The Show Must Go On: Help Fund the High School Project

Update from the Grand Theatre (Jan 19): 

The Grand Theatre's Board of Directors and staff want to thank Londoners and all those across the country who have come forward to celebrate and support everything that the 2018 High School Project, Prom Queen: The Musical, embraces - diversity, inclusion, and human rights.   

The generosity of this community-driven fundraising effort, initiated by David Billson of rTraction, has been overwhelming, and we want to assure donors that the funds raised will be used exclusively to support the 2018 High School Project, a program that costs $250,000 to produce annually.  

As a result of this community support, the Grand Theatre is announcing that we will offer two student matinees, completely free of charge to students.

We want to thank you all for supporting the High School Project, a celebration of youth, creativity, and the power of live theatre to change the world. 

Prom Queen: The Musical, on the Spriet Stage September 18-29, 2018.  Opening Night Friday, Sept. 21. #londonproud

For more information on the HSP http://grandtheatre.com/youth-education

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Update (Jan 18): While we've reached the $30K goal (and then some), the Grand Theatre, through the High School Project and all of its programming, does remarkable work to bring community together and ignite both curiosity and conversation. The artistic direction of this organization embraces new, relevant, Canadian work that allows us all to educate ourselves to a variety of perspectives. So, in short, any further contributions continue to help the Grand and the kids they inspire, an impact that's easy to see in so many of the contribution messages so far. 

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It started with a CBC news article, then a Slack message, and then a tweet. CBC London reported that, "for the first time in 20 years, London's two school boards won't be sponsoring the play put on by the Grand Theatre's high school project." The show in question is PROM QUEEN, based on the true story of an Oshawa teen's fight with the Durham Catholic School Board to bring his boyfriend to prom in 2002. The High School Project is a celebrated program, and with good reason, as it gives students the opportunity to experience what it takes to put on a professional show. This show, in particular, allows those students to play characters their own age and tell a true story that, clearly, still holds relevance. 

We quickly decided we wanted to help, and sent a message out to the community about our plans. These are stories that need to be told, even if they’re uncomfortable to hear. The funding gap from school boards is $30,000, and we are engaging the community to help make it up for the kids, the LGBT community and Grand Theatre. rTraction is in for $1,000, and we already have additional commitment from the community. We're confident we can hit this goal, send the message that stories about LGBT youth are worth telling, and that London is a safe place for these kids.