Program areas at CAPA
Since its founding in 1969, Capa has achieved international recognition for presenting diverse Performing Arts and entertainment programming, restoring historic theatres, excellence in facility management, and contributing to the quality of life in our community.every year, we produce festival latino (ohio's largest free latin/latino festival) and the annual Capa summer movie series (the longest-running classic film series in the nation), and present the pnc broadway in Columbus series in partnership with broadway across america. Capa presentations in our theatres include performances from diverse genres: blues, children's entertainment, comedy, dance, folk, gospel, jazz, pop, live podcasts, and much more.
Our education and engagement programs include the Capa marquee awards, an official regional awards program of the national high school musical theatre awards, the passport to learning student matinee series, applause broadway for kids, broadway in the classroom, el dia de los ninos/day of the children, workshops and master classes, community engagement, and tours of the historic theatres. We reach out to underserved schools and communities through free programs and events, reduced and free tickets, and subsidies for busing students to our theatres. More than 48,000 community members benefitted from our education and engagement programs during the fiscal year. In the fifth annual Capa marquee awards presented by american electric power foundation, 18 schools participated, reaching 2,356 high school students. Throughout the year, students participated in a series of free master classes and workshops with local and regional artists, including the touring broadway casts of "hairspray", "hamilton", "elf", "six", and "beetlejuice". the 2023 Capa marquee awards showcase presented by american electric power foundation was held at the Ohio theatre on may 25. 167 student performers and student technical crew members worked on the red-carpet event which included the announcement of winners in each category and included performances from the nominees for best musical production and best performer in a leading role, as well as opening and closing numbers that incorporated students from all participating high schools. In june, the two winners received a capa-sponsored trip to new york city where they joined top musical theatre students from across the country for private coaching, master classes, and rehearsals in preparation for a special showcase performance at the minskoff theatre on broadway on june 26. Christian strong, from pickerington high school north was named one of eight national finalists at the 2023 jimmy awards and received a $3,000 scholarship to use toward his education. This was our 12th season producing matinee performances for students in grades pre-k-12. This year we awarded a total of $10,434 in scholarship and transportation assistance for our four in-person productions, "on golden wings", "steve trash: the science of ecology", "step afrika! And "cenicienta: a bilingual cinderella". We were also excited to offer two virtual programs again this season. 9,793 students were registered to experience mermaid theatre of nova scotia's "puppets in paper and "finding north" free-of-charge. This year, thanks to the generosity of our broadway subscribers, we were able to award more than $46,000 in subsidies and provided 1,183 students and teachers in 7 counties the opportunity to attend "hairspray", "hamilton", "six and "beetlejuice". An extension of the applause program, this year we launched broadway in the classroom, a free program which provides title 1 schools with the opportunity to engage in six weeks of curriculum developed by their teacher and Capa and aligned with Ohio department of education standards. At the end of the six weeks, 50 students from Columbus alternative high school attended the broadway musical, "six and had a talkback with the cast.in october 2022, as part of our social justice series, we had a weeklong engagement with greatest stories never told and their production of "on golden wings". An interactive living history play with music, "on golden wings" shares the untold story of james herman banning and thomas cox allen, the first african americans to fly across the united states. We travelled the show to worthington christian village for a performance for their older adult residents, the reeb center for an audience that included youth from the boys and girls club of central Ohio, west high school, and the lincoln theatre for a community day which included a pre-show paper airplane flying contest complete with prizes, a performance of the show, and a talkback with the cast. 1,195 community members took part in this program. As an extension of festival latino, we hosted our inaugural el dia de los ninos on april 30. for the event, we welcomed more than 240 guests to the lincoln theatre for a cultural celebration. the event began with pre-show Arts and cultural activities and a free performance of "cenicienta: a bilingual cinderella". Overall, Capa education & engagement programs served 26,100 students in 100 schools from 23 school districts in 10 Ohio counties.
Capa owns and/or manages 10 theatre spaces in Columbus, Ohio, including four historic dowtown Columbus venues. Our theatre operations include facilitating rental events, maintaining the theatres, and providing ticketing and administrative services for other non-profit organizations. Over 771 events took place in Capa's venues in 2022-23, serving over 715,000 ticketed patrons.