LT2025-006 LAUGHING HORSE ARTS FOUNDATION

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Response 5: Please explain what plans exist to allow this project to become self-sustaining. Include any plans for ticket sales, event sponsors, and other cost-recovery models.* As a non-profit arts organization, we are primarily funded by individual donations and by production revenue. Over the past 26 years, we have expanded our theatrical offerings from one summer musical blockbuster to 4-5 regular events, including a youth production, a cabaret style dinner theatre, a winter production for small cast plays and musicals. While our mission to provide quality community-based theatre remains unchanged, the number of actors, crew and patrons have grown as well, and there has been a greater need to offer more than just musicals. We are planning on regular community theatre educational workshops this year - ideally starting at once-per-month, and we have visions of being able to offer Shakespeare in the Park (at the new Unity Park), Reader ’s Theatre, workshops, youth camps, and more! For this project we plan to promote the event and ticket sales more heavily through social media, website and local advertising. We have our full season set for next year and are looking into selling season tickets or flex-passes for the first time. We continue to actively pursue more business advertising and sponsorships, and build a better base of repeat business customers, with more reliable streams of income for our productions in general. Our repeat advertisers and in-kind sponsors have grown, but still has room for improvement. As a community theater, one of our goals is to keep the ticket price low enough to make attending more accessible to the broader community including seniors and students; but raising ticket prices down the line is not out of the question – especially if theatrical royalties, facility rental costs, and materials costs continue to rise. Ancillary events, like the Princess Tea we held in 2024, are additions that bring goodwill, engage families, and ultimately bring in additional revenue as well. We have not determined if we will create an add-on event in conjunction with the 2025 musical yet. Since we will be performing Independence Day weekend - we are considering offering a Pay-What-You-Can performance on the 4th of July as a holiday bonus/community celebration. As an organization, we have made some strategic technology purchases (lights, speakers, drapes) that would allow us to perform more easily in alternative venues. This in turn allows us to be a more mobile community theatre and helps us to lower our rental/technology costs for future productions. 2500 character limit Application Questions: Part 4 6| Additional Information Response 6.1: Provide any additional information which will assist the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee in evaluating your project and its benefit to tourism. As a community theatre company, we aspire to provide positive experiences for Ellensburg families. Our youth develop a passion for live performances that comes with the opportunity to feel the warmth of the stage lights on their faces and the camaraderie of an ensemble of players. Our adult participants get to have an outlet for their creativity that they don't typically find in their usual daily lives. They have the opportunity to connect with people whom otherwise they may never cross paths with. There is something vital that happens when a group of diverse people come together to work on a creative project. There is an almost cathartic release for audience patrons experiencing live theatre. It helps us to look at our world in new ways, laugh, ponder our lives, process emotions, and join together as a community. In turn, theatre patrons give their energy back to the actors. It is a symbiotic relationship that transports the actor and audience member to another world for a brief period of time. But don’t take our word for it. Here are a few comments we received directly from attendees of our 2024 summer production: ● The quality of this show was comparable to a Broadway show. The stage was beautiful, actors and vocalists were tremendous, the live orchestra was such a treat, beautiful ballet, great costuming and stage blocking. ● Glad to come back to VTC after not seeing a show here since The Music Man [in 2019]. Traveling from an hour away and having a consistently busy schedule makes it hard to attend. But when I heard you were doing Anastasia, I had to clear my weekend to make myself available to drive over! Wonderful job to the cast, crew, and orchestra! I've already told my friends and family to go to next weekend's shows! ● I drive all the way from Quincy to attend most of the performances. ● 3 grandchildren from Massachusetts enjoyed the play and the actors meet and greet at end ● This was an excellent example of community theatre at its best. From the cast selections, to the costumes, set, lighting and the musicians in the pit, all were well prepared for production. 2500 character limit