Starlight Theatre Association of Kansas City, Inc.

Starlight's ultimate goal aligns with it's mission:  to produce, present and promote exceptional arts experiences by delivering accessible live entertainment for all audiences, superior theatre arts education, impactful community outreach programs, and utilizing its iconic city-owned venue.  Long term success includes the elevation of Starlight's nonprofit status and mission-driven intent centered on both its arts experiences but equally its education and outreach programs. Arts access, and particularly access to Starlight, should not be dictated by socioeconomic status and barriers to participation, attendance and engagement should be considered as important as ticket sales.  Engaging with or experiencing Starlight should be a part of what it is to be a Kansas Citian, and attending an event at Starlight should be a regional desire. Outdoor theatre is an increasingly precious experience that we seek to not just preserve but sustain and grow. We will know when we have achieved our goals when our seats are consistently full, our charitable gifts represent at least 20% of our annual revenue, and Starlight is consistently represented as a key civic asset, an essential arts experience, and a regional destination.

Starlight completed a three-year strategic plan in May of 2018 that had 6 main areas of focus:  Mission Driven Initiatives:1. Events: Provide highest quality live events to diverse audiences.2. Education & Outreach: Elevate the impact of Starlight by refining our portfolio of community-centric programs to build and enhance life skills and create enduring bonds to the arts.3. Guest Experience: Enhance the delivery of a quality guest experience by ensuring the facilities and its offerings exceed expectations.  Cross-Cutting Initiatives:4. Branding, Marketing & PR: Build and grow an organization-wide Starlight brand, representing the total guest experience, that meets the needs of our evolving customers and fully aligns with our vision and mission.5. People: Create and maintain a culture of excellence and effective communication by supporting and inspiring highly qualified and diverse staff, board and volunteers, while concurrently building an effective and informed relationship with the city.6. Financial Sustainability: Enhance our long-term financial sustainability by growing revenue including tickets, ancillaries, donations and grants; and having appropriate financial systems in place to effectively monitor and control expenses to meet the needs of our mission. Each of these initiatives has specific key performance indicators, timelines, responsible parties and associated tactics that in concert serve as a road map to success.

Starlight has several key human assets: 1) An incredible, tenured professional staff: from finance to fundraising to production staff, Starlight's full-time employees represent a wealth of talent, and, perhaps most importantly, a tremendous amount of tenure.  Ten full time employees of 42 began their careers as interns in the summer internship program and have continued on, one for two decades.  Senior staff has seen little turnover in twenty years, resulting in rich historical knowledge and deep organizational devotion. 2) A robust, high-impact Board of Directors: with 30-35 active elected members and many engaged past Board chairs as lifetime members, Starlight's Board of Directors is populated with some of the best and most tenacious corporate and civic leaders.  Many of them are longtime Starlight subscribers, most are Starlight donors, and all are dedicated to continual improvement and progress. 3) An unparalleled army of volunteers: while some organizations may boast higher numbers of volunteers, few can boast more dedicated volunteers than the approximately 200 "Ambassadors" that serve as a critical extension to the full-time employee team.  Ambassadors not only usher, they give tours and are versed in Starlight history, they help with special event, and they show up whenever they are needed with few questions asked besides "when and where?" 4) A deepening relationship with the City: as a city-owned venue, Starlight's relationship with the City of Kansas City, Missouri is rich and storied.  While those that have populated both entities have changed over the years, the strength of the relationship has rarely faltered, particularly between the Department of Parks and Recreation and Starlight, who work closely together in the shared Swope Park space.   5) Starlight fills a unique space in the arts and civic community; it is one of just two theatres like it left in the country: an outdoor theatre that both self-produces musical theatre, presents Broadways tours, and promotes live concerts in addition to its signature education and outreach programs which uniquely create arts access, arts education opportunities, and foster arts advocates and patrons.

As a performing arts organization that opened its gates in 1951, and one of only 2 outdoor amphitheatres of its kind in the nation, Starlight has a storied history within the Kansas City community as a presenter, producer and promoter of Broadway musical theatre and world-class concerts. The stories from long-time attendees that have, in some cases, grown up with Starlight as an annual tradition, make a strong foundation of support and love for the civic asset that Starlight is.

What lies ahead is a refining of the intentions and strategies by which Starlight will continue to create unforgettable performing arts experiences in an environment no one in the area can equal. Further, there is increased interest and stakeholder investment in focusing and fortifying our education and outreach efforts to make a bigger and/or more meaningful impact on the community, particularly those who might not otherwise be able to experience the magic of a Starlight night.