TUTS and The River Celebrate Disability Awareness Month

As part of the 20th anniversary celebration of The River Performing and Visual Arts Center (The River), Theatre Under The Stars (TUTS) is celebrating National Disability Awareness Month with special events and a public fundraising campaign.

20th Anniversary & River Background Story

This year marks the 20th Anniversary of The River, which began in 1996 when a three-year-old girl named Samantha wanted to take ballet lessons, but was denied access because she has cerebral palsy which affects her vision, balance, speech and movement. Samantha's mother, Cathy Binstock - who was also a clinical social worker - took it upon herself to see that no child would ever be denied access to arts education because of a disability.

"The River believes in the power of the arts and inclusion. We see ability and use the arts to share it with audiences of all ages and backgrounds. It's amazing what individuals with disabilities can accomplish when the bar is set high," saidEileen Edmonds, Assistant Director of Education at The River.

With the help of arts instructors and other friends, Binstock, started with one Creative Movement class for seven little girls and The River was born. To date, The River has provided fine arts education for more than 25,000 children with special needs and their siblings.

In 2010, Theatre Under The Stars merged with The River to achieve a common goal of extending Arts Access to children of all abilities. To learn more about The River, contact Eileen Edmonds at eileen@tuts.com.

20k Fundraising Goal

Also in celebration of National Disability Awareness Month, TUTS has created the Arts for All Challenge with a goal of raising $20,000 to help us provide accessible arts programs for children and adults of all abilities. The campaign will support TUTS ongoing efforts to offer accessible theatre and arts education to everyone in Houston.

For more information on the campaign or to find out how you can help, contact Kelly Nicholls at kelly@tuts.com.

The River Celebration

On October 27th, The River will celebrate its 20th anniversary with its annual gala - The River Celebration. This year's honorees will be Bob and Cathy Binstock. The gala will be chaired by Michele Womack with Robin and Danny Klaesas honorary chairs. This year's Sammy Award recipients are Texans Head Coach Bill O'Brien and his wife, Colleen. The event will be emceed by Sunny 99.1 DJ, Dana Tyson.

In addition to dinner, there will be live and silent auctions. The evening will also feature a dynamic musical program by students in The River's Performance Troupe and Humphreys School of Musical Theatre. Tables and Tickets are still available. Contact Katie White Wisian at katie@tuts.com for details.

No Boundaries Program

In addition to all the things happening throughout October, TUTS is also happy to introduce a new accessibility initiative - the No Boundaries program. Through the No Boundaries program, TUTS is providing unique and inclusive ways to enhance musical theatre for individuals with disabilities. The program includes touch tours, rhythm, dance and voice workshops, as well as Audio Described, Open Captioning and American Sign Language Interpretation performances.

"I have seen firsthand how these special, inclusive and much needed programs have helped elevate theatre experiences for people with a broad range of disabilities. I believe in the power of theatre and that it can absolutely change lives," said Elizabeth England who created the No Boundaries program.

The No Boundaries program was designed to fully reach every corner of our diverse city to ensure that the magic of musical theatre is truly accessible to all people. The upcoming TUTS production of How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying will offer Open Captioning and Audio Described performances. To learn more about the No Boundaries program, contact Elizabeth England at elizabethe@tuts.com.

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