Welcome to PLAYBILLDER Spotlight, where Playbill highlights shows from educational institutions or regional theatres and special events around the country (who have used Playbill's program-building service). By welcoming these PLAYBILLDERs center stage, we hope to give our readers a more in-depth look at theatre programs that are fostering the love of the performing arts in the next generation and the way theatre lovers are bringing Playbill along for life's big moments.
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This week's spotlight is Branson Regional Arts Council of Branson, Missouri, and their production of Disney's The Little Mermaid, JR. Adapted from the classic Disney animated film, and based on the Hans Christian Anderson fairytale, Alan Menken and Douglas Wright's musical is about what we sacrifice in the search for love and acceptance. A young mermaid, Ariel, decides to leave her home, kingdom, and fins behind in pursuit of a life on land. She defies her father, King Triton, and makes a deal with an evil sea witch, Ursula, hoping to convince Prince Eric that she's the girl who has captured him by voice alone.
Outgoing Executive Director Jim Barber shared with Playbill all the ways his community theatre is revitalizing Branson, the additional programming needed when the show sold out, and why he's used PLAYBILLDER 55 times, and counting!
How long have you been running your theatre? What drew you to it?
Jim Barber: The Branson Regional Arts Council revitalized community theatre in the Ozarks after our 2018 lease and eventual purchase of the Historic Owen Theatre in downtown Branson. Built in 1936, this is Branson's first theatre venue, and now the official home of community theatre and a vibrant youth arts education program. We are now in our seventh Season of providing year-round community theatre and youth arts education programming with an average of 8-9 mainstage musicals and plays each season, in additional to many special events, films, classes, lectures and programs for youth with special needs or disabilities. Additional information on how we got started can be found here.
Supporting youth theatre and Branson Regional Arts Council productions like The Little Mermaid JR has a positive impact on the personal growth of young individuals, our community, and the arts as a whole. It’s a valuable investment in creativity, education, and cultural enrichment.
Our mission is “to create exceptional artistic, cultural and educational opportunities for our community," and through the efforts of our board of directors, staff, volunteers and directors, we are helping to nurture creativity, build confidence, foster inclusivity, and engage our community through high quality entertainment and theatre arts education.
Our Conservatory of the Arts Education programming include opportunities for young folks between the ages of 6-18 with summer youth institutes, private and group acting and vocal lessons, as well as our Crescendo and Staccato youth performance troupes who have many performance opportunities throughout the year.
A few years ago, we started our "Special Abilities" program and have worked with area organizations and families to provide training and stage performance opportunities for talented performers with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Down Syndrome, and other types of developmental disability who have a love of singing, acting, dancing, playing an instrument, and more.
Generally, how do you choose your shows? How did you choose this show?
Our season of mainstage musicals and plays are determined through our "theatre committee" which is made up of members of our board of directors, staff, professional actors, educators, and directors. We take into consideration what titles our community would support, as well as what titles our acting community would like to present. Since we have such a busy schedule, we also take into consideration how one production might flow into the next regarding set construction and available time on stage between productions.
One of the challenges of presenting community theatre in Branson is that we are an entertainment tourism town with approximately 50 theatres and nearly 100 live musical stage shows that provide entertainment to nearly 10 million visitors annually. On the other hand, this strong entertainment community provides a great deal of talented individuals and families who want to participate in our productions and events. While the bulk of our patrons are local area residents, we also have many tourists attend who happened to be in town and heard about our shows.
With each year that passes, interest in our summer youth production in particular has grown exponentially. This year, our institute registrations for The Little Mermaid JR sold out in a matter of a few days, and so we decided to add a second institute production of Peter Pan JR that began classes the day after Mermaid closed. That also sold out quickly, so are having to consider how we can increase our ability to provide even more programming in the future. These two summer productions in 2024 provided an exciting summer theatre camp experience for over 100 students.
What was the first community theatre production you took part in and how did that experience shape you?
Personally, I had many opportunities as a young student to perform on stage in musicals, plays and as a magician and ventriloquist growing up in South Dakota. I have enjoyed a long career as a professional entertainer, which is what brought me to Branson in the mid-'90s. Many years ago, when my own daughter was cast in a production of Beauty and the Beast JR at the Springfield Little Theatre, approximately 35 miles north of Branson, I knew this was something that would be well received in Branson as well. My friend Jean Cantwell, who founded the Branson Arts Council in the 60's, opened the door to my current position and I'm proud of everyone involved in our organization for the amazing growth in community theatre that we have achieved in just the past seven years.
What drew you to PLAYBILLDER for your production?
As a professional graphic designer, I understand how much time and detail goes into the production of a high quality theatre program. With the huge amount of shows and events throughout the year, I knew that the PLAYBILLDER website was the perfect solution for our organization, allowing us to have consistency in our printed materials, a fantastic keepsake for our actors and patrons, and an easy template style format that could also be used by others in our organization who were not professional designers. To me, it's a no-brainer and I'm constantly impressed by the fast turn around and delivery of our finished Playbills. We have used PLAYBILLDER exclusively since I started at the Arts Council over seven years ago for each of our productions, and we are now working on our 55th official Playbill for our next production!
To design Broadway-quality programs for your next show, head to PLAYBILLDER.com. Who knows, you might just be featured in our next PLAYBILLDER Spotlight! And if you are looking for a beautiful way to display your Playbills, click here to purchase Playbill frames.
