Dazzling duet: UIndy teams with theater troupe for residency program

The show will go on for Creative Grounds Fine Arts Academy.

With the local theater troupe partnering with one of the area’s premier universities, those shows are only going to get bigger and better.

Creative Grounds has teamed up with the University of Indianapolis in a unique opportunity to foster the arts on the southside. The theater organization has been named the theater-in-residence at the school’s Ransburg Auditorium, offering access to a 750-capacity venue, additional rehearsal space, and a supportive university community aimed at supporting local theater.

The partnership between the University of Indianapolis and Creative Grounds will be in effect for the next three years.

As Creative Grounds stages its first fall show, “Something Rotten! JR.” this weekend, leaders see the partnership is a chance to give participants and audiences a more robust theater experience.

“It’s an excellent opportunity for our students and our adults who participate in the shows to have a full theater experience,” said Mark Landis, executive director of Creative Grounds Fine Arts Academy. “We’re building out the community, and encouraging our students and staff to work with the University of Indianapolis.”

Creative Grounds is a nonprofit youth mentorship program for students and adults of all ages, specializing in musical theatre with students ages 7 to 18. Landis founded the troupe in 2014 as a way to offer theater opportunities to young people, and at the same time building character, work ethic and social bonds.

For the past three years, the organization has put on shows at Studio One, a performance space located at Greenwood Park Mall.

But with its lease ending soon, Creative Grounds leaders started looking for new venues that were a better fit.

“We needed to be able to grow. We couldn’t grow where we’re at right now,” Landis said.

Fortuitously, the troupe had a connection with UIndy. Andrew Kocher, vice president of corporate and community partnerships, had children involved in Creative Grounds performances, and Landis had spoken with him last year about bringing a show or two to campus.

“In conversations with him, I said we’d maybe like to do our spring shows there at UIndy,” Landis said. “So we did all of our spring productions except one there as a trial. And it went really well there.”

That experience blossomed into a greater discussion about being the theater-in-residence at the university. Working through the details, both sides felt it would be beneficial all the way around.

“Having Creative Grounds here as a theater-in-residence increases the visibility of the University of Indianapolis and the Ransburg Auditorium as a destination for theatre on the southside of Indy,” said Grant Williams, director of the UIndy Theatre Program. “It ensures that the Ransburg Auditorium remains an active entertainment space and will hopefully lead to improving its abilities to offer competitive theatrical entertainment in town.”

As theater-in-residence, Creative Grounds has three shows planned for the fall, starting with “Something Rotten! JR.” The comedic musical is a send-up of Shakespearean theater.

“In the 1590s, brothers Nick and Nigel Bottom are desperate to write a hit play but are stuck in the shadow of that Renaissance rock star known as ‘The Bard.’ When a local soothsayer foretells that the future of theatre involves singing, dancing and acting at the same time, Nick and Nigel set out to write the world’s very first musical. But amidst the scandalous excitement of opening night, the Bottom Brothers realize that reaching the top means being true to thine own self, and all that jazz,” according to the show’s synopsis.

People will recognize one-liners and references from dozens and dozens of musicals, Landis said.

“It’s a farcical production, very much a comedy. People will laugh their heads off,” he said.

Performances are ongoing, with shows at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday.

The upcoming schedule includes Disney’s “Descendants: The Musical” from Oct. 31 to Nov. 3 and Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” Nov. 21 to 24.

Shows planned at Ransburg Auditorium are limited to a single weekend, a departure from past performances that expended for multiple weekends. The reason is the auditorium has a much greater capacity than their Studio One space, meaning the cast and crew don’t have to perform a dozen times over two weekends anymore.

“Being able to perform for more people in one weekend than we could over two weeks in our earlier space is momentous,” he said. “It’s important not just for our community, but for our organization as a non-profit to continue to grow, because ticket sales help pay the bills.”

Another important facet of the program is offering school day performances to area community schools for just $5 a student, a price for live theater that is extremely affordable compared to professional productions elsewhere in Indianapolis.

“We’re going to be able to offer those school-day shows to more schools,” Landis said. “Being able to have more outreach like that is huge.”

From a UIndy perspective, the partnership will hopefully have impact on students as well.

“Although details are not finalized yet, I think having Creative Grounds in our space will lead to some exciting opportunities for theatre students to be involved in larger-scale productions and be able to both offer their expertise to assist Creative Grounds, and also gain invaluable training in bringing those shows to life,” Williams said.

IF YOU GO

“Something Rotten! JR.”

What: A comedic musical send-up of Shakespearean theater being staged by Creative Grounds Fine Arts Academy, as part of their new theater-in-residence partnership with the University of Indianapolis.

When: 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 2:30 p.m. Sunday

Where: Ransburg Auditorium, University of Indianapolis, 1400 E. Hanna Ave.

Tickets: $10 for adults, $8 for students

Information: cgfinearts.org

Upcoming shows: “Disney’s Descendants,” Oct. 31-Nov. 3; “Beauty and the Beast,” Nov. 21-24.