Look for a Day Room Window Poster in your area!

Look for a Day Room Window Poster in your area!

i Oct 1st No Comments by

Posters are printed and distributed! Look out for a poster in your local coffee shop, cafe, boutique and/or theater. Please feel free to print or share the poster on your social networks. We appreciate your support and enthusiasm throughout this project. October 16 can’t come any sooner!

DRW_poster

Casting, New Funding, Tickets Are Available!

i Aug 2nd No Comments by

It’s been an exciting few months for Day Room Window since I last updated you. I’m happy to share with you the following strides we’ve taken as we move towards the play’s October 16 – 25 performances at The New Hazlett Theatre:

Casting: The roles of the nine adolescent girls incarcerated as adults in adult prison have been cast. They include five young emerging actors who are recent Point Park and Pitt graduates and four talented CAPA students. Individually and as an ensemble, they will bring these characters to life on the stage. I am holding auditions now for the adult roles and expect to have those filled by next week. We’ll begin actual rehearsals in early September.

New Funding: I’m pleased to report that the Day Room Window project has been awarded a $10,000 grant from the Pittsburgh Foundation and a $4,000 grant from the Three Rivers Community Foundation. These are in addition to the $6,000 Sprout Fund Seed Award secured earlier in the year as well as a number of individual contributions. We’ll continue to seek funding through the summer. Suggestions for possible funding sources are most welcome.

Come to the Theatre: Please consider attending a performance of Day Room Window in October as part of a group. You’ll experience the power of theatre to illuminate, engage and enthrall and as a group you may be able to qualify for reduced ticket prices. You can purchase tickets directly from our site.

It’s About the Kids: I had the honor of sharing my experience working with girls incarcerated as adults in adult prison – the basis for Day Room Window – at a mini-conference titled  ‘The Unique Needs of Girls in the Juvenile Justice System’ organized by The Girls Coalition on June 17th and held at Gwen’s Girls. It was a very informative and necessary event. Thanks to the Girls Coalition of Southwestern Pennsylvania for organizing it.

It’s true. It does take a village – in this case to bring a play and the issues it raises to life. I want to thank each of you for being part of that village through your support, interest and enthusiasm. Keep in touch with Day Room Window right here on our website as well as our Facebook page. I’ll keep you posted as we get closer to the October opening but please contact me, Bonnie Cohen, with any questions, comments or suggestions you might have.

Have a Great Summer!

Auditions, Rehearsal Space, New Partners and Funding

i Mar 28th No Comments by

As Day Room Window moves forward towards its October 16 – 25 premiere performances at The New Hazlett Theater, I want to share with you what’s happened and where we are in bringing the play and the issues it raises to life.

  • Auditions Scheduled: Auditions for the roles of the nine incarcerated adolescents are being held March 31 – April 6 at CAPA and The New Hazlett Theater. Auditions for the five adult roles will be held at the end of May/early June.
  • New Rehearsal Space: I’m delighted to announce that we have a new rehearsal space in The Pittsburgh Project’s wonderful north side facility. (We learnt in January that the space at the Pittsburgh Mennonite Church would not be available). The Pittsburgh Project has also signed on a Day Room Window partner. Thanks & welcome.
  • New Partner: I’m happy to let you know that The Girls Coalition of Southwest Pennsylvania  is also a new partner of the Day Room Window project, joining the national organization Campaign for Youth Justice, the Pittsburgh alumni chapter of Delta Sigma Theta, a national professional African-American women’s service organization, The New Hazlett Theater and The Pittsburgh Project. Thanks to all of the partners for their collaboration in helping make Day Room Window happen.
  • Funding Update: We received word that the Day Room Window project is being recommended for a Sprout Fund Seed Award. I look forward to announcing the award’s final approval in our next update. Grant requests to the Pittsburgh Foundation (A.W. Mellon Educational & Charitable Trust Fund) and Heinz Endowment Small Arts Initiative have been submitted and are pending.

As you can see, with spring on its way, the Day Room Window project is truly coming to life. I want to thank each of you for your support, interest and enthusiasm. I encourage you to stay in touch with Day Room Window through the project’s website and Facebook page. Please share both with your friends, family and colleagues and please share with me any comments or questions you might have.

I’ll continue to keep you posted as we move forward to the October premiere.

Day Room Window Coming to New Hazlett

i Jul 27th No Comments by

I am proud to announce that Day Room Window will open at The New Hazlett Theater on October 16, 2014 for 8 performances. October 2014 is the perfect opening month since it coincides with Campaign for Youth Justice‘s National Youth Justice Awareness Month, when national attention will be focused on advocating for kids in adult prisons. Campaign for Youth Justice, a national  advocacy organization based in Washington DC, is one of Day Room Window’s partners, as is Jeffrey Shook, a professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Pittsburgh, who is an authority on incarcerated youth.

I have secured a rehearsal space at the Pittsburgh Mennonite Church and hired a talented local director and 4 young designers as part of the artistic team. Auditions will take place in late spring/ early summer. We will engage local college and university theatre departments as well as high schools and youth theatre companies to audition young talent.

I am deeply involved in building an audience for the play of people who will care about its issues. I have had conversations with the executive directors and/or staff at Gwen’s Girls, Kids Voice, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Girls Coalition, NCJW, Jewish Women’s Foundation, American Friends Service Committee, Three Rivers Community Foundation, PIIN, FISA Foundation, Sprout Fund, Pittsburgh Project, Pittsburgh Mennonite Church and Heinz Foundation.

We have begun drafting foundation requests, the first of which will be submitted in early January

Thank you for your support!