What is the Reader's Theatre Project?2
The Reader's Theatre Project began in 1993 as a literacy program at the Children's Museum of Los Angeles. Feeling a strong responsibility to introduce children to the joys of books and reading but, realizing that we could not teach them to read in a single visit, the Museum staff created a unique blend of theatre, music, story-telling and books which is called the Reader's Theatre Project.
Each of these 40-minute musical productions brings four or five children's picture books to life with professional actors, dancers and musicians from the Los Angeles performing arts community. Each
book's text is presented exactly as it is written and its illustrations are projected on screens above the stage. All costumes and props are quoted from the illustrations and an original musical score is composed for each book by award winning composer, Scott Nagatani.
The Reader's Theatre Project has been very successful in exciting children about reading. It continues to be a favorite of teachers and parents, as well as the pre-school and elementary school audience for which it is created.
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here to read quotes from letters
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here to meet the cast
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Where can I see a performance?
Reader's Theatre Project performances tour the Greater Los Angeles area. Productions have been mounted at Storyopolis, the Los Angeles Times' Festival of Books, Santa Monica Place, the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, and many area schools. Our events calendar which list Reader's Theatre Project performances is posted on our website.
To receive a schedule of performances or touring information, please call Frank Pittarese at
213.687.8800 extension 131.
What happens at a Reader's Theatre Project performance?
The doors open onto an empty theatre. Children and their grown-ups enter. In a touring production, the audience could be anywhere from a "cafetorium" to the community room of a shopping mall to an outdoor festival stage.
As the audience members take their seats, live music mingles with their chatter, laughter, and sounds of expectation. The stage is all but empty, with two gray ladders, a few stools, a gray curtain, two empty video screens. The lights dim. A hush falls. A single voice sings, "This is the place where readers can learn,.." The lights begin to rise. "...these are the books that show the way..." One by one, actors enter with books. "...to the place to listen and read." The curtain rises. As the song continues, a book's title page is projected onto the screens, props and costumes come out of trunks, and the stage is transformed into a story adventureland.
Each story begins with the introduction of the book. Each actor assumes a specific character, assembling small costume and hand props. The actor who serves as narrator begins to read. Illustrations from the book are projected from slides above the stage and change as the action progresses.
While the narrator reads descriptive text from the side of the stage, the other actors perform the story. They re-create every bit of the dialogue, movement, and action in the whole story.
Each story is professionally scored. The music is performed live on keyboard and synthesizer. Some stories are set to music in their entirety. Simple technical, sound, and lighting effects are added to enhance the story.
Who is the audience?
The primary audience for the Reader's Theatre Project is 3-9 year old children and their grown-ups (teachers, parents, grandparents, care-givers).
Why is the Children's Museum dedicated to the Reader's Theatre Project?
The Reader's Theatre Project is a response to pleas from the Children's Museum's members and visitors to "do something about literacy." In researching the statistics on literacy for the Children's Museum's young audience, alarming facts emerged:
- Fifty-two percent of Los Angeles fourth graders read below grade
level.
- For the last five years, the children of California scored last or next to last on federal literacy assessments.
- Fewer than 10% of graduating seniors in the United States can read well enough to successfully fill out job application forms by themselves.
- In a recent United Nations survey, the U.S. ranked 58th amongst 159 member countries in the percentage of population who could read at a sixth grade level.
It was clear that the Children's Museum had a responsibility to do something that addressed the literacy
challenge.
Considering their mission to "educate, entertain and empower children and their grown-ups" and to spur the imagination to further exploration, the staff of the Children's Museum decided to create a program which would not only introduce children to books and reading in an inspiring and memorable way, but would also lead children to want to read on their own.
The result is the Reader's Theatre Project which has entertained and inspired-to-read more than 100,000 children and care-givers in its short history.
Where does financial support come from?
There is no ticket fee charged for performances.
Schools or outreach sponsoring organizations usually pay a fee which covers salaries for actors,
musicians and stage managers.
All personnel and production fees are raised through donations and grant awards solicited by the Children's Museum. 100 % of all donations earmarked for RTP are put directly into the program. Past donors include The Parsons Foundation, The Ahmanson Foundation, The Weingart Foundation, The Wells Fargo Foundation and currently the Times Mirror Foundation.
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