B Street Theatre

Last updated
B Street Theatre
Founded1986
Headquarters
Sacramento
Website bstreettheatre.org

The Sofia, Home of B Street Theatre is a non-profit live entertainment venue and arts education hub, producing fresh, contemporary, adventurous new plays for adults and families since 1991. Award-Winning B Street Theatre now also presents concerts, stand-up comedy, ballet, and other exciting performing arts events year-round.

Contents

B Street Theatre is a 501c3 non-profit theater located in Sacramento, California. It was founded by actor Timothy Busfield in 1986 as Theatre for Children, Inc., the company's first focus was a touring theatre company for children. [1] The B Street Theatre School Tour (formerly known as Fantasy Theatre) was and continues to be extremely popular in the community— performing 12 times per week, 38 weeks a year. The School Tour has received critical acclaim by the media and educators. It is estimated that 3.6 million California children (currently about 200,000 per year) have attended performances since B Street Theatre's inception. For many children, The B Street Theatre School Tour is their only exposure to the live theatre in Northern California.

In 1991, in an effort to broaden the success of B Street Theatre School Tour, Timothy Busfield and his brother Buck Busfield created B Street Theatre. Most of the plays produced each year are world, national, West Coast or regional premieres. B Street Theatre has been named Best Live Theatre (14 consecutive years) by The Sacramento News & Review and Best Performing Arts Organization 13 times by Sacramento Magazine; B Street Theatre performs to approximately 70,000 adults annually.

In 2002, the company embarked on a third endeavor to allow families to experience live, professional theatre together. The B Street Theatre Family Series produces a four-show season of professional theatre presenting plays for school field trips during the week and the general public on weekends. Curriculum materials are developed for each Family Series production, and teachers are encouraged to develop classroom lessons based on themes from each play.

In addition to a professional touring theatre, B Street School Tour holds an annual playwriting festival and contest. [2] The festival was created to provide a forum for the dramatic voice of youth and to conduct playwriting workshops that assist children in developing literary skills, problem- solving techniques, and a mode of artistic expression. This process stimulates the intellect and enhances self-esteem by providing validation of creative ideas and work support

Programs

B Street Theatre School Tour For more than 20 years the mission of the B Street School Tour has been to provide entertainment to children while encouraging in them a love for the theatre and a specific appreciation for the art of playwriting. In addition to a professional touring theatre, B Street School Tour offers playwriting workshops and a playwriting contest for children in public and private schools, hospitals, and other locations throughout Northern California. An average of 450 children attend each performance, (with 12 performances a week, 37 weeks a year more than 200,000 children experience live theatre each year). A concerted outreach effort is made to ensure that the rich experience of theatre is provided to underserved communities. Children experience a variety of theatrical styles as well as a wide range of thematic ideas, from social commentary and family drama to satire and farce.

The playwriting contest was created to provide a forum for the dramatic voice of youth and playwriting workshops assist children in developing literary skills, problem-solving techniques, and increased artistic expression. This process stimulates the intellect and enhances self-esteem by providing validation of creative ideas and work efforts.

B Street Theatre Mainstage The B Street Theatre has been recognized as one of northern California's top professional theatres. Seven new plays are presented each season to approximately 75,000 people. Comedies, Dramas and new emerging plays are produced. [3]

B Street Theatre Family Series The Family Series primarily serves children and their families through performances in the company's “B2” 112-seat theater space. The Family Series is California's only full-time, professional resident theater for children. Eight of The Family Series’ 12 weekly performances are designated for school field trips. The remaining four weekly performances are for the public. Four new plays are presented each season to approximately 25,000 school children and families.

Upstairs at the B B Street Theatre's space for artists-in-residence at The Sofia. Upstairs at The B is an all-purpose, all-inclusive space where artists curate and create events and workshops with production guidance of the B Street Theatre.

B3 Series The B3 Series ended in 2017 and is now merged with the Mainstage Series. B Street Theatre's more serious and dramatic series. The B3 Series focused on new contemporary plays for the sophisticated theatregoer. The B3 Series opened with a Pulitzer Prize winning drama on September 25, 2007 and presents four to five new plays each season.

B Street Conservatory and Studio for Young Actors The B Street Conservatory provides classes in technique and scene study to adult actors discovering their unique talents. The Studio for Young Actors is a year-round theatre education program to foster creativity, confidence and team building for young people ages 7 to 17. Instructors are B Street company members who themselves have received rigorous training and have extensive regional and national acting credits.

Intern Company The B Street Theatre Acting Internship is an intensive 10-month program that immerses young actors in every aspect of professional theatre. Interns are recent college graduates seeking their first post-college, professional theatre experience. The Intern Company experience provides four to eight talented young people with their first real “break” in the world of professional performing arts. In exchange for training and professional performing experience, interns provide the company with much needed assistance in the areas of administration as well as back and front of house operations.

New Theatre

Ground Floor B Street Ground Floor Schematic.jpg
Ground Floor B Street

After getting a land grant from Sutter Medical Center, B Street Theatre started a Capital Campaign to build a new theater. [4] The new theater is located at 27th and Capitol Avenue. The new Mainstage Theatre (Thrust Style) seats 250 patrons, and the Sutter Children's Theatre (Proscenium Style) seats 365 - three times the past theatre's size, allowing the theater to bring art education to an additional 30,000 children the theatre presently cannot accommodate. The local economic impact is estimated to be at $40 million locally over first 5 years. Local architect, Ron Vrilakas, designed a "come as you are" theatre experience that resonates with the past theatre. Sutter Children's Hospital is across the street in order to deepen the relationship between B Street and Sutter and further explore the restorative powers of theatre art for patients and their families.

The new performing arts complex in midtown Sacramento, named in honor of one of its key supporters – The Sofia Tsakopoulos Center for the Arts, affectionately known as The Sofia - opened in February 2018. The Sofia is home to B Street Theatre's Mainstage (naming opportunity still available) and the Sutter Theatre for Children – California's first year-round, professional theatre for children. In the same spirit of community from which B Street Theatre was born, Sutter Theatre has opened its doors to host the performances and events of local artists, community organizations, and visiting acts. In effect, this landmark facility will become an entertainment hub for all of Sacramento, where locals and tourists alike can see theatre, comedy, dance, or musical acts in an intimate, professional space every night of the year. In addition, its large public lobby, classrooms, open-air courtyard, and on-site restaurant make The Sofia a true destination.

New Theatre Rendering New Theatre Rendering.jpg
New Theatre Rendering

Coordinates: 38°34′59″N121°27′58″W / 38.582962°N 121.466163°W / 38.582962; -121.466163

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sacramento, California</span> Capital city of California, United States

Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat and largest city of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American River in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 population of 524,943 makes it the sixth-largest city in California and the ninth-largest capital in the United States. Sacramento is the seat of the California Legislature and the Governor of California, making it the state's political center and a hub for lobbying and think tanks. It features the California State Capitol Museum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angelo Parra</span> American dramatist

Angelo Parra is an American playwright. He was born in Manhattan and grew up in the Bronx, New York City. After graduating from Fordham University, his career included work as a reporter/photographer, public relations professional, politician, free-lance writer, and PR and journalism teacher at New York University before turning to theatre in 1986. His first produced play, Casino, was presented at T. Schreiber Studio, and won a 1989 New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) Fellowship in Playwriting and an Arts International grant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timothy Busfield</span> American actor and director

Timothy Busfield is an American actor and director. He has played Elliot Weston on the television series thirtysomething; Mark, the brother-in-law of Ray Kinsella in Field of Dreams; and Danny Concannon on the television series The West Wing. In 1991 he received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for thirtysomething. He is also the founder of the 501(c)(3) non-profit Arts organization, Theatre for Children, Inc.

The Theatre School at DePaul University, previously the Goodman School of Drama is the drama school of DePaul University. Founded with its first class conducted at the Art Institute of Chicago on January 5, 1925, the Goodman School was associated with the Goodman Theatre Company. The school officially became part of DePaul University on July 1, 1978, and was renamed The Theatre School at DePaul University in 1982. The Theatre School is the Midwest region's oldest theatre conservatory and is ranked as one of the top professional theatrical training programs in the United States, enrolling approximately 450 students from North America and abroad. The Theatre School's main performance spaces are the Merle Reskin Theatre in Downtown Chicago, the Healy BlackBox theatre, and the Watts Theater in the Lincoln Park Campus.

Matt Hoverman is an American actor and playwright based in Los Angeles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theatre Three</span>

Theatre Three occupies Athena Hall in Port Jefferson, New York as a fully functioning, non-profit theatre company. Begun in the late 1960s, Theatre Three has become one of the premier theatre houses on Long Island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marin Theatre Company</span>

The Marin Theatre Company (MTC) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and professional LORT D regional theater located in Mill Valley, California. Jasson Minadakis is the company's Artistic Director and Meredith Suttles its Managing Director / CEO.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SteppingStone Theatre for Youth Development</span> Youth theater in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States

SteppingStone Theatre for Youth Development is the largest performing theatre for youth in the greater Saint Paul area. The mainstage season, which runs annually from October to July, features many plays written on commission by emerging local playwrights. SteppingStone Theatre also offers years round youth acting classes, workshops and residencies throughout the Twin Cities and greater Minnesota.

Portland Stage Company is a professional LORT theater company in the state of Maine. Founded as the Profile Theatre in 1974 as a touring theater company, in 1976 the company made Portland a permanent home and in 1982 it moved to its current home of 25A Forest Ave, Portland, ME. Anita Stewart has served as the Artistic Director since 1996 and in 2006 was made Executive Director as well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broadway Sacramento</span>

Broadway Sacramento is the largest nonprofit arts organization in the state of California and the city of Sacramento's oldest professional performing arts company. Its summer stock theatre, Music Circus, has been producing Broadway-style musicals since 1951.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hedgerow Theatre</span>

Hedgerow Theatre is a theatre company based in Rose Valley, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia, founded in 1923. It was "for many years the only true U. S. professional repertory theater." The building is a contributing structure in the Rose Valley Historic District listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Young Playwrights' Theater</span>

Young Playwrights' Theater (YPT) is a not-for-profit theater arts-based education organization in Northwest Washington, D.C. It provides interactive in-school and after-school programs presenting and discussing student-written work to promote community dialogue and respect for young artists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Conservatory Theatre Center</span>

The New Conservatory Theatre Center is a not-for-profit theatre company located in San Francisco, California. NCTC showcases an eight-show Pride Season, an In-Concert/Cabaret Series, Family Theatre performances, YouthAware Touring Educational Theatre, and an Emerging Artists program. NCTC also houses a comprehensive Conservatory for youth and adults. It is located in San Francisco at 25 Van Ness Avenue, near Market Street.

New York State Theatre Institute (NYSTI) was a New York State public-benefit corporation that organized theatre education programs for young people in New York State. Its forerunner was created by statute in 1974. The Institute produced over 30 plays and musicals for family and school audiences, and provided a theatre-arts school, summer programs, and internships. The company toured within New York State and abroad. The Institute closed in 2010 following a State enquiry into alleged irregularities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HartBeat Ensemble</span> Theater company in Connecticut, U.S.

HartBeat Ensemble is a professional theater company in Hartford, Connecticut. The mission of HartBeat Ensemble is to create original, professional theater based on stories from the people of Greater Hartford and beyond. Through Mainstage plays, Open-Air performances, and Education programs, HartBeat Ensemble seeks to create provocative theater that connects the community beyond the barriers of class, race, and gender. HartBeat Ensemble is a member of the Network of Ensemble Theaters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shakespeare in the Park festivals</span> Outdoor festivals featuring productions of William Shakespeares plays

Shakespeare in the Park is a term for outdoor festivals featuring productions of William Shakespeare's plays. The term originated with the New York Shakespeare Festival in New York City's Central Park, originally created by Joseph Papp. This concept has been adapted by many theatre companies, and over time, this name has expanded to encompass outdoor theatre productions of the playwright's works performed all over the world.

The Hangar Theatre is a non-profit, regional theatre located at 801 Taughannock Boulevard in Ithaca, NY. Its mainstage season and children's shows occur during the summer, but the Hangar, and other organizations, utilize the space year-round for special events. The tenets of the Hangar's mission statement are to enrich, enlighten, educate and entertain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Surflight Theatre</span> United States historic place

The Surflight Theatre, is a beach-side theatre located in the community of Beach Haven, New Jersey, on Long Beach Island on the Jersey Shore.

Caridad Svich is a playwright, songwriter/lyricist, translator, and editor who was born in the United States to Cuban-Argentine-Spanish-Croatian parents.

References

  1. "Timothy Busfield | 23 Blast Movie".
  2. "B Street Theatre Youth Writers Workshops". 17 November 2015.
  3. "Sacramento Theater Shows | Plays in Sacramento". bstreettheatre.org. Archived from the original on 2014-03-09.
  4. "B Street Theatre seeks $2.5M grant from Sacramento for new venues - Sacramento Business Journal". Archived from the original on 2014-11-02.