SoHo Playhouse LV Announces Five Grant Winners & City-Partnered Educational Initiative

SoHo Playhouse has announced its inaugural Las Vegas community education initiative, to take place this June 2021. The renowned Off-Broadway theater also announced its five initial SoHo Playhouse Grant Awardees at their fundraising event on 1 April 2021.

SoHo Playhouse's June 2021 Workshop Series is presented in partnership with the city of Las Vegas' Office of Cultural Affairs. This initial series will be housed at the Charleston Heights Arts Center, from 3 June 2021 to 24 June 2021.

SoHo Playhouse Artistic Director Darren Lee Cole will host three acting workshops: one workshop for teens (10-18), an adult (18+) monologue workshop, and an adult (18+) scene study workshop.

These exclusive workshops will each be capped at sixteen students. Actors of all abilities and levels of experience are encouraged to participate. No auditions are required. Classes are open for registration at https://www.sohoplayhouselv.com/aboutedu.

Mr. Cole has had incredible success directing and teaching workshops across the world. He has worked with young actors as well as seasoned professionals at our flagship SoHo Playhouse theater in New York City; at his Teatro Jaco in Costa Rica; at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival; in Porto, Portugal; in Barcelona, Spain; and more!

Now, Mr. Cole is eager to bring his decades of Off-Broadway expertise and experience as an internationally-acclaimed director and producer to the acting community of Las Vegas.

As SoHo Playhouse begins navigating this exciting return to live educational theater, we are committed to following proper COVID-safety protocol as advised by the State of Nevada. SoHo Playhouse takes the health and safety of its students and staff seriously.

We will be implementing several measures to ensure this safety in our theater, including capping our classes at sixteen students and requiring students to remain masked. As a facility run by the

City of Las Vegas, the Charleston Heights Arts Center will also operate in strict compliance with Nevada State COVID protocols.

Financial aid is available to applicants who demonstrate artistic merit as well as economic need. Thanks to a generous grant from the David and Cecilia Lee family, we will be providing at least twelve full scholarships to such applicants. More information about financial aid can be found at https://www.sohoplayhouselv.com/scholarship.

Philanthropic Las Vegans interested in sponsoring a student through one of our workshops can donate a full scholarship at https://www.sohoplayhouselv.com/sponsor.

As part of its launching theater operations into Downtown Las Vegas, SoHo Playhouse LV presented its initial $12,500 in grants at its fundraising event on 1 April 2021. These grants will fund the projects of five individual Las Vegas theater-makers.

Each grant awardee received a $2,500 grant to be used exclusively towards their proposed project. Along with this financial award, grant recipients will have access to the theatrical expertise of SoHo Playhouse as well as the mentorship of the respective donors.

The grant winner and donor pairs are as follows:

- Chuck Rounds, Elements of Society - Rita Rudner and Martin Bergman - Jillian Austin, BLM: The Musical - Daz Weller and Troy Heard

- Venus Cobb, Pit Stain Trio - Maryann Kaufman Family Foundation

- Reuben Permel, ICU - Victoria Bradshaw Family Foundation

- Ginger Land-Van Buuren, BLACK SWAN - Karen Camp

As a 501(c)(3) organization, SoHo Playhouse recognizes the responsibility of giving back to the local theater community. Thus, SoHo Playhouse LV has committed to distributing 10% of all funds raised back into Las Vegas via grants such as these.