Spokane Civic Theatre facts for kids

The Spokane Civic Theatre is a special place for live plays and shows in Spokane, Washington. It's a "non-profit" theatre, which means it uses any money it earns to put on more shows and help the community, not to make a profit for owners. Started in 1947, it's one of the oldest "community theatres" in the country. A community theatre is a place where local people, often volunteers, put on plays for everyone to enjoy. Civic, as many people call it, has won many awards for its great shows. Its main goal is to help everyone in the community love live theatre.

About the Theatre Building

Spokane Civic Theatre building

The Spokane Civic Theatre is one of the few community theatres that owns its own building and land. The building was built in 1967. It was designed by architect Mortiz Kundig. He thought it was one of his best buildings.

The theatre has two main places where shows happen:

• The Margot and Robert Ogden Main Stage Theatre
• The Firth J. Chew Studio Theatre

The Main Stage is a "proscenium" theatre. This means it has a stage that looks like a picture frame, with the audience sitting in front. It can seat 334 people. The Studio theatre is a smaller, "black box" theatre. A black box theatre is a simple, flexible space. It can seat about 85 people. The seats in the Studio theatre can be moved around. This allows different shows to use the space in new ways. For example, a 2011 play called Metamorphoses even had a pool on stage!

Both stages are easy to get to for people using wheelchairs. The Main Stage also has special listening devices. These help people with hearing difficulties enjoy the shows.

Behind the stages, there's a lot more to the theatre. There's a shop where sets are built. There's a room for sewing costumes. There are places to store props. There's also a "green room" where actors relax. Offices and dressing rooms are also backstage. To make sure everyone enjoys the show, children under five years old are not allowed in performances.

Theatre History

Spokane Civic Theatre is one of the oldest community theatres in the United States. It started in 1947. At first, shows were held in other places. These included the old Post Theater and, starting in 1957, the Riverside Playhouse. The theatre's current building opened in 1967.

In 1972, a new three-story part was added. This new space was used for building sets and rehearsing plays. It also held the costume shop and offices. The lower parts of the theatre, which used to be rehearsal areas, became the Studio theatre in 1979. It was named after Firth J. Chew in 1989. He was a volunteer who helped the theatre for a long time. Today, the Studio theatre is used for smaller or more experimental plays. In 2013, the Main Stage women's restroom was made bigger. A new lounge and meeting room for donors was also added.

The Civic Theatre was also once home to the Box and Hat Players. This group loved sharing musical theatre with people of all ages. The Spokane Children's Theatre also used the Civic's stage at one time.

Education Programs

The Civic Theatre helps local high school and college theatre groups. It also has a theatre school for all ages. The school offers many workshops. Students can learn about acting, directing, singing, dancing, and even "stage combat." Stage combat is how actors pretend to fight safely on stage. They can also learn about the technical side of theatre. This includes lights and sound. About 700 students take classes each year. Many of them take more than one class.

Classes run in the fall, winter, and spring. Each quarter lasts eight weeks. Classes meet once a week. The theatre also has summer camps for students from kindergarten to 12th grade. Students come each weekday morning or afternoon. The summer program for younger students uses a "play-in-a-week" style. They turn famous stories like The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter into simple, fun shows. For students in grades 7-12, there are three summer classes. These include a two-week Musical Theatre camp and a two-week Drama camp. There is also a 3-4 week Musical Performance camp.

In Summer 2011, the Musical Performance camp for older students changed. It became more like a "summer stock" performance. This means students have 3–4 weeks to rehearse a full musical. They learn their lines, dances, and songs. Their successful show of Footloose in 2011 made this change permanent.

Each year, there are also Theatre Intensives. These are for school-aged students to perform. The Intensives involve a few weeks of daily rehearsals. They end with a ticketed performance. Money from these shows goes to the Scholarship Fund.

The Spokane Civic Theatre's Academy also has a scholarship program. This helps students who love theatre but can't afford the classes. Thanks to generous donations, many scholarships are given to families who need them. Over $15,000 is raised each season for these scholarships. The need for scholarships has grown from about 10% to 30% of students.

Community Connections

The Spokane Civic Theatre has about 500 volunteers. These amazing people help in many ways. They act in plays, work backstage, and help guests in the theatre. They also serve on the theatre's board. Volunteers give about 90,000 hours of their time every year. Many volunteers come back again and again to help the theatre. The Spokane community also gives a lot of donations. These donations help support the theatre and its mission.

Civic gives over 600 tickets to its Main Stage shows. These tickets help other community groups. They use them for auctions and fundraisers. Civic also puts on special "benefit performance nights." These are for other non-profit groups. This helps between 4,500 and 6,000 people. Many of these people have never seen a live play before.

In 2011, Civic started the Shakespeare in Schools program. This program is free for middle and high school students and teachers. Civic's Director of Education teaches it. By the 2013-14 season, this program reached about 750 students and 16 teachers at 7 schools. In fall 2013, the Academy tried a new program called Creative Dramatics. This program focused on elementary school students and teachers. It was very popular. It helped about 350 students, 14 teachers, and 9 schools. It has now become a full program, just like Shakespeare in Schools.

In March 2014, Civic and the Spokane Symphony worked together for the first time. They put on two evening performances of the musical Les Misérables. The show was performed live at the Martin Woldson Theatre at the Fox. This joint fundraiser helped three community groups. It was even more successful than they hoped.

Awards and Recognition

The Spokane Civic Theatre has won about 150 awards. These awards come from local, state, regional, and national groups. They include the Inlander's Spokie awards and the American Association of Community Theatres' (AACT) Festival.

At the 2011 AACTFest, Spokane Civic Theatre's show The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee won two awards. It also received three nominations. Lacey Bohnet won for Best Supporting Actress. Nancy Vancil won for Best Musical Accompaniment. The show was also nominated for Best Lighting Design, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Ensemble.

The city of Spokane also recognized Civic in 2007. Peter Hardie, the Technical Director, was honored for his excellent artistic work. Resident Director Troy Nickerson was recognized for giving his time and talent to help raise money for many Spokane non-profit groups.