Garden Theatre launches accessible education program

When Brian Fallon, operations manager at the Garden Theatre, partnered with the Central Florida Audio Description Initiative to bring audio description to local audiences who are blind or have low vision, it got Amanda Payne, education and community director at the Garden Theatre, thinking about how she could help.

“He really started the accessibility initiative here and inspired all of us to say, ‘What can we do to make all of our programs more accessible?’” she said. “I started to think about how we could make our educational offerings more accessible for our community. All of our classes across the board are for anyone. Everyone is welcome to come take any class, but I wanted to learn more about how we could offer classes specifically for people with varying abilities or people with disabilities. We wanted to have highly specific education offerings for that community with teachers and professionals who are trained and know how to work with this community and be really in tune with their needs and how we can make this space and the material the best that it can be.”

The outcome? The TreeTop Players program.

The new program is dedicated to accessible education offerings for people with varying abilities and disabilities. Its mission is to “inspire discovery through theatrical experiences that are innovative, impactful and inclusive,” according to the class description. 

“We believe that all people should have access to arts education and experiences,” Payne said. “We commit to providing equitable and inclusive performing arts education experiences for the young and the young at heart, both in our facility and in our community.”

THEATER FOR THE COMMUNITY

The one-hour specialty workshops currently focus on musical theater dance and are offered once a month.

The inaugural TreeTop Players class took place in November, with classes following in February and March. 

The program is a partnership with Chance2Dance, an organization in Maitland that provides children, youth and adults with special needs and varying disabilities equal arts opportunities. 

Payne said working with Chance2Dance has been nothing short of amazing, and the workshops have been a huge success. She has had the opportunity to welcome both young and adult students into the theater, some even for the first time.

As the program grows, Payne hopes to add more to the offerings depending on interests. Potential topics include acting technique, improv, creative thinking and producing a play.

Photo courtesy of Jon Burket

“Something we love to say is that although we’re a professional theater, our kind of catch phrase has been, ‘We’re not a community theater; we’re a theater for the community,’” Payne said. “So, trying to find what our community wants and what our community needs and then how can we help and be there. The reality is our community is large and vast, and there’s a great spectrum of needs. So, we’re still learning all the time, and we’re going to continue to expand our offerings as we learn and grow.”

Garden Theatre COO Keith Davenport said theater employees take great pride in the program, and he looks forward to seeing how the program and others in the education realm expand and grow in the future. 

The Garden Theatre is embracing what our community wants, and that’s making sure we can serve as many people as possible,” he said. “We’re working really hard to make sure that we provide accessibility that covers all of the different needs. It’s not just the right thing to do, but it’s the right thing to continue to grow art and how that art is interpreted. … I would like to ensure that people know that we are a space people can come to and enrich the lives of the participants through art that changes their lives. If our legacy can be that we’ve expanded the experience of life for individuals involved in our programming, then we have been successful.”

Upcoming dates for the classes are April 6 and May 18. Scholarships and financial assistance are available. 

Photo by Annabelle Sikes

PASSION PROJECT

The education and community work is a true passion project for Payne. 

She has been with the Garden Theatre since November 2022. In her role, she oversees, creates and implements all educational programming inside and outside of the building.

Although Payne currently is focused on spreading the word about the new program, she would love to see the program’s students meeting at least weekly, as well as the students divided into different age groups as participation grows. 

Seeing the students perform on stage and participate in productions also would be a dream come true for her. 

“It’s an organization-wide initiative to continue this work,” Payne said. “I’m constantly reminded of the value in the work that we do here. My favorite thing to say is, ‘Theater skills are life skills.’ My goal as an educator has never been to create the next Broadway star, but to provide people the opportunity to connect with each other, to work together to be creative, to have a creative outlet in their life and escape everything else even if just for a moment. I want people to know they’re safe, welcomed and loved here. It’s very powerful being able to be a part of people’s stories. I can only imagine in a few years where we will be. It’s been an amazing and special journey to be a part of.”