FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 6, 2009

Lantern Theater Company, a not-for-profit professional theater, was recognized on Monday, October 5 by the Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia at the Annual Barrymore Awards Ceremony with the 2009 Barrymore Award for Excellence in Theatre Education and Community Service for Classroom Connections, a major component and central feature of Lantern's Illumination education program. In its 15th year, the Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia-produced awards named more than 140 nominees – actors, directors and designers – from 25 regional companies and more than 33 productions. The Awards Ceremony featured a list of VIPs headed by actor Tony Danza and Actors' Equity Executive Director John P. Connolly in attendance. In the category for Excellence in Theatre Education and Community Service, Lantern was one of five such companies nominated. The Lantern has been nominated for the past four consecutive years in 2009, 2008, 2007 and 2006 for this award. Actor Tony Danza presented the Excellence in Theatre Education and Community Service Award, which recognizes the work of theatres and theatre artists who provide innovative theatre and educational experiences as a vehicle for betterment within the community. Accepting the Award were George Sedgwick, the Lantern's former Education Director (2008-2009) and Joshua Browns, the current Education Director. Also present at the award ceremony were Kathryn (KC) MacMillan, who founded and created the program in 2003, and former Education Director Maureen Mullin Fowler.

From the founder of Classroom Connections, KC MacMillan: "I'm immensely proud of the program we have built over the years. Illumination has evolved from residencies in just a few classrooms into a program that maintains strong ties with teachers in schools across Philadelphia, offering them a new approach to teaching the standardized curriculum by using the tools of theater – ensemble building, character analysis, self-expression, and empathy. Our focus is not to foster the next generation of actors, but to foster the next generation of citizens."

Charles McMahon, Artistic Director and Co-Founder of Lantern Theater Company noted: "At the Barrymore Awards ceremony the Lantern took home the Barrymore Award for Education and Community Service for its in-school residency program. This program provides services to ten schools throughout Philadelphia free of charge and brings in six hundred school children to see performances, also free of charge. This program is of great value to both the overextended teachers and institutions, which are asked to do more with less, but especially to the students, for many of whom this program is the only arts education available to them. The Lantern is immensely proud of this vital program, and we are tremendously proud in being so honored from among a very accomplished field of competitors."

About Classroom Connections and the Illumination Education Program
Illumination reaches 4,500 under-represented and under-served youth in Philadelphia public schools through these major components: 1) Classroom Connections residencies at schools in Philadelphia, 2) discounted matinees for school children, 3) after school drama programs, and 4) discussion events associated with theater productions. We reach nearly 700 students annually through our in-school residencies, Classroom Connections, which maintain a student to teacher ratio of 12:1. The Classroom Connection residencies give children in Philadelphia exciting arts education and a forum for interactive learning. Lantern currently works in two ethnically diverse, economically disadvantaged Center City schools, Parkway Center City High School and Philadelphia High School for Business and Technology, in 10-week classroom residencies each fall and spring. These residencies provide lessons designed to build the students' creative expression, self-confidence, sense of community, and literacy. Discussions and activities are focused on storytelling, ensemble-building, and critical thinking. In addition to the Lantern's in-class residencies, we have built a partnership with ASAP (After School Activities Partnerships), a Philadelphia non-profit, and created with them after school drama clubs to provide a safe environment for students. With ASAP, we have also inaugurated master classes for teaching artists to further their professional development. During the 2008/09 season for which Lantern was honored, Illumination provided Classroom Connection residencies in ten Philadelphia public schools: Mariana Bracetti Academy Charter School (MBAC), GAMP High School, Independence Charter School (ICS), Mercy Vocational High School, Parkway Center City High School (PCC), Philadelphia High School for Business and Tech (PHBT), Overbrook High School, Motivation High School, Visitation BVM School, and West Catholic High School. Classroom Connections involved residencies centered on Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, Hamlet by William Shakespeare, and works of African-American modern drama.

Illumination is unique in its ability to meet the needs of each classroom teacher working within the Philadelphia standard curriculum. Before the residency begins, Illumination teaching artists work with classroom teachers to develop a curriculum tailored to the teacher's curricular needs. Students gain experience in playwriting, performing, and directing, which supports their understanding of the literature they study. Parkway Center City School and Philadelphia High School for Business and Technology are small, ethnically diverse high schools with little or no arts curricula, and the students need to practice creativity, expression, and peer review. So, these schools have become exciting sites for residencies: they give Lantern teaching artists the opportunity to collaborate with enthusiastic teachers in finding ways to augment the existing high school English curriculum. Students regularly state that the work they do in our residencies helps them better understand the content of the works at hand.

Free Ticketing Program
As part of the Illumination program overall, the Lantern provides free tickets to nearly 600 underserved children in Philadelphia through a program supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts Shakespeare in American Communities.

Select Quotes for Classroom Connections

• "...thanks for the wonderful presentation that your representatives gave to the students on Tuesday. The classes were original and got the young people thinking not only about Hamlet but also how the play is related to their lives." –Sister Ave Armstrong, Cooperating Teacher, West Catholic High School, March 2009
• "My students had a FANTASTIC time at the Hamlet performance. We have one more visit from our educators, but I wanted to take this time to say what a valuable and memorable experience the whole thing has been." –Kathleen Gaynor, Cooperating Teacher, Maria Bracetti Charter School, April 2009

Goals of the Illumination Education Program:

• To continue building community between the theater company and local schools, beyond a one-time site visit into long-term collaborations
• To support the work of Philadelphia public school teachers in compliance with teaching the citywide curriculum of novels, short stories, and plays
• To help students improve team building skills as well as articulate self-expression using the tools of writers, actors, poets, and musicians
• To generate enthusiasm among young audiences for theatrical language and poetry, including imagery, character, scene structure, and the storytelling techniques used to structure a persuasive narrative
• To increase understanding and appreciation for the art of producing a play from the raw material of a text
• To teach students how to take better advantage of the cultural resources offered them with an understanding of theater
• To give schools an opportunity to bring students to the theater at low cost
• To offer our audiences opportunities to enrich their theater-going experiences by attending discussions with renowned scholars and talkbacks with production directors, designers, and actors
• In partnership with Philadelphia After School Activities Partnership (ASAP), to assist in providing trained teaching artists to lead or assist in city wide after school programs dedicated to ensuring safe environments during the crucial after school hours

Newly Appointed Education Director: Joshua Browns
Joshua Browns has worked extensively in Philadelphia as a theater teaching artist as an Adjunct Faculty member of Drexel University, and has worked in various capacities for the Commonwealth Classic Theatre Company, Hedgerow Theatre, Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, and the Mandell Theatre at Drexel. Josh has taught Shakespeare in the classroom as well as scene study, directing, and "the theatrical experience." He received his Bachelor of Science in Music from Drexel University and a Master of Fine Arts in Acting through the Professional Theatre Training Program of the University of Delaware. He is delighted to be leading the education program at the Lantern.

Major Funders and Supporters of Lantern Theater Company's Education Program
Major funders of Lantern Theater Company's Illumination Education Program including Classroom Connections include: the Stockton Rush Bartol Foundation, the Elsie Lee Garthwaite Memorial Foundation, the Hassel Foundation, the Hirsig Family Foundation through the Philadelphia Foundation, the Virginia and Harvey Kimmel Arts Education Fund, the Leo Model Foundation, the Lincoln Financial Group Foundation, the Philadelphia Foundation Fund for Children, the Rosenlund Foundation, the Seybert Institution, and the Union Benevolent Association. The National Endowment for the Arts Shakespeare in American Communities program has significantly funded the program with a $25,000 grant providing funding for free tickets to Othello in 2008, Hamlet in 2009, and our upcoming production of Henry IV, Part I (April 1 - May 2, 2010). Other funding of the program has been provided in part by the Barra Foundation, the Berwind Corporation, the Samuel S. Fels Fund, the Independence Foundation, the Lida Foundation, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, the Philadelphia Cultural Fund, the Pennsylvania Humanities Council, and the Suzanne Roberts Cultural Fund.

Lantern Theater Company and the Barrymore Awards
Since the inception of Philadelphia's Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theatre in 1995, the Lantern has received 13 awards and 59 nominations. Recent Barrymore wins include 2008 Outstanding Direction of a Play (for Skylight directed by Dan Kern), 2008 Outstanding Leading Actress in Play (for Geneviève Perrier in Skylight), 2006 Outstanding Overall Production of a Play (for Richard III), and 2006 Outstanding Leading Actor in a Play (Peter Pryor in Richard III). The 2009 Excellence in Theatre Education and Community Service Award nominees include: B. Someday Productions' Of Mythic Proportions, Enchantment Theatre Company's The Magic of Masks, Lantern Theater Company's Classroom Connections; Montgomery Theater's Access Education, and Philadelphia Young Playwrights' Annual Playwriting Festival.

About the Lantern
Founded in 1994 by Charles McMahon and Michael Brophy, Lantern Theater Company has emerged as one of the most successful professional theaters in the Philadelphia region. The Lantern is committed to an authentic and intimate exploration of the human spirit in its choice of classic, modern, and original works. The Lantern commits itself to being a vibrant, contributing member of its community. To that end, each season the Lantern produces four mainstage productions, a variety of special events, and Illumination. Philadelphia Weekly named the Lantern "Best Theater Company" in 2008, describing the Theater's selection of plays as "impressively diverse in genre and style." Lantern Theater Company has been in residence at St. Stephen's Theater at 10th & Ludlow Streets in Center City Philadelphia since 1996, managing the performance space and developing it into an affordable multi-purpose performing arts venue.

More Information
Lantern Theater Company
Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia