The Players Inc (dba The Players Centre for Performing Arts)

Working towards our mission to entertain, educate and engagement we've established three main areas of focus.

Productions: Providing entertainment and a creative outlet for our community through our stage productions: Broadway Series – six shows that present a mix of moods, styles and messages to appeal to a wide variety of residents and tourists.Summer Sizzler Series – three full-length plays. SNAP (Something New At Players) Series – one-day or long-weekend performances of concerts, play readings, short-run productions, from family friendly to progressive entertainment. New Play Festival – showcases local playwrights.Backstage at The Players – three contemporary plays in an intimate black-box venue.Theater in the Field - The Legend of Sleepy Hollow & other family theater productions in outdoor settings in Lakewood Ranch.

Training: To provide educational opportunities to a diverse group of students through The Players Studio, the education and outreach arm for The Players Centre for Performing Arts, which provides a multi-disciplined performing arts training to students of all ages and all abilities to students from Sarasota and Manatee Counties.

Community Access: Through our Charity Preview Performance Program: this benefit program is integral to the mission of The Players by providing complimentary tickets each season to over 5,000 individuals to see the seven shows in the Broadway Series. Established in 1985, this program serves more than 30 charity organizations in Sarasota and Manatee counties.

Our Players Studio Outreach initiative provides community engagement opportunities for The Studio's four ensemble-driven performance groups. The Players Kids (ages 8 to 17), The Players Teens (ages 13-17), The Players Follies (a 55+ senior troupe) and The Players Flash Tappers (ages 18+ tap troupe). All four troupes perform for people who cannot travel to the theatre and are confined to retirement homes and assisted living facilities in Sarasota, Venice, Bradenton and Lakewood Ranch.

Players Art Gallery – collaboration with the Sarasota art community, located in the theatre lobby featuring the work of local artist(s) for the run of each Broadway Series show.

The Players Centre's
Productions: Providing entertainment and a creative outlet for our community through our stage productions: Broadway Series – six shows that present a mix of moods, styles and messages to appeal to a wide variety of residents and tourists.Summer Sizzler Series – three full-length plays. SNAP (Something New At Players) Series – one-day or long-weekend performances of concerts, play readings, short-run productions, from family friendly to progressive entertainment. New Play Festival – showcases local playwrights.Backstage at The Players – three contemporary plays in an intimate black-box venue.Theater in the Field - The Legend of Sleepy Hollow & other family theater productions in outdoor settings in Lakewood Ranch.

Training: To provide educational opportunities to a diverse group of students through The Players Studio, the education and outreach arm for The Players Centre for Performing Arts, which provides a multi-disciplined performing arts training to students of all ages and all abilities to students from Sarasota and Manatee Counties. The Players Studio prides itself on serving students of all ages and all abilities. While programming is available for students age 1 to 101 ensures the all ages categories, new and unique opportunities are being implemented daily to promote all abilities. The Players has recently launched a collaboration with a nonprofit serving intellectual and developmental disabilities and have implemented an inclusive theatre program for high school aged-students and adults with disabilities. Additionally, nearly one-third of all students receive some level of funding support from The Building Better Grownups Scholarship, allowing and encouraging students from low-income or struggling families to access an arts education.

Community Access: Through our Charity Preview Performance Program: this benefit program is integral to the mission of The Players by providing complimentary tickets each season to over 5,000 individuals to see the seven shows in the Broadway Series. Established in 1985, this program serves more than 30 charity organizations in Sarasota and Manatee counties.

Our Players Studio Outreach initiative provides community engagement opportunities for The Studio's four ensemble-driven performance groups. The Players Kids (ages 8 to 17), The Players Teens (ages 13-17), The Players Follies (a 55+ senior troupe) and The Players Flash Tappers (ages 18+ tap troupe). All four troupes perform for people who cannot travel to the theatre and are confined to retirement homes and assisted living facilities in Sarasota, Venice, Bradenton and Lakewood Ranch.

Players Art Gallery, a collaboration with the Sarasota art community, located in the theatre lobby featuring the work of local artist(s) for the run of each Broadway Series show. The artists in the community who work in a variety reach a wider audience and theatre patrons enjoy the continuously changing, vibrant, engaging, gallery of art.

Operating for over 90 years, The Players Centre is well positioned to meet the goals set in entertaining, educating and engaging the community. We have the support and internal capacity to work strategically towards the identified goals.

The population we serve is diverse in all areas - age, race/ethnicity, income, gender, ability, and geographic region. Each year we serve over 50,000 patrons through the varied performances and volunteer opportunities within those performances. Aligning with our mission to entertain, educate and engage the community through high quality live theatre, The Players is dedicated to making the performing arts attainable and affordable to all. By developing talented local performers, engaging volunteers and producing a wide variety of productions, the community can experience the transformative power of live theatre.

Four primary outcomes for Players Studio students include: building technical performing arts skills; strengthen life, communication, emotional and social skills; promoting inclusion, diversity and equality within and among all students; and establishing lifelong relationships.

Through the Charity Preview Performance program, the desired outcome for ticket recipients from the area nonprofits that serve disadvantaged youth, the elderly, disabled, and veterans is to feel valued, respected, entertained, educated, and part of a community. The exposure to a live theatrical performance can lead to improved health and well being for the individuals who participate in this program, which enhances their quality of life.

The Players Studio Outreach top initiative is to increase the number of outreach performances across each ensemble group to not only bring more theatre to our community, but to also educate our community on the importance of an arts education in today's society.

With the Players Art Gallery, providing new artists the opportunity to display their work in front of thousands of patrons each month is a benefit for both the artist and The Players. The public enjoys a variety of mediums on display, the theatre walls are vibrantly covered and the opportunity exists for the artist to sell their work.

Based on the results of surveys given during our last completed Broadway Theatre season of 2018-2019, over 80% of the survey respondents rated the artistic/cultural quality of the programs as good or excellent. The number of first time, and out of the area visitors increased by 10% indicating that our collaborative efforts to introduce more families, baby boomers and out of towners to the benefits of community theatre were successful.

The Players Studio has implemented detailed data gathering methods this past year. End of year testimonials have been conducted the past several seasons for scholarship recipients. Those results have included tremendous personal, social, academic and professional growth in students, as well as appreciation for the program and the opportunity afforded to that student by the scholarship. By Fall of 2020, the first round of skills assessments and biannual surveys will have been completed and a tangible data percentage for growth can be quantified.