Theatre December Newsletter
12-15-21
Fundraising
MOD Pizza Fundraiser
Remember: We all need to eat anyway, so we might as well let the money we spend on our dinners come back to support your students' activity and hobby for zero additional money or effort! Easy-peasy!
Concessions Stand Work
The two events we have are below with the $ marking how much potential money we could raise for the department at these events:
- Thursday, January 13- Girl's Basketball Tournament ($$)
- Friday, February 4- Wrestling Districts Tournament ($$$)
Times will be coming out later, but right now they are both anticipated starting at 3:00 PM, so we will need some help especially with starting the concessions stands on these days. Again, Ms. ElAttar and I will help and work, but we won't be able to cover it all at these events, so we will need parents to help. Keep your eyes and ears open for when these dates get closer to sign up for shifts.
These events have helped us afford trophies and awards for the banquet in May, and also the department scholarships to be presented at the banquet in May. Your help is vital! Last time we worked a full day concessions event, we earned almost $1000 for the program, so it does help!
SAVERS FUNDrive!
Please remember that soft goods (clothing, shoes, handbags/purses, bedding, curtains, etc.) should be in trash bags, and that all hard goods (books, knickknacks, chachkis, DVDs, old toys, home decor, etc.) should all be in boxes for donation. This will help them weigh everything out and let us know how much we will earn from this drive, officially. They will give a very rough estimate when we drop things off, but I will hear an official number in the coming weeks.
On Saturday, December 18th, the Thespian Board will be meeting Ashpaugh at OPHS at 8:15 AM to gather all of the donation items and load them into vehicles and bring it over to SAVERS (Barry Rd, next to Joann), and drop off all donations at 9:00 AM. We could use additional volunteers with muscles and vehicles to help get things transferred to SAVERS this morning.
Panera Food Day Fundraiser!
I know it is right after the New Year and at the start of diet season, but for the support of your student, please hold off a week on that diet! Come get bagels and cream cheese for work that morning!
Thank you in advance!
Philanthropy
Children's Mercy Toy Drive
We will continue to collect toys through the end of this week, and on Saturday morning after we drop off items at SAVERS, I will take the Thespian Board with me to Children's Mercy Hospital to deliver the toys. We are assigned the 11:00 AM slot, so it will be right after we finish up work at SAVERS.
Adopt-A-Family
We will collect donations through Friday this week. Please send gift cards in with your student to help make someone's holiday season a little bit brighter! We want to help provide gifts for these families through gift card shopping at various locations. In addition, I will be donating a $100+ gift card for the family to get a nice meal for the holiday season.
Performances
Hotline
Below is a picture of Izzy Christus with her cast: Hannah Butts (red), Izzy Christus (yellow), Emily Hermes (green), and Zen Langley (blue).
Improv Show
You may bring in SAVERS donations to receive concessions coupons, $5+ toy for CMH for 1 admission, or a $25+ gift card for Adopt-A-Family and receive 2 admissions to the show!
TFAC- The Wake of Jamey Foster
This year's charity has not yet been decided, but we do have a few that are being considered. We are leaning towards grief counseling in someway shape or form. As we all have experienced, and this play shows us, grief comes in many different forms and stages.
Theatre IV Senior, Hannah Butts, is directing the production and is very excited to produce this show. We honestly believe that you all will have a great time at this show and able to have both tears and belly laughs along the way. Cast/crew head list is below!
Spring Play- Sabrina Fair
Tuesday, January 4- Auditions (1 1/2-2 minute long romantic or comedic monologue)
Wednesday, January 5- Callbacks (cold reads)
Thursday, January 6- Cast/Crew Head Lists Posted (Panera food day!)
Friday, January 7- Mandatory Read Through
Audition applications and crew head applications are available online through the theatre department website on both the applications page and Sabrina Fair page! The rehearsal schedule is attached to the applications and also available on the Sabrina Fair show page. The character list and descriptions will also be available on the Sabrina Fair page, AND it is attached to the audition application for the show.
Events & Meetings
Theatre Holiday Party
For the White Elephant gift exchange, we are asking students to bring in something of theirs that they no longer need and to regift to someone blindly. The only parameters are that the items remain usable (no trash or sharing hygiene products), and keeping the items school appropriate.
Improv will still be practicing from 3-4 in the main auditorium, and management interviews for Sabrina Fair will be conducted during the event.
Second Semester Parent Meeting
Thespian Conference
Full details will come out after break. This information will be sent home in early January, but we will meet after the Parent Meeting on January 11 to go over the details for Thespian Conference.
Holiday Joy
Thank you
As we see COVID protocols beginning to lift, I ask that everyone do their absolute best to remain cautious and healthy. This will ensure that you, your student, and your loved ones can stay as safe and healthy as possible. Remember that as things change, we need to stay cognizant of what we are doing and how we are navigating this transition back to normalcy.
Thank you all for your support of the arts in education and your student participating in the performing arts here at Oak Park. We have a long way to go, but we are all growing and developing into stronger individuals and paving the way for the future classes to enter and come through Oak Park Theatre. We will have a strong future together as long as we work together. Thank you!
Email: matthew.ashpaugh@nkcschools.org
Website: www.oakparktheatre.org
Location: 825 Northeast 79th Terrace, Kansas City, MO, USA
Phone: (816) 413-3777
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/optheatredept
Twitter: @NorthmenTheatre