EDMONDS—The Ballyhoo Theater in Edmonds has a mission to keep the arts accessible and inclusive to everyone. That’s why they offer free and sliding priced tickets (as low as $4 or $5) for each one of their shows.
Ballyhoo Theatre’s purpose is to enrich, educate and entertain our community by providing a superior theatre experience, to provide education in the theatre arts to children and young adults, and to create a safe and inclusive environment.
It does this by providing a program of educational experiences in all aspects of theater, inspiring recognition and support to encourage young theater artists, supporting talented youth financially through theatrical productions, creating quality entertainment through theatrical productions, fostering an open, safe and inclusive environment for young people to express who they are, and promoting the values of respect, pride and unity.
“The arts are expensive and one of the things we really wanted to do, and part of our mission, is to create opportunities for kids, and for our community, that they might not otherwise have,” said Shileah Corey, Ballyhoo Founder and Artistic and Managing Director. “For us that means that no student is turned away because they are unable to pay tuition. We accept every student, we do not look at their financial situation. They’re always welcome to be part of this community no matter what their background is.”
As far as ticket prices go, Corey shared that she grew up under public assistance in a single-family household. As a result, there wasn’t a lot of money to experience the arts, and she didn’t see her first professional Broadway musical until she was a Junior in High School.
“I wanted to make theater accessible for everyone,” Corey added.
The idea for Ballyhoo theater (named after the ‘ballyhoos’, or promoters, who would stand outside theaters promoting a play) came from Corey, whose background is in education, wanting to bring a safe space for children to practice the arts.
Although the theater was founded in 1999, it first began as a sort of homeschooled theater arts program over the summer. It wasn’t until 2015 when Ballyhoo became a certified 501(c)(3) nonprofit with an official theater space. This is when, according to Corey, the vision behind Ballyhoo truly solidified.
“That’s when I got the idea to offer a safe space for kids to be in, especially kids who felt other,” said Corey.
Now Ballyhoo offers educational theater programs for anyone and everyone, culminating with five musicals and several dramatic plays a year.
Corey teaches voice, vocal coaching, acting technique, and audition preparation at Ballyhoo, bringing with her 18 years of experience teaching full time at Edmonds Heights K-12. Throughout Corey’s theater arts career, she has directed 85 full scale Broadway/Off-Broadway style musicals and over 100 junior style musicals for students ages 8 through 20. Her programs have premiered several musicals in the greater Seattle area, and she was honored to work with the writers on two different new works projects.
Corey has her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Music with a Vocal Emphasis, and has taught private voice for 20 years, working first out of her home and at a dance studio before founding Ballyhoo Theatre. She is also an award-winning costume designer and had her own clothing design and manufacturing company for 10 years.
As a queer-led organization with 95% of its staff identifying as part of the LGBTQIA2S+ community, Ballyhoo focuses on telling traditional stories through a queer lens while offering a safe space that celebrate and welcomes everyone regardless of gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, and ability.
Though Edmonds is no stranger to various arts venues—from the Edmonds Center for the Arts to the Pheonix Theater—Corey informed the Lynnwood Times that she views these venues as more partners in the arts, rather than competition.
“I think having the attitude of collaboration is really important because we’re all in the same business, we have the same challenges, and being competitive doesn’t help any of us,” said Corey. “It’s really important to support other arts communities. We’re all in this together and we’re all in a tough place, especially right now, and we need each other more than ever. We need to help promote each other and sustain each other.”
The Ballyhoo also frequently partners with Edmonds College on its productions. For example, its upcoming performance of an adaptation of Arnold Lobel’s beloved Frog and Toad stories, which opens next week on February 28. Because of partnerships like these the theater was able to orchestrate the performance for the low budget of approximately $13,000.
The Ballyhoo Theater recently benefitted from a $25,000 grant from the ArtsFund and Paul G. Allen Family Foundation. This was the second year in a row that the Ballyhoo Theater was awarded this grant and it’s opportunities such as these that ultimately aid in supporting the theater’s commitment to free or low cost productions.
A Year with Frog and Toad, in partnership with Edmonds College, will run from February 28 through March 16 at the Black Box Theater at Edmonds College. A sensory friendly/shortened performance will be held on March 8, ASL interpretation will be provided on March 14, and a shortened performance for younger viewers will be held on March 11.
Following that production Hades Town: Teen Edition, which tells the tale of intertwining lovers Orpheus and Eurydice, will begin April 25 and run through May 4, also at Edmonds College’s Black Box Theater.
For reservations, tickets, or more information visit Ballyhoo’s website at: www.ballyhootheatre.org
Author: Kienan Briscoe
