The Capital region’s All-of-us Express Children’s Theatre has slowly been growing since it started in 1989. On the eve of its 20th anniversary, the theater’s celebrating an increase in participation and audience.
“We’ve seen our participation and our audience grow,”says the group's artistic director, Miranda Hartmann. All-of-us-Express Children’s Theatre has added weekday and weekend shows since Hartmann joined the group two years ago. “That’s been a huge increase in our audience,” she says.
For the first four years of its existence, the All-of-us-Express Children’s Theatre was run by Evelyn Weymouth, who set up shows in rented rooms, community centers and garages. But the show was popular and grew quickly.
“It was kind of growing too much to be a small business,” Hartmann says about the decision to pursue non-profit status for the theater. Once non-profit status was established, the theater took off, adding staff, actors and audience.
When they started, they had about 300 audience members. “Right now we see about 1,500 to 2,000 audience members per weekend per show,” says Hartmann. The launch of the theater’s Web site in 2001 helped boost attendance.
Despite its continued success, the All-of-us Express Children’s Theatre still doesn’t have a permanent location. Right now it’s using the Hannah Community Center in East Lansing and other locations for shows.
“One of our big goals is to find a place of our own,” Hartmann says.
Source: Diane Cook, All-of-us Express Children’s Theatre
Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.
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