Goodman Youth Arts Council and God of Carnage!

By Teresa Rende, Education and Community Engagement Associate

The Goodman Youth Arts Council (GYAC), our newest program for teens, has been in high gear this spring! GYAC members serve as the Goodman’s teenage ambassadors. Donating their time, work and brain power, GYAC members not only aid the Goodman with special events, but strive to create theatergoers among others their age. Whether it is through their mission statement, videos or outreach work, they find innovative ways to seek out new teens who have not experienced live theater, and spread the message that theater deserves the attention we already give to movies, TV, video games and popular music!

As we closed God of Carnage earlier this month, the council saw a great opportunity to bring in other teens from their schools. Their goal was to bring teens they didn’t know, and teens that weren’t already involved in drama at school. In conjunction with our 10Tix program, the council offered fellow students tickets at a discounted rate, and on Saturday, nearly 50 fresh faces rolled into Goodman to see God of Carnage. Many from this group had never seen a live theater performance in their life!

To welcome these newcomers, the council threw an after party. They arranged a prize raffle, and one lucky student won the opportunity to see Matthew Morrison perform live at the Goodman Gala in May! If that weren’t enough, the newcomers were welcomed by God of Carnage stars Keith Kupferer and Mary Beth Fisher themselves, who talked about the behind-the-scenes action on God of Carnage as well as their careers and lives; they even stayed to draw the raffle prizes and award winners!

All in all, GYAC throws a pretty great party.

Top: GYAC members (l to r) Brandon Rivera, Vicky Giannini and Lauren Escobar. Bottom: God of Carnage stars Keith Kupferer and Mary Beth Fisher and the GYAC. Photos by Teresa Rende.