Houston Non-profits, TUTS & The River Merge for Special-Needs Arts Education

With a common goal - to expand arts access to children of all abilities - The River Performing and Visual Arts Center (The River), on April 1, 2010 merged with Theatre Under The Stars (TUTS), creating a unique, barrier free, arts education model for non-profit musical theatre performing arts organizations.. The merger of the two highly revered "Houston-grown" non-profit organizations expands TUTS' education division (TUTS Education) into the city's special-needs community through the strong brand and expertise of The River. The merger benefits The River through reduced administrative cost and direct exposure to TUTS professionals and programs.

"The TUTS/River merger is a perfect case study showing how two entities with aligned values can join together to benefit both organizations and, most importantly, the children we serve," said TUTS CEO John Breckenridge.

TUTS and The River were each founded on similar principles of arts inclusion and accessibility. The brainchild of Frank M. Young in 1968, TUTS was the first theatrical organization in Houston to perform free to the public at Miller Outdoor Theatre in Hermann Park. Housed since 2002 at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, TUTS has produced more than 300 musicals including many local, national and world premieres. TUTS Education provides year-round instruction and stage experience for more than 1,700 students annually through its Academy at the Humphreys School of Musical Theatre.

The River was founded in 1996 by Cathy and Bob Binstock when their three-year-old daughter Samantha, who wanted to take ballet, was turned away by dance studios unwilling to accommodate her cerebral palsy. Vowing that no child should be denied the opportunity to participate in the richness of an arts education, the Binstocks contacted arts instructors and friends, held a fundraiser in their living room, and The River Performing and Visual Arts Center was born. The first class was creative movement for seven little girls with disabilities. Now in its fourteenth year, The River has served more than 10,000 children with special needs and their siblings through barrier-free, year-round Saturday classes, summer camp, and outreach programming for children with special needs and their siblings.

"Turning our mutual love affair into a 'marriage' has raised The River to an exciting new level of performance, education, self-expression and self-esteem for children - the exact principles on which we were founded in 1996," said Sandy Wicoff, executive director of The River.
The first TUTS/River collaborative effort was a four-hour workshop in December 2007 highlighting TUTS' production of A Wonderful Life. The class produced an inclusive team of children representing a wide range of abilities and was the first of several meaningful, collaborative programs pairing River students with students of the TUTS Academy.

With the merger, TUTS Education now provides extended on-site programming as well as off-site programming for children in schools, hospitals and other community-based sites.

On-Site Programs at Two Locations:
- At The Hobby Center for the Performing Arts
*Academy @ The Humphreys School of Musical Theatre:
- audition-based, professional training for students, ages 13-18
- open enrollment classes for children and adults
- summer camp for children ages 4 - 18
*Musicals for Young Audiences: one-hour productions by Academy students and teaching faculty performed for nearly 5,000 elementary school students each year
*Miller Outdoor Theatre: daytime performance each June by Academy students
*ACT @ TUTS: full-length musicals produced in the Hobby Center each summer starring teens selected through a city-wide audition process. Shows have been Southwest premiers since 2007.
*Apprenticeships: for undergraduates in partnership with Sam Houston State University's Musical Theatre Program
*Tommy Tune Awards: since 2002 - awards for excellence in high school musical theatre; 45 high schools participate with awards given in 15 performance categories and 8 scholarships awarded.

- The River Performing and Visual Arts Center at the Metropolitan Multi-Service Center
Serving children with special needs and their siblings since 1996
*Summer Camp: six one-week sessions; each has a theme and culminates in a glorious recital for family, friends and community members
*Saturday Morning Program: classes offered during the school year with spring and fall recitals
*The River Performance Troupe: performs song and dance routines at community events

Off-Site Programs in Schools, Hospitals and Community Organizations:
- Schools
*Beyond the Stage: provides customized musical theatre classes to more than 30 Title One schools in the Houston, Pearland, CyFair, Fort Bend and Aldine School Districts
*KIPP Shine Academy: instruction for economically disadvantaged students and their teachers
*Private Schools that serve special needs: Arbor School; Center for Hearing and Speech; Harris School; Monarch School, Our Network School; Rise School; Tuttle School @ Briarwood
*Public Schools' Life Skills Classes (special needs): Beverly Hills Intermediate School; Dulles High School; Memorial Elementary School; Rick Schneider Middle School; Sam Rayburn High School; Waltrip High School
*Field Trips to the Hobby Center for nearly 2,000 students a year:
- Backstage tour and musical theatre class
*Teach the Teacher In-Services: curriculum in accordance with TEKS objectives
- Hospitals
MD Anderson Children's Cancer Center; Shriner's Children's Hospital; Texas Children's Hospital; HealthBridge Children's Hospital
- Community Organizations
*YMCA: after-school, day care, summer camp and special needs
*MHMRA: special needs
*Down Syndrome Association of Houston: Down syndrome
*Houston Area Women's Center: family abuse; homelessness
*Wesley Community Center: economically disadvantaged

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