This is Ozarks at Large. A 21st birthday is a pretty big deal in TheatreSquared will celebrate its 21st Saturday. TheatreSquared's upcoming 21st season will be highlighted with a free, open to the public party Saturday afternoon from 3 until 7 at TheatreSquared in downtown Fayetteville. The event will include behind the scenes glimpses and open rehearsal, kid zone story time, a dunk tank, silent auction, community fun, food and an opportunity to learn more about the productions for the 21st season that begins with Fences on Sept. 9.
This week, Tara Versey, director of community experience at T2, and Elizabeth France McCue, director of development at T2, came to the Anthony and Susan Hui News Studio to talk about Saturday's party. Elizabeth says it's designed for frequent visitors and first timers to walk through the door.
Elizabeth France McCue: We're going to have an open rehearsal for our production of Fences, so that will be our first day on stage, and you'll get a sneak peek at the actors working on stage.
Versey: And a kids zone. So it's a family friendly event. And so I really am inviting all my friends with kiddos to come and check it out.
Frog and Toad is a big part of our season this year, and so we're really excited to have a Frog and Toad themed kids zone, so it'll be really fun. Dad Suggests Books is coming out to do some story time, and that'll be really fun. And I just think it'll be really great for everyone to check it out and see what it looks like our first year doing a family series.
McCue: Yes. Yeah, I wanted to mention that too. This is our first year doing a family focused series at TheatreSquared, and one of those is A Year with Frog and Toad, which is a musical. It's such a sweet show, but it's for grownups and kids alike. It's a great show.
Kyle Kellams: It sounds like this Saturday event is going to be different things happening in different places.
McCue: Oh yeah.
Versey: Oh yeah. There's a dunk tank. Yeah, that will be fun. $5 gets you three throws at our artistic director, Bob Ford. So I know a lot of people in the community probably want to dunk him, right?
Kellams: But here's the thing. Here's the thing. I looked at the people who were in the dunk tank. They're all good folks.
Versey: They're really nice. But it's for a good cause. Just dunk them anyway.
Kellams: Good cause. This does bring up, theater doesn't happen without support.
McCue: That's right. TheatreSquared is a nonprofit, and season celebration is actually one of our two main fundraisers of the year. This used to be a ticketed event for, I think we had a $60 or $70 ticket for this event, and we opened it up to the public last year for our 20th birthday, and we loved it so much that we decided to keep it to a free, open event again this year.
But it is a fundraiser, so you'll have chances to make donations while you're there. We also have a VIP lounge. You can buy a ticket for that on our website, and then we'll have a silent auction at the event with a lot of, we have about a dozen really exciting items and experiences that are unique to T2. So you won't get those kinds of things anywhere else. So our auction is live. You can check it out on the season celebration, from the season celebration website.
Kellams: I think some people perhaps who haven't been to theater much if ever think that they can't come, that it's something beyond them, or they just don't have the experience. This is a way to break that barrier down.
Versey: Absolutely. And honestly, belonging is a theme of the entire season. It's a theme of the event for sure. But definitely all of the shows in our season are about family, those that you're born into and those that you make or create on your own. And really, we want everyone to feel that they belong when they walk into our space.
And so it is definitely a great event for our typical donors and supporters. But I hope that anyone who is curious about what we do in our space just walks in, wanders in, and checks it out. There's something for everyone. And really just a great opportunity to hang out and get some free food, free drinks and enjoy the day with us.
Kellams: It's all free, but it is a fundraiser. So if someone is so inclined while they're.
McCue: Yes, yes. So you can make a donation. We'll have QR codes around to donate while you're there. And like I said, we're selling VIP tickets in advance, and that VIP lounge will have live entertainment, live music from our friend Jim Goza, and we'll have food in there and a VIP bar. And you also get a fun tote bag full of swag.
Kellams: Yes, it's a drop in.
McCue: Yes, drop in from 3 to 7 and indoor outdoor. So even if you're just wandering by and you get curious, come on inside.
Kellams: I suppose there's somebody in that building right now talking about season 22.
McCue: Always.
Versey: Yes. Always. We're always getting ready for what's next. And definitely we are starting to go through that process of reading plays and thinking about artistic team really is working on planning for the next year.
McCue: Yeah. And if I can put a little plug in for our auction, one of our auction items is a season planning experience. So you can attend a season selection meeting and help us announce next year's season and just see a little bit.
Versey: What goes into making those decisions of selecting that season. It's a really interesting process when you think about how you want to balance out the season.
Kellams: That's a great idea too, to offer that up. All right. Let's not wish our lives away. We can talk about season 22 twelve months from now. Season 21 is about to begin. Three to seven at TheatreSquared Saturday.
Versey: Yes. Just show up. No registration. We would love it if you registered, but you're welcome to drop in and just show up. I hope that folks will, like I said, the auction's open all week. Hope that folks will take a look at that early. But also our VIP tickets are up as well, and so folks can go ahead and lock that in if you wanted to. But you don't have to. You're welcome to just pop in and say hi and enjoy for as long as you'd like.
Kellams: Thank you both for coming in.
Tara Versey is director of community experience at TheatreSquared. Elizabeth France McCue is director of development at T2. The free season celebration is Saturday from 3 until 7 at TheatreSquared. Productions for this 21st season include Fences, Little Women, The 39 Steps, Every Christmas Story Ever Told and more.
Ozarks at Large transcripts are created on a rush deadline and edited for length and clarity. Copy editors utilize AI tools to review work. KUAF does not publish content created by AI. Please reach out to kuafinfo@uark.edu to report an issue. The audio version is the authoritative record of KUAF programming.
