40 Holiday Seasons’ Celebrated
Saturday, December 21, 2024
Dear Friends and Family,
I hope you are all enjoying the holiday season. A time for giving, for good cheer, and for celebrations. Did the fact that Thanksgiving came later in November throw anyone else off? I just feel like days are flying by. Also, Hanukkah starting on Christmas has made this procrastinator very behind in her shopping. TADA!’s Annual Holiday HOT (Hang Out Time) for RYET members is later today. Unfortunately, I am home sick in bed – nothing serious – I think it was the flu – kept me out of the office all week. I will really miss being at the party celebrating with all my kids.
This is the 40th holiday season that TADA! has celebrated (so, it’s not just days, but years that are flying by). A lot has changed in those 40 years. At the beginning, in the 80’s, we used to do performances over the week between Christmas and New Year’s – now we entirely close the office, giving everyone – staff, RYET members, and students, time off. Also, in the 80’s, our annual rent for our theater, rehearsal room, and lobby at 120 West 28th Street was only $42,165 (I use “only” now, but at the time it felt like a lot to us) and now it’s over $411,000/year. And, the biggest change is that none of our current RYET members and education student’s were even alive when TADA! started! In fact, that’s true of most of our staff as well! (Yup, I’m old but I’m still here!) When TADA! started I was younger than all the RYET parents and one of the youngest staff members (Jason Robert Brown was younger than me when he musical directed at TADA!) and now I’m the age of many grandparents.
I have watched thousands of young performers grow up on the TADA! stage and I’m so happy to say that I am still in touch with a number of them. I would love to see them all…maybe at TADA!’s 40th Anniversary Gala on March 10th? That’s going to be a great celebration. I love working with the youth of TADA!. I can’t wait for us to get back to three productions a year and then four or five. This would mean that there would be more new works that TADA! would be commissioning. And that would make me happy, because I also love to work with writers and develop their work (I also love writing musicals myself which I hope to do more of very soon).
There are more kids who want to be involved on our stage, in our classrooms and in the audience. Expenses keep going up (as they always do). We need our income to grow as well. This is a gift giving time of year. Please consider making a gift to TADA! now. Support from individuals has decreased this year from the prior year. I know there are a lot of important things to do with your money. I can’t tell you what to do with it, but I can tell you that your gift will really make a difference to TADA! and the youth we serve. We spend very little on fundraising so that your dollars go to support the programs. And right now every dollar we receive by December 31st will be matched! Your support will put a smile on thousands of kids’ faces who get to be a part of TADA! this year and for many years to come.
Thank you for reading, for giving, and for being a part of TADA!.
Best,
Janine Nina Trevens
Executive & Producing Artistic Director
