Theater Costs:
Being an actor or an actress requires lots of money for costumes, music, scripts, and props. Being in High School theater also requires much money to put on a show. Looking at the article “Pay-to-Play policies for High School Theater Programs are Problematic”, most of the students have to fight to keep their theater program still running. The students also have to pay a fee in order to participate in certain school activities. Most of these student costs are targeted towards the athletic department however in music programs and even theater students costs will be targeted towards them. This policy is known as “Pay-to-Play”. Some of these fees that students will have to pay can be $25 or up too $100 per show. Therefore if there were 4 productions a year then the costs would vary from $100 to $400. Since Theater is not a class therefore we souldn’t require our students to pay fees simply because Theater/Drama is an extracurricular activity.
A normal High School Theater department has to create these things in order to put on a Spectacular Show.
- Publicity (Posters, advertising)
- Performance Rights
- Equipment Rental
- Costumes and accessories
- sets and props
- Facility rental and deposit.
- Printing
- Salaries
- Shipping Costs
- Makeup
- Music stand and light rental
- Concessions.
However the sources of income can be:
- Starting funds
- Gifts/Fundraising
- Probable Program Sales
- Refreshment Sales
- Probable Ticket Sales
Citations:
Peterson , Chris. “Pay-to-Play Policies for High School Theatre Programs Are Problematic.” OnStage Blog, www.onstageblog.com/columns/2016/6/25/pay-to-play-policies-for-high-school-theatre-programs-only-hurt-students.
Kenrick, John. “Plan a Realistic Budget.” Musicals On Stage: A Capsule History, www.musicals101.com/puton7.htm
