences for thousands of young audience members. The 2014-2015 season is off to a great start. Building on the success of our first show of the season, Ivy + Bean: The Musical, OCT presented a co-commissioned musical adaptation of another popular children’s book, Skippyjon Jones. The Spanish language woven into the script connected with audiences as they followed Skippyjon on his inventive journey.
Following the adventures of Skippyjon Jones, OCT presented the misadventures of a kid detective in Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made. This hilarious world premiere production was adapted by Finegan Kruckmeyer from the popular book by Stephan Pastis.
On stage now is Schoolhouse Rock Live! This lively educational show features the toe-tapping songs of the classic Saturday morning cartoon series. Audiences of all ages have been singing along and dancing in their seats. This is grammar and civics lessons at their most fun!
As Schoolhouse Rock Live! continues to through April, we are also looking forward to the final show in our 2014-2015 season, Portland’s very own Ramona Quimby. Based on the beloved book series by Beverly Cleary, Ramona Quimby is a poignant story of a third grader who is imaginative, boisterous, at times even exasperating, but always fun.
Access to Live Theater
OCT continues to provide students from economically disadvantaged schools with ticket scholarships to ensure access that would not otherwise be possible. In the first three shows of our 2014-2015 season, 4,441 students received a full scholarship and 2,280 received partial scholarships. Here is what school and social services groups are saying about the value of attending our live shows:
"They loved the whole experience. I work in a very low-income school, and these kids don't get opportunities to go downtown, to go to an impressive theater, or to see live performances. They really were blown away by the whole experience."
"I've been attending OCT for many years. I love that you try new works and look for ideas from teachers and students for productions."
Ticket to Read: Linking Literacy to Live Theater.
To further our goal of encouraging reading and literacy, we have launched an annual initiative to provide a combination of books and tickets to students in conjunction with at least one production each year. Each $10 gift to this program will provide a ticket to an OCT show and a copy of the book from which the play is adapted to take home.
Oregon Children’s Theatre is proud to advocate a well rounded educational experience. From literacy, to creative thinking, to fostering imagination and expression, the power of live theater goes far beyond the stage. Theater has the ability to touch the hearts and minds of individuals in positive ways, which leads to a more thoughtful and compassionate society. OCT is incredibly appreciative of everyone who supports these efforts.
Thank you for the positive difference you are making in our community!
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