Tag Archives: The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati

2017-2018 Properties Master
(10 Month Contract)

Organizational Overview:

TCT’s mission is to educate, entertain and engage audiences of all ages through professional theatrical productions and arts education programming.  We fulfill our mission through four primary programs:

• TCT MainStage – We welcome 107,000 children, teachers, and family members from across the region, to one of our four family-friendly and professional musical theatre productions at the historic Taft Theatre.
• TCT On Tour – We see over 47,000 children and their families at one of our touring performances or during an arts-integration workshop or residency.
• TCT Academy – Over 750 children will be provided fine arts instruction, including the group that participates in summer intensive STAR summer programs through which we offer professional musical theatre training to some of the region’s most talented youth.
• TCT Showtime Series – Our newest division, creating a premium theatrical experience in an intimate theatrical setting, located at our new facility on Red Bank Road.

Vision: To awaken a lifelong love of theater in children and the young at heart. 

Core Beliefs:

• We believe in the power of theater to enrich lives and create deeper understandings of people, cultures, and perspectives.
• We believe that our audiences deserve high quality experiences that are rich with wonder, honesty, compassion, joy, and wisdom.

• We believe that the arts and education are not mutually exclusive.
• We believe that the art we create must respect the diversity of our community.
• We believe in the power of integrated arts education to enrich our lives and our communities.

Position Overview:

The 2017-2018 Season Properties Master will assist the organization in fulfilling its mission of educating, entertaining and engaging audiences of all ages through professional theatrical productions and arts education programming.  The Properties Master will be directly responsible for researching, designing, developing, and otherwise obtaining all props and rehearsal props for TCT MainStage, Showtime, and TCT on Tour divisions in collaboration with directors and stage managers of the productions, and the designated scenic designer of each show.  The Properties Master is also responsible for any prop needs associated with promotional appearances and photo shoots.

The Properties Master will report directly to the Technical Director, and will be responsible for maintaining and organizing future additions to our property stock.

Much of the props required for TCT on Tour can be pulled from our stock, located in our scenic shop facility in St. Bernard.  The ideal candidate will have experience creatively blending existing stock with their own design, building props from scratch, and purchasing creative solutions to satisfy the director’s vision.

Responsibilities and Qualifications:    

The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati Properties Master’s duties include the following responsibilities and qualifications:

• Creating or otherwise obtaining props and rehearsal props for all MainStage, Showtime, and Touring Productions.
• Shopping for necessary materials
• Working with power tools
• Altering existing props to fit the director’s vision
• Transporting props to and from the shop or renting company, rehearsal studio, and performance location. (Please note Taft Load-in dates for MainStage)
• Repairing damaged props as necessary
• Tracking a materials budget and promptly turning in receipts
• Creating a master prop matrix for each show with Stage Management Team
• Reading and responding to rehearsal reports in a timely manner
• Ability to produce within a given deadline and in adherence with the production schedule
• Building relationships with other arts organizations, share prop stock
• Working knowledge of electrics and implementing electronic functions
• Must have a background in carpentry, wood-working and welding
• Artistic painting experience
• Sewing, hemming, and upholstery skills

Systems and Operations:            

The TCT Properties Master will have access to tools, stock, and facility use in our Scenic Shop, located in St Bernard, as well as space in our facility on Red Bank Road.

The TCT Properties Master will have access to a tax-exempt form and a company credit card for purchases.

The TCT Properties Master will have access to use a TCT van, to transport items to and from the performance venue.  Contractor must schedule the van with the Operations Manager. If the van is unavailable, the Properties Master may need to use their own mode of transportation.  Per TCT policy, a $.40 per mile reimbursement will be in effect between a TCT location and a third party location.

TCT locations include: our headquarters on Red Bank Road, our scene shop in St. Bernard, and Downtown at the Taft Theatre.

Third party locations include:  retail locations, rental pick-up locations, or donation pick-up locations.

TCT does not reimburse for miles to or from the contractor’s home and any location, or between two TCT locations.  The contractor must keep a detailed log of mileage.

The TCT Properties Master is covered under worker compensation.

The TCT Properties Master position is treated as a contractor and is paid a stipend.

Commitment:                                                                                                                                  

The TCT Properties Master contract begins August 1^st 2017.  The Properties Master must be available for production meetings prior to and during the rehearsal process, technical and dress rehearsals as assigned, and to meet the following deadlines for completed show designs: (Note:  rehearsal props should be present by first blocking rehearsal and final performance props are due by load-in or first dress.)

• The Cat in the Hat (Tour):  Rehearses August 7^st-18^th, 2017
• Young Abe Lincoln (Tour): Rehearses August 21^st-September 2^nd, 2017
• Peter Pan Jr (MainStage): Rehearses September 18^th-October 20^th, 2017 (Taft Load in October 16^th, Load out October 30^th)
• Cinderella (MainStage): Rehearses November 5^th– December 8^th, 2017 (Taft Load in December 4^th, Load-out December 18^th) NOTE: Cinderella requires a partial prop rental with The Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis.
• Celebrate the Season (Tour): Rehearses November 8^th– 22^nd, 2017
• Maya: A Writer’s Legacy (Tour): Rehearsals January 2^nd– 12^th, 2018
• DreamWorks Madagascar (MainStage): Rehearses January 8^th-February 9^th, 2018 (Taft Load in February 5^th, Load out February 19^th)
• Polkadots (Showtime Series): Rehearses February 5^th-21^st, 2018 (Strike: March 26^th)
• Mary Poppins Jr. (MainStage): Rehearses March 5^th – April 6^th, 2018 (Taft Load in April 2^nd, Load out April 16^th)

Minimum and Ideal Qualifications:

Education Level – Bachelor of Fine Arts or equivalent work experience.

Compensation/Payment Schedule:

• A generous 10-month stipend of $22,000 will be paid to the contractor.
• Contractor will be paid bi-monthly on the 1^st and 15^th of each month beginning August 15^th, 2017 and ending May 31^st, 2018.  $21,492 will be divided into 18 payments of $1,194.00.  A final payment of $508.00 will be paid upon strike of all TCT on Tour props on May 31^st, 2018.

To apply, send your cover letter and resume, with any work samples to submissions@tctcincinnati.com.  Please use the subject:  “PROPERTY MASTER SUBMISSION”

Cincinnati –The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati (TCT), the country’s oldest professional theatre for young audiences, is accepting submissions for diverse roles in the 2017-18 touring season and within the new TCT Resident Artist Company.   

Troupe members will receive a full-time salary of $25k/year plus full benefits (comprehensive benefits package includes Health/Dental/Vision, 403(b), PTO – paid time off).  Each member of the Resident Artist Company will be guaranteed four to five projects each year: participating in tours, teaching, new works development, and arts administration.

“This is not a just a gig.”, said Roderick Justice, Artistic Director of TCT. “Each recruit will be a full-fledged employee and part of the TCT family.  This is the opportunity for nine artists to be a part of something fresh, exciting, and rewarding.  We are looking nationwide for a diverse and passionate troupe of artists, teachers, and versatile performers.  The actors we will hire must be able to step into a variety of roles, yet be flexible enough to learn and cultivate new arts administrative skills.”

Full-time employment will begin August 1, 2017.

Those interested should send their headshot, resume, and a video link of the applicant singing a musical-theatre song to submissions@tctcincinnati.com, with the subject line: “RAC Submission”. 

Submissions will be accepted only until Midnight, Wednesday, May 10, 2017. 

Please do not apply if you have submitted in the past six (6) months. 

The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati is the only professional theater in the region that devotes its entire MainStage season to children. TCT brings more than 103,000 people downtown annually and reaches over 68,000 students through touring productions.  The company’s TCT Academy offers arts training to children in a variety of disciplines.

Since 1924, The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati (TCT) has been educating, entertaining and engaging audiences of all ages through professional theatrical productions and arts education programming for schools and families throughout the region.  “We are helping to create the future arts patrons for our city, while at the same time are filling a gap left by the reduction in arts education in schools,” said Kim Deaton, Managing Director and CEO of The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati. TCT brings art to life for children and the young at heart through three key programs:  TCT MainStage at the Taft, TCT on Tour (including WorkShops), and TCT Academy (performing arts instruction).

Our TCT MainStage at the Taft series performed in downtown Cincinnati includes daytime performances for school audiences and weekend performances for the public.  Four production runs are held each year, with individual shows formatted into one-hour, family friendly events. For each Broadway-quality production, we present seven performances for public audiences and ten performances for school students.

TCT on Tour brings the magic of live theatre directly to those who would otherwise be unable to enjoy it. TCT tours five productions each season, serving children of all ages (kindergarten through high school) with titles taken from classic literature, fairy tales, history and other works studied in school curricula. The acting troupe travels with innovative sets, which are designed to be both portable and visually enticing. TCT on Tour prides itself on productions that are both educational and entertaining, as well as affordable for schools and other venues across the broad geographic spectrum of Ohio. TCT on Tour also includes the WorkShop division, which takes a teaching artist directly into individual classrooms or after school programs, for a more interactive arts integration experience with children from pre-K through 16 years of age. Many of the workshops we offer examine contemporary concerns through the introduction of historical figures, such as Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Langston Hughes; while other workshops bring social topics such as healthy eating, self-esteem and anti-bullying to life through theater, music, writing and role-playing.

Both TCT MainStage and TCT on Tour school shows are followed by a question and answer session between the audience and the cast and/or TCT representative (often, the Director) and are accompanied by complementary study guides, with state and national standards in mind, available on our website.  Our productions are intended to act as a bridge for local curricula, giving schools access to high quality arts education as well as serving as a catalyst for integrating the arts with other subjects.

TCT Academy offers arts training to children in a variety of disciplines through our twelve-week, one hour/week class sessions, our one-week themed summer camps for introductory arts makers or our audition-based, two-week STAR Camp Red Bank program and one-month, audition-based STAR Intensive NKU summer program for children with demonstrated talent and interest in the performing arts. In addition to learning the arts, a primary objective for these arts integrated classes is to provide students with the necessary tools to become successful adults.  Whether the students continue in an arts field or choose a different career path, the skills they develop in these programs can be leveraged and will last a life time.

The TCT Showtime Series at Red Bank is a brand-new destination for theater education expanding TCT’s reach into the community.  The Ralph and Patricia Corbett Showtime Stage is a small 152-seat performance space housed in our new facility on Red Bank Road. This new theater gives us the opportunity to program for new audiences, including preschoolers as well as middle and high school students.  Thus, we begin the creation of future arts patrons in Cincinnati at an even earlier age, and extend their engagement through high school.  The Showtime Series will allow us to program the new space with more than 64 performances.  The two productions slated for the coming year are:  Dr. Seuss’s The Cat in the Hat June 2-July 9, 2017; and the regional premiere of Polkadots: The Cool Kids Musical February 23-March 25, 2018.

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