QC, THAT'S WHERE!
QC, THAT'S WHERE!
'QC, That's Where' We Are Nurturing the Next Generation of Theatrical Talent
Did you know the Davenport Junior Theater is the second-oldest kids' theater in the country? Daniel Sheridan shares with us the secrets to the theater's longevity and some updates on what's in store for the community staple.
Imagine a place where the vibrancy of young performers infuses life into the rich tapestry of arts in the Quad Cities. Daniel takes us behind the scenes, sharing how his personal evolution from a reserved child to a theater aficionado led him to shape the future stars of the stage. As we traverse the landscape of local live entertainment, you’ll see how community, history, and the sheer love of performance blend together to create a truly dynamic cultural scene.
Our conversation also peeks into the future, revealing the ambitious plans for the Junior Theater’s relocation and renovation. Daniel's heartfelt message underscores the importance of nurturing the potential within every child and invites us all to play a role in their growth. And don't miss out on the upcoming summer delights! With a host of programs and a main stage show that’s open to all, the Davenport Junior Theater continues to be a beacon for the young—and young at heart—in the arts community.
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QC, That's Where is a podcast powered by Visit Quad Cities. Through the people, partnerships, and personalities woven throughout the Quad Cities region, you'll meet real Quad Citizens and hear the untold stories of the region.
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Because we don't normally have to. The other thing, the crisis of this situation, of this moment of a move is it makes you like, okay, what do we actually do? Okay, we need to find the numbers of what our impact is. We need to be ready to tell this story, because we can't just sit on our hands and be like, oh really, you're going to cancel our program. Well, we need to be a proactive player in our own future, and so that's been.
Speaker 1:That's been fun I see a rent style musical, uh, out of the numbers talking about that, like, can we do like a rent video with, like you know, 2,256,300 minutes?
Speaker 3:yes, that might be coming because I think that that will be fun. Where do you find a family of communities connected by the storied Mississippi River, where young explorers and dreamers, investors and entrepreneurs thrive? Where can you connect with real people living and creating in a place that's as genuine as it is quirky QC? That's where Genuine as it is quirky QC, that's where Welcome to QC.
Speaker 2:That's where I'm Katrina, your host. I'm here today with Daniel Sheridan, the Performing Arts Supervisor at Davenport Junior Theater. Daniel, hello, how are you?
Speaker 1:Hello, I'm great. Thank you so much for having me with you today.
Speaker 2:So excited to have you on because I know we were talking a little bit before. You are a wealth of knowledge in the theater space, davenport Junior Theater specifically. Let's real quick, drop that stat about being the second oldest in the country.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So I mean, most people still don't know this and we've really been trying to get it out there over the last 15 years, but we are the second oldest children's theater in the United States. So we are in the middle of our 72nd season and we have this long legacy of service for kids in our community. And there are some theater companies around America who are older and will do kids shows, but we are for kids, by kids. The kids are our focus. They're the ones doing the performing, they're the ones backstage running the show, they're the one learning front of house customer service, the unique children's theater where the second oldest in the country.
Speaker 2:Do you happen to know the oldest one?
Speaker 1:I do, yeah, yeah, yeah. So Junior Theater. Funny enough, their name is also Junior Theater. That's totally coincidental. But Junior Theater San Diego. You'd think it'd be out east, it's actually out west. Junior Theater San Diego is in their 75th season now.
Speaker 2:So pretty close 72, 75. Yeah, that's pretty close. That's absolutely wild. I think people don't realize that. You know it's really easy to take for granted what's in your backyard. You know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1:And you know just real quick, briefly, about the history of the organization.
Speaker 1:Mary Fleur Niswander was the founder of the program and she started the program back in 1951 when when her husband moved here they were traveling actors and performers and he died suddenly of a gallbladder complication and she was sort of stranded here with her three kids and just herself and she started teaching voice diction and elocution classes in the late 40s and then she got linked up with somebody from the Women's Recreation League to go out into the parks in 1951 to offer basically theater classes to kids.
Speaker 1:And that's how Junior Theater was born, was out in the Davenport Park system, and then all of those kids from Davenport wanted to meet all the other kids in Davenport who thought theater was pretty great and they did their first production in 1952 of Oscar Wilde's Star Child and then things just continued to grow from there. And then today not only do we have Davenport kids but we have kids from over 35 cities and communities who are registered participants in our program every year. So we're a vast regional draw with around 2000 enrollments a year. And you know the average student when we say enrollment the average student is getting 18 hours of lead instructed time. So 2000 times 18 are the direct hours that we're kind of in there and serving the kids.
Speaker 2:So so it's a great place for, you know, kids who are interested in theater, but also kids who just want to maybe socialize, try something new, um learn a skill yeah, well, and I mean, ultimately, our goal is not to create the next Tony award-winning actor.
Speaker 1:So, although we do have a Tony award-winning producer amongst our, amongst our alumni, which is pretty cool, but but really I mean, the goal is, yeah, exactly that Fun is. The most important thing to learning is that the kids are here having fun and then using theater and dance, you know, we build those communication skills so that kids can lead with clarity and confidence and be creative their whole life. So, whether that's coaching the Little League team or, you know, working a job in sales or standing up in the boardroom, that they can just contribute as citizens to our community room, that they can just contribute as citizens to our community.
Speaker 2:So bring it back to your beginning with Davenport Junior Theater. How did you get started and what was your draw to it?
Speaker 1:So beginning, beginning me as a kid, or beginning, beginning me as a professional.
Speaker 2:Take us back as far as it goes.
Speaker 1:Okay, cool. So I grew up in Davenport. I grew up in the West End of Davenport over by Gunchy's Pizza, went to Hayes Elementary, smart and then West High. But when I was in elementary school I started to get interested in acting and storytelling from blooper reels on TV shows when I realized like oh my gosh, those are like people telling stories that matter to me, and so I'd ask my parents, I want to take theater classes. I was really shy. They didn't sign me up because it was all the way across town. But I just happened to win a free class at a big school event and it changed. But it set the course of my life and I've been doing theater ever since.
Speaker 1:So I started doing junior theater here when I was about 12 years old, so around 1995. And then I have not been here that whole time, but that's when I first got involved and I took a class and then I joined the main stage and then I was a teenage staffer here growing up. So it was pretty cool. We still have a teenage staff, we call them the junior staff and there's not many. There's six of them and there's not many people who can say as a teenager I was paid and employed at a theater to help run and develop classes and costumes and props and sets. So yeah, that's when my initial contact with the organization began.
Speaker 2:And then, as you kind of developed your theater career, did you study that in college? What was kind of your like education background?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I actually I did end up studying theater at St Ambrose University. I was there for four years and I actually, you know, when I went into St Ambrose, initially my exclusive focus was going to be just on acting. You know that was, that was the exclusive area I thought I was going to pursue. And then, over the course of a couple years, I ended up getting really interested in directing and then I ended up getting really interested in design and the whole theater experience of the.
Speaker 1:As far as art forms go, this is a. This is a live art form that requires a bunch of artists to come together, wrap their head around the same vision and then present it live to the public and it makes it really special. So I did that. And then I studied abroad at the University of London, queen Mary, studying performance art. And then I went on to get I was at the University of Connecticut for three years where I got my MFA, my Master of Fine Arts in Acting and Storytelling and so and I traveled around in the summers, working in California and Northern Minnesota, did some stuff in New York and places like that. So that was kind of my educational career and a little bit of my early professional career outside the Quad Cities.
Speaker 1:And then obviously, the Quad Cities brought you back career outside the Quad Cities and then, obviously, the Quad Cities brought you back. It did so. I found out that. So, okay, as far as the history of Junior Theater, from 1951 to 1990, mary Niswander ran this organization and she didn't found it, you know, young. She founded it in her mid-40s and she was, you know, close to 90 when she passed, and she was close to 90 when she passed and she was still running it. So she ran it for that whole time. And then, from 1990 to 2005, bonnie Gunther ran the organization, but she'd been involved for 25 years before that. And then from 2005 to 2008, there were five leadership changes for an organization that had such consistency.
Speaker 1:Um, and it caused a lot of push and pull and fracturing. Um and the, the Davenport parks and recreation, was looking to maybe not maybe looking to separate ties with junior theater Inc, the nonprofit. Um and I applied for a $15 an hour, 20 hour a week, part-time job out of out of getting my master's degree, to come back and just ask for a year. Just give me one year and we'll see what happens. And I've I've been here for 15 and a half.
Speaker 1:Um and I only plan to stay for a few years, but I love it. I love it Like being able to help create more arts opportunities for kids and then the community. Because of that there's. For me that is um, it's just a really valuable way to get to spend my my time.
Speaker 2:To get to spend my time you mentioned earlier um, how junior theater plays into the full scope of, like, the theater ecosystem. And for people who necessarily aren't familiar with the Quad Cities, I think it's so important to like take a step back and look and see what all live theater, live entertainment I mean, from music to. You know plays and you know everything in between. I mean there's so much talent here and like you know the Spotlight Theater in Moline, you know professional grade theater in Rock Island at Circa 21,. You know two examples of so many music guild. You know there's so many performing arts opportunities, arts opportunities. Can you kind of talk about how you know how junior theater is just like step one on the platform of everything else that we have?
Speaker 1:here? Yes, absolutely, Because if you look back 72 years ago, there were not a lot of theater companies there, you know I don't know if any from 72 years ago still exist and so junior theater, starting and developing a passion and love and understanding of this art form, you know, then we have we have Genesius Guild and Playcrafters, and we have the, the Music Guild and eventually a Circa 21 and then a Countryside, and you know all of these and there's so many more.
Speaker 2:That's just scratching the surface totally.
Speaker 1:Yeah, forgive me anyone who's listening to this if I left you out.
Speaker 2:There's so many. There's too many to mention everybody yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, and I mean even just the arts opportunities for kids. So you know, junior Theater now serves kids ages 3 to 18.
Speaker 1:So we have a preschool program and, you know, an early elementary program. The one really unique thing we do now in the Quad Cities is that we're really the only theater youth program that does the pre-K through like 7-year-olds. But you know, about 20 years ago Center for Living Arts started in the in the District of Rock Island and Dino Hayes runs that and they have a totally different formula than what we do. But they've been there for 20 years now serving kids and they do fabulous work. And then you have Spotlight Theater Company has their youth model and engages kids, have Spotlight Theater Company has their youth model and engages kids and you know, I think they've been around for, you know, six years now. And then Double Threat Studios is another one that's popped up recently and they have a different model for serving kids and I think it's great.
Speaker 1:I, you know our students, we we try to like love them with an open hand, like serve them with an open hand and encourage them to go and and do other things, like I don't think it benefits anyone to be territorial about a kid's Sure Element, like go cry, you know what I mean. Like come back to us if you're enjoying yourself here or go do other things. So you know it's. It really does contribute to that that ecosystem of theater. And a recent very big loss in that ecosystem was St Ambrose University eliminated their theater department a year and a half ago and it was like an award winning, nationally recognized up until the very end, just this amazingly dynamic theater department, and they eliminated it and we're going to start feeling, I think, the loss of those trained theater artists that live here locally at some point.
Speaker 2:But yeah, yeah, there's. I mean there's so much, there's so much on the spokes of the wheel of of, you know, performing arts around here, and the arts and culture scene is just booming in every single way, like you know. Not to mention still art, you know, photography, I mean there's. It's just a creative culture. We are the creative capital of the Midwest. I will stand by that statement because, just like people like yourself, you were brought up here. You had a chance, you were given an opportunity to you know, explore it, and that's what it takes. That's step one, and I love that. That is the beginning of your story, because I think so many people resonate with that. You know they, they just needed that chance.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly yeah. They just needed that chance and that's something we're constantly looking at here. You know we just were able to set up a scholarship fund with the have Life organization to help kids access theater, because even though I know when you look across the region we are affordable by comparison. But affordable does not equal accessible. A hundred dollars to me is an impossibility for someone else. And so how do we develop those resources to make arts accessible? And part of that accessibility journey for junior theater the nonprofit arm of what we do, our main stage company that the nonprofit runs.
Speaker 1:You know they coming out of COVID we used to charge for tickets for entry was $6 for kids, $8 for adults. They just got rid of it and they said there's no more tickets. Who, whoever, can make it in the door, like let's serve them and let's just bring them in and let those families experience theater. And then they built on that. They've added interpreters, so every performance has one interpreted performance, so more kids can engage with the art form, and then they're actually planning now kind of a neurodiversity bag that you can pick up that has. You know, you come in with your kid.
Speaker 1:I have a kiddo with ADHD and sensory processing disorder. So he's five. So if I could pick up a little backpack and it's got a fidget inside and it's got some over ears and things that he might find he needs as the show or he might not need it at all, but, like, sometimes it's hard for him to sit for an hour, but if he has some of those tools he can and so it's just like that stuff on. I'm really lucky to be around so many passionate and creative people on the team here who are constantly looking for ways to do what we do better. It's inspiring.
Speaker 2:So talk me through some of your favorite performances that these kids have put on. Oh, wow OK so you can pick a few. I'm sure it's hard.
Speaker 1:Uh, okay, so you can pick a few. I'm sure it's hard. Well, yeah, I can say, I can say this, with the exception of being overseas one time, I in my 15 years, every single class at junior theater, theater and dance, every single class, I have watched every single performance. I have never missed one, um, and you know that's, that's hundreds and hundreds of performances a year, um, and I love it, Like it is the fuel that keeps you going, like because this job is hard and making arts is hard and resources are hard, um, and that that just is always put. You know, you see a four year old up there, you know, singing Five Little Monkeys jumping on a bed carrying props, like it's great.
Speaker 1:But then, favorite performances with our main stage company we did a production of Pinocchio that I really feel was comprehensive, a really amazing, because for a main stage company, even though it is all kids, the goal is to present powerful theater because it's for kids, by kids. So we do the by kids component. But we really have to think the quality of this experience matters. So Pinocchio was a great production, maybe 10 years ago now, maybe a little less than that, but it was authored. It was a local, you know local playwright who worked on it, and then a director, and we had designers from Augustana and Ambrose involved and then those and other professionals. It was just a really great show about the exploration of what it is to be human and always be becoming something. I mean, that's what we're all doing and I think kids are experiencing that on hyperdrive and we forget it, like they're literally becoming something. And that story of what is this, what am I, what will I be, is I don't know. I just love it.
Speaker 3:I think it's a great story.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so another production we did is I'm also a mask maker, so we did a production of Jungle Book. Mask work was something I studied in graduate school, so even though it's an audio format, you can see the masks up here on the wall behind me from our production of Jungle Book, where the kids all wore half masks and were designed.
Speaker 2:Oh, so I'm seeing, like I'm seeing a bird, I'm seeing a tiger, I'm seeing is that a wolf?
Speaker 1:Blue, the bear, a wolf and a bird and all that, and so learning how to use less of your face as a performer actually makes you aware of your whole body and how you tell the story, so it's just interesting.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and so it's not just like you know, oh, we're putting up a play. Most people think theater comes with like a book, and this is how you do it and this is what you need to build, and it is anything but that, like you just have the words and then you have to create everything, and so it's tiring, but it's good, it's a tall order. That is yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2:Do the kids seem to rise to the occasion. You know when you are, when you're blocking and you're coming up with new. You know props. Or you know, move this way, go. You know coming up with new. You know props. Or you know, move this way, go. You know, are they like down?
Speaker 1:for the flexibility of it. Yeah, yes, absolutely, and actually I. Just. One of the reasons I really love working here is and especially with young people is, you know, there's just very little ego and so much curiosity to learn. They don't feel like they know it, they're learning it and I don't feel like I know it. I feel like I'm learning it. And so much curiosity to learn. They don't feel like they know it, they're learning it and I don't feel like I know it. I feel like I'm learning it, and so I love to be around people who are learning.
Speaker 1:And the kids really do rise to the challenge, and I've learned never to count a kid out, like in my first year or two. I learned it within the first year or two that if a kid keeps showing up, even if you're like, why does this kid keep showing up? This doesn't seem like something that they're apt to do or succeed in. And then they break through and like, oh my gosh. And I learned very early on that it is not my business to have any preconceived notion on why a kid's here. If a kid's here, they get everything and they're here for a reason.
Speaker 2:So that's a very cool perspective. You know something good to build on. And yeah, I mean it goes back to the. You know, just show up and put in the effort and you get out of what you put into it. I'm sure you see all the time.
Speaker 1:And that's something too that maybe people don't know about. Our program is we not only do the acting musical theater, improv on the theater end, but we also do costume design, scenic design. I mean, you know, it takes a lot of craftsmanship and art and technology and engineering to do lighting. Now, lighting is nothing but computer networking in the air, now it's. It's changed and grown um drastically, and so you know there's so much to learn and contribute um playwriting, all of those things. Uh uh, it doesn't just need the person who wants to be out there on the stage.
Speaker 2:Sure. So, as an actor yourself, I did stumble upon a blog I mentioned earlier to you from when you were maybe in a different position at Junior Theater, and there was a lot of references to Shakespeare. Are you a Shakespeare fan by chance? Are you a Shakespeare fan by chance?
Speaker 1:I, yes, no, I absolutely am. That is one I. So University of Connecticut is a physically classical theater training, so it's very physical. It's a lot of, like I said, mass comedia, red nose, clown, understanding your body, but then the classics plopped on top of it. And one of my favorite expressions was you can go from learning how to do Shakespeare to doing a commercial about laundry detergent. You can't go from a commercial about laundry detergent to performing Shakespeare.
Speaker 1:It is the ultimate training ground, because you know one thing, one thing that I think makes Shakespeare so special, is when you see it performed by people, by anyone, but especially by people who understand. It's kind of like going to a symphony and not trying to figure it out, but having people who can play the instruments so well that it just sort of happens to you. Shakespeare speaks in images and in poetry and if you're watching people who are communicating that poetry, the experience can just like happen to you. And I know so many people say I don't like Shakespeare, oh my gosh, I would never go see Shakespeare. But I kind of feel like that's because we're introducing Shakespeare sitting in a classroom reading books, dreading being called on to read your one line out loud in the class or popcorn, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1:Like it's your first experience is often kind of terrifying, and I don't even know what they're saying. Um, so it's. It's kind of like trying to teach someone how a symphony works before you like, just go let them hear a symphony and then they'll know how to make that music, you know? So, yeah, I do. I love Shakespeare. I think it's the ultimate training ground for communication and storytelling. And then Shakespeare as a sorry, you got me on a rant that I love.
Speaker 2:I wanted to hear this. Yeah, okay, cool yeah.
Speaker 1:Shakespeare is somebody who is managing his own theater company. I mean, he was managing the theater company, he was writing, he was performing, um, and he was prolific. Uh, and just the, you know, necessity is the mother of invention, and using what they had to create the stories they did through yeah, through great political upheaval at the end of Queen Elizabeth's reign, was in the middle of his career. You know, these huge political wins all around, it's just, it's just good stuff. It's theater that shouldn't have happened and it did happen, and that's that's what I love about it.
Speaker 2:So in your opinion, has there been a modern day Shakespeare? You know someone who's kind of filled in the shoes and you know like revamped it but been just as powerful, withstanding the test of time? If the answer is no, that's cool, just curious yeah, I mean I'll be.
Speaker 1:You know some of the playwrights that come to mind? Are you know Oscar Wilde has been? I mean he's'll be. You know some of the playwrights that come to mind? Are you know Oscar Wilde has been? I mean, he's not a contemporary. Somebody a little more contemporary, I think, is Arthur Miller or Tennessee Williams, is at so Shakespeare now you know you do Julius Caesar, but it might be set in the White House.
Speaker 1:or you know you do Macbeth and it might be set at a dockyard. Um, and we've moved from like. When, once a play journeys outside its own time, it can be reinterpreted again and that will be interesting to see. As, like Arthur Miller wrote, death of a Salesman. Death of a Salesman happens in a very specific period of time, but if you listen to the words, the core of what they're struggling with is not just, you know, being a business person in the 1950s. It's deeper than that. And so you know, as the people who experienced it as contemporaries die, it unlocks the preconceived notion of what it should be and you could place it somewhere else or put it somewhere else and listen and try to hear it again in a contemporary way.
Speaker 2:So Thank you, thank you for that, thank you for that perspective. I, yeah, I just wanted to get down kind of the the theater rabbit hole because I know that you do have a wealth of of information and, with the background, it's fun to kind of kind of fun to get that perspective and, you know, see how you're uh able to, like, excite the next generation of theater right, yeah, yeah, and you can always edit me if I get long-winded we don't edit on this podcast all right, all right the whole thing um so the building.
Speaker 2:We should talk about the annie wittenmeyer complex. You guys been there since the beginning. And what is next?
Speaker 1:so, um, when junior Theater started in 1951, obviously it was a program before it was a facility. And so for the first few years Junior Theater kind of bopped around doing classes here and there. But they built a show wagon and it was a mobile stage that traveled around to the parks and they would perform on a mobile stage. But as the program grew it really necessitated a facility for the program. And so from 1951 until 1978, the Junior Theater program moved its home base 15 times, so you know, essentially every less than two years the program's being. And it was in. It was in the basement of churches, it was above a jewelry store, it was in a pool locker room, it was, you know, wherever they could keep growing. But the nonprofit was founded in the early sixties to help find a home. So the nonprofit raised the money and the plan was always to build a performing arts facility for the junior theater program. And as the fundraising continued, the opportunity to move into the Wittenmeyer campus presented itself, because the orphanage had closed in 1970. And then orphans still lived here until 75, 76. And then Junior Theater Inc. The nonprofit jumped on the opportunity to take three cottages in the old chapel and they spent three years renovating. They started with the classrooms first, because if you don't have a place to do your program, the theater doesn't matter. And then they got to the theater and opened that in 1981. So we've been here. We kind of say we've been here, been here since 1981 when the theater opened, but we've really been here since 77, 78. So it's a long time of 45, 46 years. This has been our home. But the facility itself it's a large campus. You know I said we were in three cottages. Well, now we're in all 10. And we have a scene shop and large scenic storage. So we're in 12 buildings now and about 43,000 square feet to operate our programs. We have this beautiful green space that we're able to use for camps in the summer, but that is still probably only a quarter of the campus.
Speaker 1:The campus is historical, it dates back to the Civil War and it's falling apart. This city doesn't have the budget to invest in and maintain the campus, and so Chris Ailes, who's the developer who proposed the idea of rehabbing the entire campus into workplace housing and senior housing it's a great vision for the campus and he has the opportunity to bring, you know, like $40 million to the table. And if you're here, like Junior Theater is a program and this has been our home. But we really do love this campus and facility and it is deteriorating and so the project is not a bad one. I think it's great. It saves our history here in the area. It creates housing that's greatly needed, our history here in the area. It creates housing that's greatly needed.
Speaker 1:But it creates an awfully difficult timeline for our program.
Speaker 1:You know, we kind of found out about this last December, so December 2023 kind of timeframe really is when we started to really look at and acknowledge, yeah, this is going to be happening, and then the potential of being out by May of 2025 is like a, you know, 17 month, 18 month transition for what is the next program, to find a place to go.
Speaker 1:But the ultimate goal is to find an interim home that we can make ours for the next two to four years and then, while we also plan, the Parks and Recreation Department would right now would like to see us build that performing arts center that Mary Niswander, our founder, and all those board members were and volunteers initially dreamed for the program. Board members were and volunteers initially dreamed for the program, and we are. We have grown and become that regional program that I think continues to draw from, like I said, over 35 cities and towns, and in the summer we have people fly in from Los Angeles or come down from Madison, because they have family here and they plan their entire and they're, you know, alumni who want their kids to do junior theater.
Speaker 1:They plan their entire trip back to the quad cities around our camps so that kids can do junior theater and they can be here with their family and friends that are still in town, um, so it feels like a huge opportunity for Davenport to own the performing arts, and the benefits that it gives kids and then therefore gives our citizens to be creative collaborators and invested in this community is really important.
Speaker 2:So you know, it sounds like with a move of that scale, you know, your first gut reaction, for me anyway, is like, oh, that's going to present some challenges when you know you guys have like programming, um schedules to maintain and you know, like you said, you want to make sure that people still can count on when they come here, they, they make their whole year around. You know X, y and Z performance or camp, so. But it's also, you guys have a good plan, you know, for the interim, so that you can kind of go seamlessly through all of the production plans that you've already got set in motion. So what do you think will be, what do you think will be the biggest obstacle? Just to, you know, jump from this building to where you'll be housed temporarily.
Speaker 1:Well, we still have to actually lock in on the actual place we're going. Yes, so, um, it's, it's, we can have ideas and plan, but until we know where that destination is, um, you know, it's, it's really hard. Like you know, here we have 12 buildings we're operating out of. You know what would be in a single building? Will we be in a location that can also house a theater? Will we also be able to house our dance program and our tumble classes? Will we, you know? And so I think the uncertainty is the hardest part.
Speaker 1:Um, and and definitely, uh, I was like I grew up in this facility and in this vein, and so initially I was just like whoa you know I don't want to say crush because I didn't squish, I'm still alive, but I mean it was very heavy to think about what all is going to be entailed moving. But now that we are getting some things looking forward. You know, one of the big options on the table right now for junior theater is potentially the Yonkers box in the mall. It's 100,000 square feet. You know we bring traffic wise. You know we're bringing 500 enrolled kids a week come through our programs and their families just sit here for an hour. You know, maybe potentially they could eat at the food court or go to the bookstore or go shopping or, you know, be right there in more of an economic hub. That again, if we're going to draw these people from.
Speaker 1:You know there's only one Davenport, so the 35 plus other places to come here also maybe spend some money here and, you know, help the local economy as well. That would be. That would be an interesting one. But we've been looking, you know we've been looking at collaborations with the Davenport schools or we've been looking at just different buildings and properties that people have presented. Sometimes it's pretty easy to say thanks for the idea. It's 10,000 square feet and and there's no theater. Thank you, we appreciate you reaching out. And then other things we do go look at and investigate and explore.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, we're still somewhat exploratory right now.
Speaker 2:Okay, I mean it's a great. Like you said, it's a great opportunity and you know we will see what comes. One cool thing about the Quad Cities I've kind of noticed since I've been here the last decade or so is like people step up to you know, if they see a need, they step up to fulfill it. I've, I've seen that time and time again and like one of the examples I always draw back to is unrelated to you know what you guys are going through, kind of, but like the flood in 2019, you know all of downtown Davenport not all of downtown Davenport but like there was a good like three block chunk of downtown Davenport that was just out of business for a little while because because of the floodwaters off the Mississippi river. But what we saw was we saw, you know, businesses come help each other, um, ones that were unaffected or even affected. They were coming to help you know, do like sandbagging. They were um housing each other's um you know product.
Speaker 2:I remember like one of the breweries downtown had a partner brewery, kind of like canning for them or, you know, housing their product for a while. I mean, we step in, we step up, we talk, and I'm seeing that that could also be, and has been, the way that people are going to help junior theater, you know, thrive during this kind of unknown time. What's going to come, what's going to happen?
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that I mean that that, right, there is one of the main reasons I even moved back to the Quad Cities, having been out West and out East and up North and overseas, and just like the hardworking, truly available, collaborative, caring community, I think is tremendous. And yeah, and you do see it, in crisis as well, as people coming together to especially when they know people need help or that something is good and we don't want it to go away, people really do come together to help, and so that's another thing that makes me incredibly hopeful about this challenging time for us is the amazing community that people know and understand the gravity of what Davenport Junior Theater is and how it is the let's say it again the second oldest children's theater in the United States.
Speaker 2:That is so huge something that every Quad citizen should be and once they hear that, will be extremely proud of. What a cool asset to the community.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I have, so we came up with some, some really cool stats that I want to share with you.
Speaker 2:real, quick, let's do it.
Speaker 1:So of our, our students who are enrolled. So these are they're. They're all paid enrollment. This isn't counting, like all the kids who come to see what we do, just the, the direct contact led hours. The direct contact lead hours in 2023, we had 2,256,300 minutes of direct lead performing arts instruction, which equals out to 4.45 years of direct lead instruction in a calendar year affecting kids. And like that's cool, it's so cool to get to be part of that. Um, yeah, yeah, we were just playing around and trying to calculate, you know, because we don't normally have to. The other thing, the crisis of this situation, of this moment of a move, is it makes you like, okay, like what do we actually? Okay, we need to find the numbers of what our impact is. We need to, we need to be ready to tell this story, because we can't just sit on our hands and be like, oh really, you're gonna get rid of, you're gonna cancel our program. Well, like, we need to be a proactive player in our own future, and so that's been, that's been fun.
Speaker 1:I see a rent style musical uh, out of the number talking about that, like can we do, like a rent video with, like you know, two million two hundred fifty six thousand three hundred minutes? Yes, that might be coming, because I think that that would be fun, but it's a great idea we'll share it, we will share it hard if you guys make that.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, it's already in my head. I, I know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:So what is your message to the community If you had five seconds with someone who's never been here before? Hey, I'm Daniel. I'm the performing arts supervisor at Davenport junior theater. This is the one thing you need to know about us.
Speaker 1:One thing you need to know about us. Um, one thing you need to know about us, uh, uh, that the one thing you need to know about us is we are servants to kids. We are 100% committed to impacting the lives of the youth in our program, and we that is our, they're our number one priority, and everything we create and build is around them and their success. So, um, yeah, I think that would probably be it thank you so much for peeling back the curtain.
Speaker 2:Uh, no pun intended on everything about junior theater. Um, I I really think once people listen to this podcast and hear the stats that we just talked about and kind of feel the passion that you and you know I'm sure your co-workers share, it will just be nothing but like support and outreach. And hey, how do I get my kid involved? You know, I mean, I have two kids of my own that are going to be coming up in the pre-K age soon, so definitely something that I've tossed around getting them involved in as well. I think it's just a great program. So on that note, I love to end the podcast with the guest filling in the blank of our QC, that's when slogan. So would you please fill in the blank Q, our QC, that's where slogan. So would you please fill in the blank QC, that's where.
Speaker 1:Kids matter.
Speaker 2:I love it. I love it, I support that.
Speaker 1:I mean they matter everywhere, but I mean I think, I think they really matter here.
Speaker 2:Really matter, one of our kind of pillars that we try to share with people who aren't from here if they're coming to look for, you know, inspiration, to visit with the family. What we say QC, that's where we're all in for family, you know, there's something for everyone. We're not going to, you know, we can't and we don't exclude based on, you know, age. If you come with your one-year-old or you come with your 18-year-old, like, you're going to find something that suits both interests. You love to be family friendly. We, you know we love to have that kind of attitude. So you guys are obviously playing right into that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I get, I get. Something that's interesting about theater is they don't call it kids theater, they call it theater for young audience audiences. You know TYA and I'm probably you get the stink eye from people because I just talk a lot about kids. I I feel like, yes, we can, theater for young audiences is great but, like the kids element, just they're kids. I, like you know, serve them to have fun and be a kid and be a child and yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, so kids matter.
Speaker 2:They do Kids matter. I love that QC. That's where um how can people find you on social media and learn more about you?
Speaker 1:Sure, yeah, um, you know Facebook, instagram, davenport, junior theaters. There you Google us on on or search us anywhere. We'll we'll pop right up to the top of that Ask.
Speaker 2:ChatGPT.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you can ask your chatbots and everything. They'll get you there. So, and you'll find. You know, we're constantly open for enrollment. We're coming up on a big summer with classes and camps and we have another production that's opening in the end of April, beginning of May, One of our main stage shows that's free for families to see. So we just, you know, you don't have to sign up for a class to come and just have a good time with your family seeing theater as well. So there's lots of ways to experience the program.
Speaker 2:Well said, and please explore all the rest of the creative energy in the Quad Cities. Visit quadcitiescom and thank you again, daniel.
Speaker 1:Yeah, thank you so much. This was a blast, and thank you for letting me talk about Shakespeare.
Speaker 3:Thanks for listening to QC. That's when a podcast powered by Visit Quad Cities Text VISITQC to 38314 for insider events, activities and updates sent straight to your phone. That's V-I-S-I-T-Q-C, one word to 38314. Message and data rates may apply.