Drayton Entertainment Keynote

As one of Ontario’s leading cultural festivals and attractions, award-winning Drayton Entertainment has blazed a trail of self-sufficiency, becoming an exemplary model of sustainability for the arts while expanding the range of creative opportunities in the province. But how does a grassroots movement survive – much less thrive – with decreased, very little, or no government funding to support annual operations? With community engagement as a core principle, Drayton Entertainment has organically cultivated a groundswell of grassroots support, focusing on the bottom up as opposed to the top down. Now, and looking to the future, the organization’s continued sustainability involves integrating a social mission within its business model, strategically supporting generational change through a burgeoning Youth Academy that removes some of the barriers to arts representation and participation. A homegrown success story, this engaging presentation focuses on community engagement as a pathway to sustainability.

Outcomes:

• Building strong community support helps events stay stable and successful over time.

• Relying on many different sources of support makes events less vulnerable when funding changes.

• Having a clear purpose or mission makes events more appealing to audiences, partners, and sponsors

BIO:

David Connolly is the Artistic Director of Drayton Entertainment, one of Canada’s largest not-for-profit theatre companies. A passionate advocate for disability inclusion, he made history as the first amputee to perform on Broadway. As a director and choreographer, David has had the privilege of bringing Canadian regional premieres of The Prom, Kinky Boots, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Mamma Mia!, Newsies, and many others to the stage. His work also extends to the screen, where he has directed multiple series for CBC and projects for Disney, CBS, NBC, ABC, and PBS. Along the way, he’s collaborated with remarkable artists including Katy Perry, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, Elton John, Sarah Jessica Parker, kd lang, Patti LaBelle, and Sarah Brightman. Teaching and mentorship are at the heart of David’s work, evidenced by his leadership of the Drayton Entertainment Youth Academy. David is also a recipient of the Ontario Premier’s Award of Excellence and a frequent speaker on equity, diversity, and inclusion for the International Musical Theatre Educators’ Alliance. For the past five years, he has curated and moderated a disability inclusion panel at BroadwayCon in New York, helping to spark practical, real-world change in how disabled artists are represented onstage.

As one of Ontario’s leading cultural festivals and attractions, award-winning Drayton Entertainment has blazed a trail of self-sufficiency, becoming an exemplary model of sustainability for the arts while expanding the range of creative opportunities in the province. But how does a grassroots movement survive – much less thrive – with decreased, very little, or no government funding to support annual operations? With community engagement as a core principle, Drayton Entertainment has organically cultivated a groundswell of grassroots support, focusing on the bottom up as opposed to the top down. Now, and looking to the future, the organization’s continued sustainability involves integrating a social mission within its business model, strategically supporting generational change through a burgeoning Youth Academy that removes some of the barriers to arts representation and participation. A homegrown success story, this engaging presentation focuses on community engagement as a pathway to sustainability.

Outcomes:

• Building strong community support helps events stay stable and successful over time.

• Relying on many different sources of support makes events less vulnerable when funding changes.

• Having a clear purpose or mission makes events more appealing to audiences, partners, and sponsors 

BIO:

Starting as a youth usher and working his way up into the role of Drayton Entertainment’s long-serving Executive Director, Steven Karcher’s entire career has focused on supporting an artistic vision that makes the performing arts affordable and accessible to largely underserved communities. Drayton Entertainment is one of the largest and respected charitable arts organizations in Canada, offering 30 live theatre productions annually across 7 venues to an audience surpassing 250,000, and generating $82.8 million in benefits throughout society. Cultural tourism belies the artistic mandate, as Drayton Entertainment is an economic anchor in each community where it operates, so the organization is continually reviewing its programming to diversify audience composition and cultivate new attendees. A recipient of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee medal for community response during the COVID-19 pandemic, Steven has served on, and worked with, many regional and provincial tourism Boards and agencies over the past 25 years.