By Roxy Ekberg
Republican Staff
Hosted by Wakefield Progressive on June 1, the fourth WakeFIELD Party raised funds for The Little Red Hen Theatre.
The amount donated to the theatre has not been finalized yet, but based on a preliminary count, this year’s party had the largest number of tickets sold, according to Wakefield Progressive founder Megan Weaver.
Funds will be used to support artistic and educational programming at the theatre, including 2024 season activities such as the upcoming production of Beauty and the Beast and additional Spanish-speaking programming.
Adam Goos, managing director of the theatre, said the theatre is planning two productions of a Red Riding Hood play with one performance in Spanish.
Goos said funds from the party will support Spanish-speaking programming by allowing the theatre to hire additional artistic help. The theatre plans to work with artistic consultant Natalie Ramariez Markworth, who helped develop a bilingual theatre in South Sioux City.
Goos said this will be a start for the theatre to figure out how to involve and serve the Spanish-speaking community more directly while still providing a great experience for the audience.
“We want to find ways to serve our entire community,” Goos said. “We advertise and market in English and Spanish, but to really serve in the arts you have to provide programming that is relevant to them that they want to see.”
The program is slated to run the first week of October.
The theatre provided logistical support, volunteers, and helped plan the WakeFIELD Party.
Hosting the party for the fourth year, Weaver said each year she learns more about how to make the event run more efficiently and this year was no exception.
Food trucks, picnic tables, and a VIP tent were set up in the lot across from the theatre on downtown Main Street. Late into Saturday night, nearly 300 attendees listened to the country musical stylings of an American Idol finalist and a former contest on The Voice.
Goos said community events such as the party are important because they give an opportunity for residents to experience entertainment that they would normally have to travel out of town for.
“I think it’s important that we provide those opportunities for the community to participate in that kind of entertainment that people enjoy and like, but have that in their own backyard,” Goos said.
More pictures from the Wakefield Party can be found on the back page of this edition of the Republican.