Zoot Theatre is Mathile’s first resident company

Next performance will be Discovery Series show.

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By Terry Morris, Staff Writer 4:11 PM Saturday, August 6, 2011

DAYTON — The Zoot Theatre, which has produced shows at the Mathile Theatre in the Schuster Center, can now call the familiar venue home.

The Victoria Theatre Association has named Zoot Theatre the Mathile’s first resident company.

The distinction grew out of Zoot’s presence on the VTA’s past two Discovery Series for young audiences and the coming season, when the puppet and mask troupe will present an original show call “My Dog Ate the Constitution.”

Zoot, which is headed by executive director Michael Sticka and artistic director Tristan Cupp, has also produced its own independent shows at the Mathile under the auspices of the Schuster’s ImPact program for up and coming arts groups and artists.

In addition to its work with the VTA, Zoot has also collaborated and partnered in performance with other organizations, including Central State University, Town Hall Theatre, the Muse Machine and Oakwood High School. It will make its debut in the Schuster’s Mead Theatre in a March 2012 performance with the Dayton Youth Philharmonic Orchestra.

Established in 2005, it has performed at the Rosewood Arts Centre in Kettering, Gilly’s nightclub, the Front Street building in Dayton and the former Rising Phoenix Theater in Middletown.

The Schuster’s ImPact program provided the bridge to downtown Dayton.

“It lends legitimacy to the organization to be recognized by the Victoria. It gives us a home,” Sticka said.

Katherine Eckstrand, education and outreach manager for the Victoria, said the goal of ImPact is to “grow talent in Dayton. Zoot has set high standards for itself. Having them on the series means we see them as being on a level with the professional touring companies that are part of Discovery. We hope this will raise the bar for them even more.”

Sticka said Zoot hopes to join the professional touring circuit as well.

Cupp, who designs and creates many of Zoot’s distinctive puppets and masks, said the troupe’s goal has been to “be unique. We want to combine the visual arts with the performance arts and connect the fine arts with theater.”

One of his dreams is to host a huge puppet and theater festival in Dayton. For now, he’s glad for Zoot to have a home.

The next chance to see them will be limited to area students in grades three through seven who attend the Discovery Series presentation of “My Dog Ate the Constitution” on Oct. 13 at the Victoria Theatre.

The troupe will continue to mount its own original productions in the Mathile, commissioning an original script, then building the masks and puppets the performers will use to tell the story.

Past shows have included: “Hansel and Gretel,” “The Phantom Tollbooth,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream, “A Canterbury Journey,” “Flight of the Wigglebird” (with the band Sleepybird), “Where the Red Fern Grows” and “A Rescued Christmas.”

For more information about the Zoot Theatre,  visit www.zoottheatre company.org.

For more about Physicians for Kids Discovery Series, visit www.victoriatheatre.com/discovery.

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