The crowd is noisy and some kids are looking at the performer. The show starts. By five minutes into that performance, the auditorium is quiet. These kids, for the first time, are making a physical, often electric, connection with that performer. Nobody else in the theatre exists at that moment for that child.
Theatre is alive and immediate, unlike the more removed television, video games, and movies.
Schools were offered free tickets to six of the field trip events for one classroom or three field trips for two classrooms. Because the initial funding came from the City of Chico, the first year's participants were Chico kids. As additional sponsors are found, the program will expand to include more classrooms in more communities. For Finney, having kids experience different performance art forms and getting repeated exposure to the arts is almost as important as providing the experiences for no cost. Repeated experiences give kids an understanding and appreciation for live theatre.