Stellar and Oregon Shakespeare Festival Announce Partnership

Stellar and Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) announced a partnership to ensure that OSF's groundbreaking O! Digital Stage will be powered in part by Stellar's industry leading platform, bringing unparalleled theatrical experiences to audiences around the globe.

OSF recently announced its 2023 season and its forward-looking theme, "Reimagining the Future of Theatre." Turns out the future is already here, as the cultural institution reimagines and expands the definition of live theatre and reinforces its commitment to broadening access to its programming. While 400,000 people make the pilgrimage to the Ashland campus each year to enjoy great theatre, this hybrid-event approach will continue to grow its audience. In fact, 67% of livestream viewers are more likely to buy a ticket to a concert or event after watching a livestream of that event or a similar one.

Scarlett Kim, OSF Associate Artistic Director and Director of Innovation & Strategy said: "We are thrilled to partner with Stellar, an organization whose commitment to innovating the definition of theatrical storytelling is in deep alignment with OSF. As OSF's O! Digital Stage grows, I look forward to nurturing this strategic partnership centered around cutting-edge digital presentation of theatre, and robust research and development on reimagining liveness and interactivity for the virtual landscape."

OSF's Theatre on Film initiative includes live-hosted streams of cinematic captures of select in-person repertory productions. This October, several OSF productions have been presented on the Stellar platform, including:

• Revenge Song: A Vampire Cowboys Creation, a musical story by Qui Nguyen about transgressive 17th-century opera singer Julie d'Aubigny and directed by Nguyen's Vampire Cowboys partner Robert Ross Parker.

• Shakespeare's The Tempest, directed by Nicholas C. Avila with cinematography by Tyler Maddox.

• And, currently available, King John, a fresh take on Shakespeare's rarely staged play by visionary director Rosa Joshi and featuring a cast of female and non-gender-binary performers; presented in association with upstart crow collective.

Stellar's premier technology is powering everything from Broadway to global concerts. Thousands of organizers are using Stellar's self-serve platform to manage their own shows with all the tools they need for streaming, ticketing, and marketing. Plus, they can also take advantage of special Stellar features such as live chat, customized emojis, tips/donations solicitation, and merchandising. Audiences can tune in comfortably from home to watch on multiple devices and be part of a live experience.

"While many arts organizations claim to be focused on making the performing arts accessible to audiences, OSF has made it their mission and are actually executing on this by harnessing the power of digital events," says Stellar, CEO, Jim McCarthy. "We're delighted to share Nataki Garrett's vision for the future of OSF, the theatre field, and the cultural landscape at large."