During the last day of 2024, we look over the first full year in the new theatre. The emotions are mixed - a profound and overwhelming feeling of gratitude that is sprinkled with a tiny bit of disbelief and loads of proud and heartwarming moments. 2024 was truly a transformative year for Theatre33 and we are grateful that you were a part of it, making the magic of live theater available and accessible to our community!
Thanks to the visionary leadership of our board and tireless effort from volunteers, and staff, Theatre33 achieved incredible milestones and deepened our impact within the community. We invite you to reflect on the highlights of this exciting year and have a glimpse into 2025 with us.
2024 in Numbers
We’ve presented 8 mainstage productions (7 premieres), 4 Little Plays, 3 Studio33 youth plays, 2 Kids Playhouse productions, and 11 free community events. Together, these amount to over 180 individual events that offered 6940 opportunities to experience arts. Over 40% of these experiences were free or subsidized! The bulk of the events we performed at our home, but we also performed at the Crossroads Park, Meydenbauer Center, KidsQuest Museum and several local daycare centers. Almost 165 volunteers contributed to our mission and made all of this possible!
Important Awards and Milestones
Our awards display picked up a few more trophies:
- Theatre33 was voted:
Best of 425 in the Live theater category by the readers of the 425 Magazine.
Best of the Pacific Northwest in the Live Theater category (silver medal) by the readers of the Seattle Times.
- Theatre33 was also awarded the prestigious Mort Clark International Achievement Award for significant achievement in the promotion of excellence in international community theatre by the American Association of Community Theatre.
- Our youth group was selected by the American High School Theatre Festival (AHSTF) to perform at the world-famous Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland in 2026! It is a huge honor to represent Bellevue, our state and the US at the international level!
We would like to acknowledge the following organizations for providing general operating support, equipment and unrestricted grant funding in 2024:
- City of Bellevue Arts Commission - Visit Bellevue
- Washington State Arts Commission - Norman Archibald Foundation
- 4Culture - Bellevue Rotary Club
- ArtsFund/Paul G. Allen Family Foundation
Looking to 2025
As we will be ringing in the New Year, we have lots to celebrate and many exciting things to look forward to!
We are beyond excited to announce that we secured major grant funding from City of Bellevue Arts Commission and 4Culture to help with the construction costs of phases 1-3 of our new facility and general operating support for 2025-2027. Big thanks to Inspire Washington, ArtsFund and the King County Council for passing the Doors Open Initiative! These awards give us wings after many years of dreaming about flying. This spring and summer, we will continue the renovations of the theatre, adding the AC system, backstage bathroom, retractable seating and stage. This will allow us to finally begin summer camp programs!
In February of 2025 we will compete at the Washington State Community Theatre Association’s Kaleidoscope Festival in Spokane. If you will be traveling to Gonzaga around Valentines day, you can catch us there!
In April of 2025, we will introduce the Inaugural Bellevue International Theatre Festival, or BITFest! Several local and visiting community theatre companies will perform on the stage of the Meydenbauer Center in different languages! It will be a celebration of theatre!
A HUGE Thank You from the bottom of our hearts!
Our dear volunteers, donors, sponsors, partners, and audiences: THANK YOU! Your continued support turns our dreams into a reality and propels us to continue to create, grow and amplify our impact in the community.
2024 has been productive, rewarding and memorable - we could not have done it without you. We turn the calendar into 2025 with a renewed sense of purpose and magnified vision for what is to come. Cheers to another year of live theatre, creativity, inspiration, connection, and community. Stay tuned— the best is yet to come! If you want to get involved in our programs, classes, and events, please reach out at info@theatre33wa.org.
Happy New 2025! May it be healthy, happy, joyous, prosperous, memorable and magical!
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