“A Year With Frog and Toad” by Robert Reale and Willie Reale, at Oregon Children's Theater in 2012. Illustrated: Joshua Stenseth and James Sharinghouse.
Portland, ore: Oregon children's theater (OCT) announced last week that it would arouse programming after the end of the summer camp season on September 1, because it begins a process of organizational restructuring and strategic planning. This includes a cessation of all the productions and the education program of the theater, including their professional youth. Oct is launching a large tandem fund collection campaign with the break to protect a future for the company, while the company continues to face shortcomings and financial challenges.
“We are in a position where we have to suspend our work so that we can be intentional and strategic about how we are going ahead,” said the artistic director by producing Jenn Hartmann Luck in a press release. “We have faced these challenges for many years, and so that we can create a way to follow, we have to stop and assess who we are as an organization, which we need to continue producing shows and providing educational programs, and creating a financial model that works so that we can come back stronger, ready to serve young people and families of our community.”
In addition to calls for individual donations, the organization works with local and regional foundations, obtaining funding for available grants and pursuing other sources of income, partnerships and sponsorships. Oct estimates that it must collect $ 1 million to maintain the organization now until the end of the year and position itself to reopen in the future.
After calling for donations in the summer of 2024, after having collected nearly $ 130,000, OCT production with THEATHEWORSUSA,, Cat Kid Comic Club: The Musicalhad closed window performances at Portland'5 arts centersThe Newmark Theater in November 2024. But Oct could not produce additional set shows in Portland'5 for the rest of its 2024-25 season, and published performance dates with Portland'5 in the next seasons.
“We know that this financial model is not sustainable,” continued Luck's statement. “The reality is that we simply cannot afford to play in this place currently and that we must preserve the funding that we have in order to survive as a company. We recognize that, although we cannot allow ourselves to continue with business as usual ”, our families and our community may also need something different from us. We want to create an organization that serves the community in the way they want to be served. »»
For the rest of 2025, OCT plans to create a way to follow by reflecting and evaluating its financial commercial model, obtaining funding and evaluating changes in programming, productions and additional activations at the service of the community by surveying its customers, families and the wider community. Luck said the company is dedicated to restoring education programs as soon as possible.
“No one involved in this process is interested in closing completely Oct,” said the president of the Board of Directors of the OCT, Linda Slavin, in a statement. “We know what is the loss of a youth organization like Oct for the community, in Portland and beyond. We will do everything in our power to continue, and we will need the help and support of many people – things, foundations, partners, and more – we will not be able to make this trip without the support of our community. ”.
Founded in 1988, Oregon children's theater (Oct) is the largest non -profit professional theater in Oregon for young audiences and served much more than 2 million children, teachers and families. Its mission is to create exceptional theatrical experiences that transform lives. In 2023, the theater budget was just over $ 3 million.
