Program areas at TLD
General accomplishments/new work:as a performing arts organization, the covid-19 pandemic had a swift and severe impact on Theater latt Da's (tld) operations and programming. On march 13, 2020, just one day before the opening of our critically acclaimed re-imagining of la bohme, we made the painful and necessary decision to close our doors to the public. Tld cancelled dozens of performances the remainder of our 2019-20 season, including la bohme, the world premiere of twelve angry men, and the annual next festival. Tld furloughed 10 full-time staff, including those in technical and artistic positions. Thanks to the efforts of our staff and the generosity of our community, more than $100,000 in tickets for cancelled performances were converted into donations helping ensure tld's financial stability in an uncertain and unpredictable time. Tld also gratefully received federal government support from the paycheck protection program (ppp) and the shuttered venue operators grant (svog). Additional federal support from the employee retention tax credit program continued to contribute to our financial recovery throughout fy2022.tld remained closed for in-person public performances throughout the 2020-21 season but launched a bold plan to continue to support artists and to invest in our future and the future of the art form. We launched next up, an intensive laboratory to incubate nine new musicals and plays with music between september 2020 and july 2021. The next up laboratory, led by tld artistic director peter rothstein and director of new work elissa adams, included terrence mcnally's last play immortal longings and an exciting lineup of projects by playwright harrison david rivers; composer ted shen; musicians kate kilbane and dan moses of the kilbanes; jessie austrian and noah brody of fiasco Theater; mexican playwright joserra ziga: scenic designer kate sutton-johnson; playwright jucoby johnson and songwriters meghan kreidler and michael anderson of the band kiss the tiger; local writer-performers bradley greenwald and steven epp; actress sally wingert; and hip hop Theater artists the q brothers. After live performances returned in fall 2021, we continued our expanded commitment to new musical development. A pre-production workshop was completed for twelve angry men: a new musical, several prior works received further development, and new processes were launched with playwright michelle de joya; adapter-performer andrew wilkowske; and librettist kelley rourke. Our second next generation commission, a $20,000 award was given to the team of celeste moreno, bethany brinton and crystal manich for the development of their new musical the legend of la llorona. Mainstage productions:tld gratefully resume in person performances in fall 2021, reopening our doors to audiences with the celebratory puttin' on the ritz musical revue. The season continued with the return of holiday favorite all is calm: the christmas truce of 1914. We continued by completing much of the season that had been planned for 2020 and received near universal critical and audience acclaim for productions of la bohme, the regional premiere of jelly's last jam, and the world premiere of twelve angry men: a new musical, which was named one of the star tribune's top productions of 2022. Our annual next festival of new musicals also returned, providing developmental opportunities for three writing teams and sharing three new works in process including johnny schicchi, the last babushka, and scotland, pa with sold-out audiences. 2021-2022 performances were experienced by more than 30,000 people despite the season having one less production than a typical tld season would. These productions, combined with the next up development program, together employed more than 350 actors, designers, directors, composers, lyricists, librettists, and other artists. Community engagement & support:we also welcomed the return of educational collaborations in 2021-2022 with project success, hennepin theatre trust, and other partnerships that enabled us to introduce more than 300 young people to musical Theater. Over $108,000 in free and discounted tickets was distributed throughout the season to provide attendance opportunities for access target audiences including veterans, artists, educators, and fellow residents living of our local 55413 zip code. In a new partnership with crooners supper club in nearby fridley, mn, we brought cabaret performances to the north metro suburbs with a sold out two-part celebration of the work of stephen sondheim and twelve angry women, a companion evening to our mainstage production of twelve angry men. In may 2022, tld's annual showstoppers and other drama gala played to capacity at quincy hall, a newly opened venue in our northeast minneapolis neighborhood. The evening was both the best attended fundraiser in tld history and the most financially successful, generating almost $300,000 in contributions from our generous community of supporters.