Theatre B engages regional audiences through cutting-edge productions that are culturally and artistically invigorating. We are an ensemble based organization that values creative work of high artistic integrity and responsible stewardship of our resources. We regard thought-provoking art as inspiration for social action and consider the theatre to be an integral part of a healthy cultural community. In a rural border community, we provide award-winning plays presented in an intimate venue and stimulating new works that audiences would otherwise have to travel several hours to access. We also provide challenging creative opportunities and a supportive ensemble for displaced professionals and emerging artists.
Our Mission
Theatre B has brought exciting and challenging new work to audiences in the Fargo Moorhead region that would typically only be available in large metropolitan areas. Our mission is to engage audiences by telling thought-provoking stories that invigorate social conversation and action. For example, Theatre B premiered The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later, a play that examines how Laramie, Wyoming has changed in the ten years since the murder of Matthew Sheppard. Theatre B offered the event free to the FM community as part of a world-wide simulcast and discussion to address both the personal and community impacts of hate and intolerance. We strive to challenge ourselves as artists and engage our audiences as citizens with each project we produce.
Why We Need a New Website
A dynamic and attractive web site is essential for any successful business. Theatre B operates through the sweat of dedicated volunteers, gifts of considerate donors, and the regular attendance of enthusiastic fans. These constituencies need our web site to serve them in different ways. Staff and volunteers need a virtual office to manage time and tasks. Donors need an easy and secure way to pledge gifts and make inquiries about how their dollars are being spent. Artists and audiences need accurate information about programs and events that will pique their interest and facilitate their transactions. If our mission is “to engage regional audiences…†then our web site must make it easy for a widening, tech-savvy audience to connect to us and our mission.
A new Theatre B web site will:
â– Engage the public and help tell our story
â– Portray a professional image
â– Enable us to provide timely and reliable information, enhancing our credibility
â– Enable us to provide on-line ticketing, registrations, donations
• Purchasing
• Information capture
• Real time updates
• Security for our customers
â– Simplify low-cost, effective marketing
• E-newsletters
• Reduce updating costs
• Speed up posting time
• Ease of posting for photos, video, and audio clips
â– Provide a Back Office for staff and volunteers
• Document sharing
• Event and task management
• Calendaring
• Interface with Customer Relationship Management system
• Discussion and message boards
â– Enable us to feature community partners and thank our supporters
â– Build customer loyalty
â– Increase site traffic and interconnection
â– Enhance value for partners, audience, donors, staff and volunteers
How Our New Site Will Help Make the World Greener
In an effort to be environmentally responsible, Theatre B has already begun to practice using a virtual office with Google. Document sharing online has helped reduce our printing and file storage needs. But we have found that Google is inadequate for the event and information management we now need to handle our organizational growth. A secure back office will help us continue to reduce our paper consumption while enabling us to electronically archive documents, marketing materials, photos, video and audio files. It will also enable us to use a customer relationship management system, so that audience data can be gathered and shared without the need to print lists and labels. E-marketing can replace some of the mail reminders we send to our fans, reducing both paper and fossil fuel consumption.
We have also discussed creating a paperless playbill. We plan to project show information on the walls of the theatre. This could greatly reduce our paper consumption, but it seems less popular with our business advertisers. Featuring our business partners on a new professional web site will attract and encourage advertisers and corporate funders to continue their support. It may even encourage them to consider ways to improve their own sustainability practices.
When the judges choose which non-profits will be selected to participate in this year's Challenge they will take into account testimonials from beneficiaries, donors, volunteers, board members and other
Theatre B is doing a great service to the FM area. They provide an intimate theatre-going experience with shows the community would have never heard of. They put on small cast shows which are great vehicles for people who have theatre as their career or just passing interest. Their involvement with Trollwood's Second Stage program is incredible as Theatre B helps put kids who don't want to do a big musical center stage. Under the direction of David Wintersteen Second Stage has continued to flourish and bring in large audiences. Theatre B is one of the brightest, most unique and valuable parts of Fargo-Moorhead and deserves your help.
Scott Ecker- Actor, Fanboy
Theatre B is one of the most successful grass roots efforts by a theatre company I have seen in a long long time. Their mission is strong, they have proved their "staying power" and they have a proven track record with the FARGO-MOORHEAD community. They need the chance to compete for audiences in the 21st century and a new website would help tremendously. This Theatre Company provides an outlet for established theatre artists and for emerging theatre artists. It is a place to create, learn and grow!!! Theatre B deserves a WEBSITE MAKEOVER!!!!
Lori Koenig, Actor, Director, Friend of Theatre B
Theatre B is THE highest-quality, independent, non-profit theatre company in the Fargo, ND - Moorhead, MN region. The quality of their shows is simply amazing - not just for Fargo-Moorhead, but for anywhere. Truly professional calibre. Their shoestring staff and valiant volunteers deserve a website that lives up to the quality of their theatrical work and does them justice. Theatre B is a treasure in our community, and an esteemed member of our arts community.
Linda Coates - Executive Director of the Fargo-Moorhead Symphony and fan of Theatre B
Theatre B is a dedicated group of theatre nerds (and I mean that in the best sense!) totally committed to to living out their mission statement, "Rearranging the furniture of your mind." Thanks, B'ers for setting the bar for the rest of the theatre world! It would be cool if their web site gave a visceral visual to their intellectual mission! The power of branding at it's best!
Lisa Farnham, Markeitng Coordinator for Trollwood Performing Arts School, a partner of Theatre B, plus a B Fan!
Theater B is an example of the high-quality arts program that is so important to our community. Anything we can do to make them more accessible to the masses will be a huge boost--not only for them but for our cities.
Lauri Winterfeldt, Theater B fan and Community Education director for the Moorhead Area Public Schools
Theatre B has been a life-affirming experience for me as an actor. It has provided me with a community/family of artists who challenge each other, allow risk taking and promote individual growth. The company has been taking steps to establish itself as a viable program with a strong foundation and the ability to withstand change. A revamp of the current website is sorely needed. Company members lack the skill sets necessary for the development of a dynamic site that will effectively tell the "B" story, attract prospective audiences and encourage participation on a wide variety of levels.
Mary Cochran, Theatre B ensemble member, Actor
Storytelling is an essential art form and Theatre B is exceptional at telling a story. The material they choose is thought provoking and helps create awareness of a variety of social issues. In this area, there really is no other theatre that provides the content that Theatre B does. A new website would help Theatre B to continue to grow and thrive in our community.
Jon Lundwall, Theatre B Actor and beneficiary (I get to attend some truly awesome performances!)
I love Theatre B; it is the only arts entertainment in Fargo that is always on my schedule. I often try to drum up interest in Theatre B with friends who have yet to discover it. It would benefit the fans if we had a quality website we could share that reflected the high quality performances we experience at Theatre B.
Kurt Huseby, Theatre B Fan
Theatre B has developed theater options in Fargo that, growing up in North Dakota, I had no idea existed. Their work has provided audience members with an arts entertainment option that is has no duplication for hundreds of miles. An updated, comprehensive website would provide information to a potential new audience members, and provide those of us who use their current website to gain information about current and upcoming productions with the information we need to recommend their productions to our friends.
Cheryl Bergian, Theatre B audience member
Theatre B is a tremendous asset to our community. Earlier this season, they collaborated with me for a unit in my Psychology of Gender course at Concordia College. What a great experience for my students! We attended the play 'Third' as a group, and then met with the actors after the performance for a discussion about the play as it pertained to our class content. The individuals at Theatre B were so accommodating, and helped make it a great learning experience for my students, one that extended beyond the walls of the classroom. This is just one example of how Theatre B works to promote theatre and make it accessible to members of our community. I always thoroughly enjoy the productions at Theatre B, and look forward to continuing my support of the organization.
Dr. Lisa Sethre-Hofstad, Theatre B audience member, and an associate professor of psychology at Concordia College
Theatre B provides high quality, fresh, challenging works. The organization continues to evolve, with each season providing new challenges and growth for both the artists and the audiences. Please help this wonderful group to take their on-line presence to the next level!
Janet Haak, Theatre B fan, actor, & donor
Theatre B's theatrical productions are always a must see... cutting edge and artistically invigorating.
Janelle Berge, Trollwood Performing Arts School and Theatre B patron
Fargo-Moorhead is full of theatre productions -- community theatre, high school, university productions. A lot of them are pretty good. And we get excellent touring productions of entertaining shows like "Cats". But when Theatre B started doing their productions, the audiences here were reminded that serious professional theatre is truly something else. There are so many things that a locally based company like this brings to our community. They do a range of productions -- from farce to the other end, whatever you want to call it. They do contemporary work. They not only provide the experience of these plays to an appreciative audience -- they give people interested in theatre a real grass roots example of how you can do excellent work -- without having to be in New York. But of course in town this size they need all they can get in the way of support and help. I know from my own experience (at the local public broadcasting studio) that a skilled web designer can come in and help you take a giant step up. It is an opportunity for better interaction and communication, not just to facilitate publicity and ticket sales but to help them be in touch with more and different people.
Bill Thomas, Director of Radio, Prairie Public, audience member and minor donor
I just want to thank the Nerdery for sustaining this amazing event. These testimonials affirm why we do what we do, and they reinforce the power of this electronic medium that allows our audience to respond to our work and continue a conversation about how the arts serve the community. Bravo tech nerds!
Carolyn Wintersteen, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Theatre B, Moorhead, MN
I always enjoy the quality of the productions presented by Theatre B and the dedication they have to present a wide range of shows on a shoe-string budget. Please help them be able to reach out to a larger audience about their upcoming productions with a more accessible means of informing the public.
