We recently connected with Victoria Row-Traster and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Victoria, thanks for joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?
I was always a lively child who loved to perform on stage. I was born in the UK where arts education is an integral part of our elementary and high school education. I knew from a very early age that I wanted to be a drama teacher and after graduating from The Central School of Speech and Drama, London, in the early 2000s, I relocated to New York City where I was thrilled to be accepted into a Master’s program at New York University.
I was able to follow my passion teaching for world-renowned theaters such as The Royal National Theater in London and The New Victory Theater in New York. I am so happy that I can continue my passion here in Miami at the Miami Theater Center (MTC) and thrilled to part of the team!
Victoria, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
As Artistic Director at Miami Theater Center (MTC), a non-profit performing arts theater devoted to children and families, my team and I build partnerships with schools and community organizations to deliver dynamic educational programming and musical theater camps as well as to present high-quality performing arts at MTC. I very much appreciate this opportunity to talk about how we are creating transformative live arts experiences and educational opportunities for children and young audiences of all abilities, cultures, and socio-economic backgrounds.
Have you ever had to pivot?
In 2020, Miami Theater Center (MTC) was on target to reach over 10,000 Miami Dade school students through our Field Trip Performances, Workshops and Residencies. However, due to the pandemic MTC had to cancel performances by outstanding local modern contemporary dance company, Dance NOW! as well as Australian company, Slingsby’s extraordinary performance of “Emil and the Detectives” and Spellbound Theatre’s innovative “Pop Up Baby Theater Festival,” all of which had vast education and community outreach projects attached. We also had to cancel our popular MTC Spring Break Camp, where we had created a partnership with pioneering Miami based orchestra Nu Deco Ensemble. All these cancellations led to significant income loss in ticket sales, concessions, and camp fees. Despite those immense challenges, our team were able to successfully transition our weekend Theater Club production of MTC Lion King Jr. to an online platform and provided two innovative sessions of MTC Virtual Summer Camp. Those camps featured nationally recognized guest artist Latin Grammy nominee Sonia De Los Santos and Helen Hayes Award winner Paige Hernandez, amongst others, to facilitate pre-recorded and live-stream interactive workshops for our campers.
For our 2020/21 season, MTC partnered with The Adrienne Arsht Center, Culture Shock Miami, and the South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center (SMDCAC) to identify and pool resources to meet the arts education needs of school-aged children during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Collective was committed to providing diverse and high-quality virtual arts programming to students, grades K-12 whether at home or at school. This ground-breaking collaboration earned national attention and was featured in the Creative Education and WolfBrown arts education journals in May/June 2020. I was also invited to speak at the Theater for Young Audiences/USA virtual conference, which is the leading national organization for the professional field of theatre for children and families.
In the past two seasons, despite the pandemic, MTC co-presented 16 outstanding Virtual Field Trips featuring internationally renowned companies such as Ballet Hispanico and AcroBuffos’s “Air Play,” as well as co-producing virtual field trips for two of Florida’s most talented artists including Black Violin and Miami’s very own Inez Barlatier. To date we have reached over 80,000 students in Miami Dade County.
In our current season, MTC successfully presented a hybrid season beginning with 8 virtual field trips and transitioned in two live performances including TheaterWorks USA’s production of “Dogman: The Musical” and Virgina Repertory Theatre’s adaptation of “Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad.”
In our 2022/23 season, we hope to return to a full-schedule of extraordinary in-person programming geared towards kids & families including TheatreWorks USA’s production of “Percy Jackson Lightening Thief” and a bilingual adaption of Cinderella produced by Glass Half Full Theatre from Austin, TX called “Cenicienta.”
We cannot wait to welcome everyone back into the theater!!
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
MTC is a vital part of North Miami’s community. We are the only privately-owned theater dedicated to children and families in our city, and for over 15 years have developed long-standing relationships with Light House School for the Blind, Miami-Dade County Foster & Adoptive Parent Association and Alliance for GLBTQ Youth, expanding access by offering comprehensive scholarships including transportation to the theater, which is costly and prevents many schools from participating in field trips. There is no doubt that small theaters such as MTC, who focus on school aged children are now in a vulnerable position. Miami-Dade is the 4th largest school district in the country and we would like to continue to offer school field trips, family shows for the community, and classes and camps throughout the year, providing a safe and creative space after school and during school vacations.
MTC remains a valuable part of our community and to close it’s doors would be an unmeasurable loss. We need our community’s support now more than ever. Any donations to our theater would mean we can continue to offer essential performing arts programming and free transportation for schools at a time when our children need it most. Please visit https://www.mtcmiami.org/
Contact Info:
- Website: www.mtcmiami.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mtcmiami/
- Facebook: @MiamiTheaterCenter
- Linkedin: Victoria Row-Traster
- Twitter: @MTCmiami
Image Credits
Michell Zachs