|
Voted RI Monthly's
Best Children's Theatre
"A RI treasure"
RI State Council on the Arts
|
A Kaleidoscope History
Kaleidoscope Theatre was founded in
1977 and achieved 501(c)3 status the following year. From 1979 to
1981, Kaleidoscope hit the local airwaves with its own television
series on channel 12, the then-ABC affiliate in Providence.
Kaleidoscope Theatre aired a half-hour family musical every Saturday
and Sunday morning to the delight of families in the greater Rhode
Island area.
One viewer, Buster Bonoff, was the owner of the Warwick
Musical Theatre in Warwick, RI. He was so pleased with what he saw,
that he gave the company the opportunity to perform a season of live
fairytale
musicals the following summer. The first show, Little Red
Ridinghood, only had half a house, but the second show,
Mother Goose, sold out! The third and final show, Pinocchio,
was so packed, that the show was held for 20 minutes!
The
following summer, Kaleidoscope was booked into two more venues: the
South Shore Music Circus in Cohasset, MA and the Oakdale Theatre in
Wallingford, CT. As summers passed, Kaleidoscope gained more and
more new venues, and wrote more and more new shows, all written by
our Executive Director, David G. Payton.
Prior to this, in 1978, Kaleidoscope Theatre toured educational
shows to elementary and middle schools throughout the New England
area. One of the first school-touring shows, “I’m Special – You’re
Special,” is perhaps the company’s greatest success story. This show
is about the inclusion (mainstreaming) of a boy with Down Syndrome
into a regular school. The show was so well received by its
audiences, that Kaleidoscope Theatre partnered with the ARC
(Association of Retarded Citizens) nationally to tour “I’m Special…”
to schools throughout the coun try
from Maine to Texas, and bring the show to three national
conventions, two national congresses,
as well as an international Down Syndrome conference in Jerusalem,
Israel.
Kaleidoscope Theatre’s other school-touring shows have
enjoyed much success as well, dealing with a broad range of topics,
such as: drug dependence, drug prevention/elimination issues, teen
pregnancy, autism, deafness, divorce, bullying, physical handicaps,
and the environment. The environmental show, “The Seababies,” taught
audiences to save today’s resources for future generations, and was
performed at the White House Easter celebration in 1996.
In the early 1990’s, Kaleidoscope Theatre began presenting original
dinner theatre murder mysteries as fundraisers for the Rhode Island
Special Olympics. These events were so successful, that the shows
were booked into local restaurants. To this day, Kaleidoscope still
performs dinner theatre murder mysteries at restaurants throughout
New England and frequently is invited to perform for fundraisers,
private parties, as well as at casinos, conventions, and corporate
functions.
Over the past 30 years, Kaleidoscope Theatre has received many
honors and awards, including most recently, the title of Rhode
Island’s Best Children’s Theatre from RI Monthly magazine. Other
awards the company has received include a Rhode Island Theatre
Achievement Award, a Rhode Island Jefferson Award, and several
awards from the ARC, including a Community Service Award, a
Community Awareness Award, a Service Accomplishment Award, and the Lilian Miller award for Outstanding Leadership by a Volunteer.
Back
to About Us |
About Us
Greeting
from Our Executive Director
Staff
|
