by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
“People think that when you’re on stage, you can’t see the audience, but that’s not true. I can see their faces and when the kids start screaming when the show is about to begin it’s like being at a Britney Spears concert. It just gives me goosebumps.”
That’s how Toni Chadwell, director of rental operations at the Florida Theatre, described how she feels each time she welcomes an audience of school-age children to a Theatreworks presentation.
Since 1979, the not-for-profit Theatreworks has afforded students Pre-K - 12 the opportunity to experience live theatre, many for the first time in their lives. In addition to the Florida Theatre, productions are also staged at the University of North Florida’s Fine Arts Center, and the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind in St. Augustine as well as in auditoriums, cafeterias and gymnasiums at public and private schools in North Florida.
“We have mostly school field trip shows,” said Rita Kent, Theatreworks executive director. “We have such a good relationship with the Florida Theatre. It’s such a beautiful, historic venue and the kids are always enthralled. They say it’s like being in a castle.”
Kent said the organization’s current season includes 26 performances of 13 shows with an admission charge of $7 or less per student, plus a three-show series tailored for families and a free summer theatre series. Kent added the presentations are designed around an arts-in-education concept that includes, in addition to arts, academic skills from mathematics to history and creative writing. Students who attended the “Max & Ruby” show were given a program that included a fill-in-the-blanks to complete sentences exercise that could measure how well audience members paid attention to the plot line.
Last year, Theatreworks audiences totaled more than 88,000 children and their parents.
“And 38,000 of them were disadvantaged students who were able to attend free of charge thanks to the support of our sponsors,” said Kent.
Target sponsored the performances at the Florida Theatre and other season sponsors include Bank of America, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida, Citigroup, CSX Transportation, EverBank and others.
Chadwell pointed out Theatreworks audiences are a little different from the other crowds that come to the theatre. Getting 2,000 children in for a one-hour show and then out in time for another group to take their seats requires some special arrangements.
“There are a lot more logistics involved with these shows due to safety concerns with unloading the school buses. We work with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s office and with all the businesses along Forsyth Street to make sure everything runs smoothly,” she said, then added it’s worth it.
“Having Theatreworks here exposes the venue to the youngest generation.”
Kent agreed that what students see and hear in the theatre today will have an affect on their lives for years to come.
“We’re helping to develop the arts patrons and donors of the future,” she said.