Art Project Grant
Art Project Grant
"Little Shop of Horrors" is the 2018 fall production of Borealis Bards, the community theatre troupe of Backus Community Center. This play will be the group's third annual full-length musical featuring an intergenerational cast.
Adam Guggemos: graphic designer, art events promoter; Michelle Ronning: jewelry designer and maker; Tara Makinen: Executive Director of Itasca Orchestra and Strings, musician; Moira Villiard: visual artist, Cultural Programming Coordinator at American Indian Community Housing Organization; Jeanne Doty: Retired Associate Professor UMD Music, pianist; Amber Burns: choreographer, dancer, actor, middle school art teacher; Margaret Holmes: visual artist, poet, and former Children's Theatre employee; Tammy Mattonen: visual artists, co-founder of Crescendo Youth Orchestra; Kayla Schubert: Native American craft artist, writer, employee at MacRostie Art Center; Ariana Daniel: mixed media artist, arts instructor; Emily Fasbender: student liaison, visual artist
Michelle Ronning: jewelry designer and maker; Tara Makinen: Executive Director of Itasca Orchestra and Strings, musician; Jeanne Doty: Retired Associate Professor UMD Music, pianist; Amber Burns: choreographer, dancer, actor, middle school art teacher; Margaret Holmes: visual artist, poet, and former Children's Theatre employee; Kayla Schubert: Native American craft artist, writer, employee at MacRostie Art Center; Ariana Daniel: mixed media artist, arts instructor
Arrowhead Regional Arts Council, Drew Digby (218) 722-0952
ACHF Arts Access ACHF Arts Education ACHF Cultural Heritage
Borealis Bards is producing a 2018 fall performance of ôLittle Shop of Horrorsö in effort to diversify our audience base, increase skills of the artistic community, continue the educational component of our program, and expand the types of genre of our productions. ôLittle Shopö is a less-than-classical play with a rock and roll based musical score to attract the 30-50 old age group. A seasoned actor, Raeanne Conat, will advance her dramatic skills by serving as a first-time director. New cast and crew members will be reached by advertising auditions in programs of our spring performances, social media, and recruiting rock-and-roll musicians, a change from previously used orchestra members. We will utilize box office income to determine if we increased attendance over previous productions. An audience survey and social media responses will gage satisfaction levels, quality of performance, and if we reached the desired age range. A participant survey will be distributed to all cast and crew to solicit response on their experience in the production and if they felt their skill level had an opportunity to expand and grow. Success in this area will also be measured by the number of new members gained, and those that return for our two spring 2019 performances. In addition, the production team, with focus on Ms. Conat and the new musicians, will be interviewed for their feedback.
Box office income measured whether or not attendance increased over previous productions. Income and ticket sales reflected a similar attendance level to the last full-length play (Anne of Green Gables) but a slight decrease from last year’s fall musical. We believe this decrease is due to the selection of production. Several troupe members commented they were not interested in performing in a ‘dark comedy’ and did not care for the storyline. We suspect previous audience members held the same opinion and chose not to attend this performance. A survey inserted in each play program measured the satisfaction levels of attendees. Eleven percent of audience members responded. All but three respondents commented on the high level of quality of the production. Comments from the other three included disappointment in the use of swear words and the level of violence within the script. Social media posts reflected a 100% satisfaction rate of the production. 29% of returned surveys identified themselves in the targeted age-range of 30-50. Five of these respondents attended their first Borealis Bards performance. The theatre troupe is very satisfied with this outcome. A post production cast and crew survey identified the development of several new skills. The lead actress shared the challenge she faced in developing an acceptable Brooklyn accent and maintaining that accent throughout the entire musical. Her goal was to use her own voice while staying true to the character’s stereotype. She felt it was a very large challenge she hadn’t faced performing roles in the past. Other new skills developed by cast and crew included increasing stage confidence, addressing time and stress management, and performing in the aisle. The musicians found the musical score challenging, but rewarding.
Other,local or private