Thomas M. Chamblin

Children's Theatre: Successful Strategies for Balancing Economic Survival and Artistic Vision Thomas M. Chamblin

Children's theatre touring companies face ever changing economic conditions. The ability to balance a company's two "bottom-lines"--economic survival and artistic vision--is a defining characteristic of any successful non-profit going about the business of serving the artistic needs of young people and society. This book fills a significant gap in the performing arts literature by identifying successful economic strategies children's theatre touring companies use in balancing economic survival and artistic excellence. Through a case approach, the first recorded oral histories of St. Louis children's theatre touring companies are linked with economic strategies posited in the Rand report, The Performing Arts in a New Era. The fact these companies have existed for nearly 40 years appears to validate their strategic significance. Non-profit arts leaders and managers, researchers and students of the arts should discover the findings in this book to be of great benefit in learning more about non-profit structure, and the challenges organizations face when trying to balance economic survival with their organization's subjective "bottom-line."