Virginia Children's Theatre Expands Outreach Across Virginia, Hires Two New Positions

Virginia Children's Theatre is committed to bringing high quality music, theatre and dance education to students all around the Commonwealth. Brett Roden, VCT's Producing Artistic Director, is proud to announce that during the 2022-2023 Season VCT will expand its education outreach and touring performance offerings in order to bring professional theatre to even more Virginia students and audiences.

VCT outreach programming exposes young people to the craft of theatre, fosters creativity and develops critical thinking skills that instill discipline, enhance self-esteem and promote team building.

New Outreach for the 2022-2023 Season:
1.) VCT will teach a new in-school residency class focused on Math to 1st graders in Roanoke City Public Schools (RCPS).
2.) The Water Cycle residency will be taught to 3rd graders in Harrisonburg, VA through a new partnership with Any Given Child Shenandoah Valley.
3.) Through a grant-funded opportunity in collaboration with Roanoke City Public Libraries, four libraries will receive a newly developed pilot program that focuses on introductory technique training for upper elementary/middle school students and literature-led creative dramatics for PreK - K students.
4.) As part of the Kaleidoscope programming at VCT, a new "Club K" class will be introduced to SPED classes through RCPS. Club K and Kaleidoscope programming offer theatre instruction to students with exceptional abilities.

In addition to onsite, year around Academy classes and full scale, Broadway-style performances produced by VCT, education outreach has always been a focus. VCT has offered SOL-compliant in-school residencies to 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th graders in Roanoke City Public Schools for the past decade. Additional partnerships already in place include: Smith Mountain Lake Good Neighbors, North Cross School and the Boys & Girls Club of SWVA.

Every summer VCT tours a professional mainstage production around Virginia. This allows communities that might not have access to professional theatre a chance to open their creative minds, explore literature in a theatrical way and embrace the beauty of musical theatre. With a focus on reaching even more underserved communities, VCT has taken on a commitment to tour to even more locations around the state.

"By expanding our outreach, we are able to expose more young people and their families to professional theatre," says VCT Roden. "Many of these communities have never experienced professional Live Theatre, let alone have the opportunity to learn from professional music, theatre and dance instructors. These are life changing opportunities for the young people in the Commonwealth."

In order to make these expansions a success, Virginia Children's Theatre has added two new positions to the Administrative Staff. Bethany Costello is the new Education Outreach Coordinator. Costello will work to foster current partnerships, explore new partnerships and she will also teach many of the VCT outreach classes. To focus on growing the summer tour and expanding group sales for both student matinees and public performances, Laura Rawlings joins as The New Group Sales Manager.

To learn more about scheduling a residency or booking a tour performance, interested parties may contact the VCT Administrative office at 540-400-7795.

Bethany Costello is an NC native teaching artist, educator, actress and musician. An avid traveler and lover of wellness, Bethany is a proud graduate of The South Carolina School of the Arts and holds a BFA degree in Musical Theatre. Bethany has served as a Musical Theatre Artist (music director, educator, assistant director, performer, vocal coach and accompanist) with companies including The REV Theatre Company, Florida Repertory Theatre, Lexington Children's Theatre, Missoula Children's Theatre, CentreStage and Anderson University. Favorite artistic credits include: Junie B. Jones: The Musical, Sister Act, Twelfth Night, Alice In Wonderland, Alabaster (The World Premier), Romeo And Juliet and Into The Woods. She aspires to foster accessibility and joy for the arts to students of all ages and can't wait to bring that passion to Roanoke!

Laura Rawlings grew up in Southern California and started her theatrical career at the age of 11 in Oklahoma! For the next 25 years, she performed professionally in musical theatre productions in CA, AZ, MT, and NV. With a BA in Education from Arizona State University and a MA in the Humanities from Cal State University Dominguez Hills, she began a new career in arts administration. Laura served as the Director of Arts Education for the Nevada Department of Cultural Affairs. In 2001, accepted a position as an Arts Education Specialist at the National Endowment for the Arts in Washington D.C. In 2007, Laura and her husband, Stuart, moved to the Roanoke area. Since then, she has served as Director of Development for the RSO, Roanoke College, and Goodwill Industries of the Valleys. Laura is delighted to return to her theatrical roots and be part of the Virginia Children's Theatre team.

Virginia Children's Theatre (VCT) is an independently owned and operated 501(c)3 organization located in Roanoke, Virginia. VCT is the only professional theatre in the commonwealth of Virginia solely dedicated to youth, schools and their families. VCT produces a variety of high caliber professional literature based musicals, concerts, and issue driven plays each season. These productions are produced in the Roanoke Valley and toured throughout the commonwealth of Virginia. The VCT Theatre Academy provides year-round high-quality music, theatre and dance education for students Pre-K through 12th grade through in-school residencies, in-house classes & camps and outreach across the commonwealth. VCT has a mission to inspire, empower and transform the community through the magic of live theatre!

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