Season Overview

• Staffing | With the close of the 2023-2024 season, I completed my first full season as Managing Artistic Director. The organization saw complete turnover in the rest of the staff, by welcoming and then saying goodbye to a new Associate Artistic Director and a new Patron Services Manager. Lindsay Armstrong joined the staff as Costume Librarian.

•  Representation | CP showcased diverse voices via opportunities in direction, music direction, choreography, and stage management, among other paid positions. Female or non-binary individuals filled 22 of 31 available positions.

• Adaptability | We continue to make use of our new risers by customizing seating to suit every show. This season saw three different riser setups across eight shows, including our first show in decades to be produced in the round (Misery).

• Special Projects | CP held our first basement-based event at Halloween with A Nightmare on Ella St., featuring spooky short stories, plays, and monologues. The inaugural CP Prom danced its way across the street to the city auditorium, we participated in the United Way Carnival, and presented a float in the Homestead Days parade.

• Ice Dam Flooding | Southeast Nebraska experienced an uncommonly icy winter in 2024. The thaw caused extensive flooding in the CP basement, green room, and even my office. Repairs to the building are underway and soft goods restoration was handled by Board Member M.C. Sothan and others.

• Productions | CP produced fewer events this season than has been the standard across the last decade, a conscious decision to make volunteer and patron opportunities more valuable and to ease transitions in staff leadership. This included producing one less Mainstage show. • Attendance   With the scaling back of productions, so came a decrease in attendance. CP’s 48th season was the lowest-attended non-Covid season in at least ten years. However, nearly $9,000 was saved on production expenses.

• Involvement | Onstage involvement was consistent with the number of shows produced, and one quarter of our 47 Mainstage actors made their CP debuts this season. Stage Door enrollment remained exactly the same as last season at 56 students.
  
  

LOOKING AHEAD

With the upcoming season—our last before the historic 50th—CP looks to welcome new staff members, return to producing nine shows a season, and provide challenging and rewarding experiences for our community of actors, creatives, and theatre enthusiasts young and old.