Check our website for the most up to date information and follow us on our socials! Schedule a meeting with Addie and take our 2023-24 survey (similar to last year's if you completed it with updates for this year).

💎Our theme for VTF 2025 is "Deep Roots, Bright Future" for our 55th season; the year of the emerald 💚💎 ! Join us Jan 9-11th for #vtf2025! Stay tuned for more exciting announcements!💎

We would also love to share out about your programs on our social media pages. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram at @vathespians so we can follow you back/keep track of your happenings. You may see your school or show featured soon. Use #vathespians for us to easily find your post! Enjoy media from summer events to see what the Thespians have been up to...

"Tracy Wells’ love of theater started at an early age when her parents took her to see big name shows in local community theaters. She loved the characters, the scenery, the costumes, and most importantly, the beautiful stories that came to life before her eyes. As a teenager, Tracy joined her high school drama department and got her own taste of small stage stardom—as well as her first glimpse into the challenges that schools and community theaters face, such as limited budgets, little to no stage or storage space, and the lack of scripts for large cast sizes... Tracy now has more than one hundred published plays and skits with a number of publishers and her plays have been produced all across the country as well as internationally. When she writes a play, Tracy continues to keep in mind those challenges she recognized all those years ago on the high school stage—limited budget, small stages, and the desire to let each character shine. "

Join us next summer for the most amazing shared teacher experience! Forget traditional PDs, this is a lesson sharathon, teachers sharing best strategies with teachers, bonding, lesson planning, and more! Add more to your teacher toolbox and join us in August! We are looking for presenters. Consider proposing a topic! Here is a sample of our model lesson plan. Email Addie: executivedirector@vathespian.org or prolearning@vathespian.org with your interest in teaching a session or two! More information coming soon!

Consider Booktix or Ludus for your ticketing programs. Work through our referrals so we get a kickback to further more student opportunities in VA at the festival and beyond!

Virginia Thespians are excited to announce a continued partnership with BookTix Online Ticketing! Many of our schools already use BookTix for their ticketing & fundraising needs. By partnering with BookTix, VA Thespians receive a percentage of all sales which goes directly into creating programs for your students! When you use BookTix, you not only make ticketing simpler for your box office, families & patrons, you are also giving back to VA Thespians. BookTix has committed to helping us grow in many ways, including sponsorship, education opportunities & more! Please use our affiliate link to sign up for a demonstration of their robust system & see for yourself:

CLICK HERE

Join us for an informational webinar on September 5th at 7pm about "Building & Marketing Your Upcoming Season." Here's the link for the webinar. https://meeting.zoho.com/meeting/register?sessionId=1017286171

Getting Members Signed Up: Ensure your members sign up using your referral code or partner landing page. This ensures they are automatically assigned to your partner dashboard. We've seen fantastic sign-ups in your area and want to ensure everyone is making the most of their referral codes. Your success is our success! If you would like a webinar, we can schedule one for all contacts or you can inquire yourself.

• Your Referral Code: Ludus.com/VT​
• Your Partner Landing Page: https://www.partners.ludus.com/partners/vt

Product Updates: We continue to add new features and improve existing ones based on your feedback. Recent updates include:

• Volunteer Management: Streamline your volunteer operations with our easy-to-use tool.
• Waitlists: Enable a "Join Waitlist" button on your Events and Classes.
• Direct Forms: Share direct links to forms for collecting information and data.
• Apps: Android and iOS apps are now available!
• Pay Options: Google Pay, Apple Pay, and Apple Wallet are all available. As well as "other" option available for Venmo, etc.
• Collections/Registration updates: Collect payments for member fees, trips, registrations, and more.
• Branding: Fully customizable areas within Ludus to reflect your organization's branding.
• Ticket Transfer: No more having to hold tickets for someone, you can easily transfer it to another phone # or email!

Angelo Merenda has worked freelance as an audio technician, lighting director, and production manager for over 20 years on the East Coast. New York credits include Manhattan School of Music, Webster Hall Quarterly Arts Soiree and the Moving Beauty Dance Series. In the DC area, he has worked productions at The Studio Theater, Shakespeare Theatre, and Constellation Theatre, and served as Production Manager for Rainbow Theatre Project. He trains teens and college interns each summer as Technical Director for The Theatre Lab School of the Dramatic Arts in Washington, DC. Prior to joining The Theatre Lab, he managed local crews for touring rock and roll and Broadway shows for the Modlin Center for the Arts in Richmond, VA. He studied in VA at the College of William and Mary, helping schools all over the state with various technical needs as he is available. Ask us about getting Angelo at your school this year!

FALL TIMELINE:

Aug 2 - Early Bird Registration

Sep 13 - Registration Begins

Oct 18 - Mainstage Deadline

Oct 18 - One-Act Title Change Deadline

Oct 25 - Mainstage Selected

Nov 1 - One-Act Deadline

Nov 15 - Late Registration

Nov 15 - One-Act Rights Required

Dec 2 - Registration Closes

Check our social media accounts for EdTA, our parent organization or for VA Thespians for recent reminders and updates. Get more resources, learn more about International Thespian Society, and more! The remaining information below is a friendly reminder from previous newsletters. Follow us on Instagram: @vathespians

Email: executivedirector@vathespian.org
Website: https://www.vathespian.org/mission.html
Location: Winchester, VA, USA
Phone: 703-554-3416
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VirginiaThespians
Twitter: @thespians1

Teachers:

-VHSL Theatre, Speech, & Dance Conference Sept. 19-20 (Richmond, VA) (more info coming soon)-TEC -Theatre Education Conference - September 26-29, 2024 (The Depot l Minneapolis, MN), prices go up after 5/1! Register today for best prices!

-Online monthly social, stay tune for more information coming soon!

Students/ Schools:

-VTA Oct 23-27th in Richmond, VA

-VTF Jan 9-11th, 2025 for our 55th season! Stay tuned for more info!

-Fall social, more information coming soon!

Colleagues,

You know that incredible feeling you get after a good professional development conference? You’re inspired and itching to put new ideas into practice. In my 30-plus years in theatre education, I’ve been fortunate to have that experience many times – so when I tell you that this year’s Theatre Education Conference is the strongest theatre PD conference I’ve ever seen, that’s really saying something.

This conference isn’t just for classroom teachers or Thespian troupe directors; it’s for all theatre educators. Attendees will walk away with concrete ideas they can use to improve their practice while sparking their passion to drive student learning throughout this school year.

That’s why I’m asking you to share this opportunity far and wide — to your colleagues in your community and state, from principals and superintendents to cultural partners. In the spirit of our event theme, Building Community, students see stronger outcomes when we all come together to strengthen our field.

The conference is just a month away, so we’re waiving the late fees to enable more educators to participate. Please share the attached promotion and use the code EdTAchapters to get the best rate.

Thanks in advance for ensuring theatre educators don’t miss out on this incredible opportunity. You can share by forwarding this note or the attached information sheet highlighting all the wonderful event content.

Dr. Jennifer Katona

Executive Director

WE HOPE TO SEE YOU AT TEC THIS MONTH!

Use the most up-to-date logos , colors, fonts, etc. for a refresh and to get your branding up to speed with our new logos. Break a leg on fall auditions, productions, one act competitions, ITS inductions, first quarters, and more. Let us know how we can help support you this year!

Did you hear we have a Virginia Thespians Alumni Facebook group? Consider passing this along to your graduating seniors. So far, it is an inspiring network of over 300 professionals, who can be valuable resources for your students beyond high school. These are previous Thespians who remember what it is like to be in their shoes and many of which are happy to serve as mentors. We are creating an alumni board to also fundraise resources for students going to festival, bring in more alumni guest artists, and more! If you are an alumni, consider joining it yourself! We have many more plans in store for the alumni to partner with us to support the current as well as future generations of Virginia Thespians! Join us today!

Here is an easy step-by-step checklist for spring inductions. Use these materials as you see fit!

1. Hold an interest meeting. Ask- Who is interested in becoming inducted into ITS?

2. Share out the point application (your own copy) for students to complete with their past and current theatrical experiences for certain point values.

3. Have students fill out the Member Google form, (your own copy) for the exact information you need to collect to put them into the official ITS/ EdTA system, and pay $35 for the one-time membership fee, which lasts them a lifetime. (More materials at the bottom of the newsletter to promote and explain ITS.)

4. Hold inductions. Here is a sample outline to use. You can create your own rituals, traditions, or if you are in a pinch, it can be less than 30 minutes before school starts or before a rehearsal for example.

5. Log into your myedta account to input all of your new inductees.

6. Pay the lump sum as the director, if your students didn't pay EdTA directly. Our suggestion is to collect the money as you typically do for school events, work with your bookkeeper or boosters to cut one check to EdTA to keep it simple.

7. Hold an end of year or semester celebration to hand out the new goodies when they are delivered to the school! Here is the Thespian store for graduation regalia. If you are trying to save money, cords can be found on Amazon too.

Don't have a troupe yet? Read more about the benefits and process here! You do not need a minimum number of students now to activate/ reactivate your troupe. Get started today! Other resources on inductions from EdTA. Want a 2nd troupe director or someone to go in your place to Thespian events? Consider an Associate Troupe Director! Have you renewed your troupe for the year? If not, follow these instructions. This needs to be done annually for your troupe to stay active.

1. How to renew? Troupe directors, log in to your member portal at myedta.schooltheatre.org

2. Click the "My Orders" button.

3. Renew by Oct 15th for this year!

*Hold fall inductions, so your students get inducted, so they get the discounts for all events and, so they can qualify to move onto nationals with their Thespys. Deadline to be inducted is around 4/15.

Here is a Google Slides PPT about Thespians to encourage students to join.

Here is a Festival Guide for students or new troupe directors.