2019 Impact Report
Thank you for helping us make CMT San Jose more than just a theater company. Together we have built a community that celebrates each individual performer who walks through our doors. Based on the guiding principles of inclusivity and excellence, CMT touched the lives of nearly 40,000 youth and their families in 2019.
This report highlights our work from the past year, including 10 full scale Broadway style productions, training opportunities and our broad commitment to arts education. Thanks to our vast alumni network, foundations, corporate and government support, and individual donors, CMT continues to flourish as the longest thriving arts organization in Silicon Valley.
We gratefully attribute our success throughout the year to the support we receive from our entire CMT community. This includes leadership from our Board of Directors and a robust and dedicated Team CMT volunteers.
Thank you for helping support CMT and our participants on and off stage!
Cast All
Empower Youth
Foster Growth
Produce Success
CMT San Jose trains and educates today’s youth through musical theater to set and achieve high artistic and personal goals, and to inspire them to become exemplary artists, patrons and citizens of tomorrow. With inclusiveness and quality as the two touchstones of CMT’s vision, we remain dedicated to providing the highest possible caliber of musical and theatrical training to children from ages 4 to 20, spanning all abilities. We stand behind our promise never turn a child away, regardless of financial or physical limitations.
From post-production surveys, filled out by participating families, here are just a few of the accomplishments mentioned by the community:
• Over 90% of families believe that their child grew as a performer and individual through the CMT programs
• 97% said they would be coming back to continue to participate at CMT and recommend it to others
“As a parent, CMT provides my family with a unique combination of a highly supporting community along with world class creativity. Both of our children love being part of CMT as they thrive in this imaginative, nurturing environment. They, and us, have made lifelong friends; CMT encourages each and every unique person in an individualistic and caring way, and has an inclusive creative vision – a rare, beautiful gift for us all in the present and for the future.” –Maya Yereslove
“CMT has helped my children to grow and develop their confidence and resilience. As a parent I love being part of the community because of all the connections I have made with amazing people. The other parents are always supportive and friendly, and I have made many new friendships in the years we have been a part of CMT.” –Steve Flowers
Alumni
“I had the privilege to come back from NYC to share my working theatre knowledge, along with many fellow alumni, to choreograph numbers in their most recent production of West Side Story. More than a masterclass, these young artists get firsthand experience and choreography of working with so many different backgrounds and styles and then getting the chance to share what they’ve learned onstage at the Montgomery. I have been impressed with the theater’s effort to bring talent together in the creation of their shows. It’s the kind of special experience that you can’t find at every theatre.”
–Dennis O’Bannion White Christmas (Broadway)
CMT is proud and grateful to work with so many of our incredible alumni each season. 2019, was no different, offering a variety of opportunities for alumni to share their talents with our community including Marquee and Gala performances, Master Classes and being members of the artistic staff on Rising Stars and Mainstage performances.
“CMTSJ is solely responsible for igniting my love for musical theatre. CMT allowed me to be myself fully, and encouraged me to follow that passion into the blessed career that I’ve been fortunate to have since I left. CMT is more than just a place; as weird as it sounds, everyone who walks through those doors knows that CMT is a relationship. It is community, it is family, it is home. I’m confident that CMT shaped the artist that I am today. Art is beautiful and captivating, but it is also hard and messy, just like artists. But CMT is exactly the community to let that artist — and that person — thrive and be fully realized.”
-Aaron J. Albano, Hamilton, National Tour
CMT serves as both the journey of a lifetime and the premier destination for performers and audiences of all ages. Thanks to its artistic vision and unparalleled leadership, CMT is one of the only youth-centric performing arts organizations consistently recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts for artistic excellence.
Research indicates* that involvement in the arts increases student engagement and encourages consistent attendance. In addition to building social and communication aptitude overall, drama courses and performances have been shown to improve student’s self-esteem as well as confidence in their academic abilities and life skills.
* Study of The Effects of Theatre Education from American Alliance for Theater & Education
Education
Scholarships
Over $35,000 given to 100+ recipients
Student Audience Matinees
• 6,291 Patrons
• 85 Groups
• 1,728 Title 1 tickets
Recital/Dance Classes
• 76 Classes
• 1,434 Participants
• 844 Hours
NEW PROGRAMS
CMT KickstART:
In 2019, CMT piloted a new program aimed at building sustainable musical theater programs in underserved school communities. To kick off this program CMT partnered with Valle Vista Elementary (Mt. Pleasant School District).
Casting all who auditioned, 50 students participated in this premiere production of Disney’s Aladdin Kids in Fall of 2019. The 3-year KickstART program mentors teachers at Valle Vista who will continue to receive varied levels of support from CMT for two more years. At the end of the partnership with CMT, Valle Vista will have had 150+ students come through their program and will have the building blocks to serve many more on their own as they continue to offer performing arts opportunities to their students.
A NEW HOME – A WORK IN PROGRESS
2019 was filled with innovative and creative firsts, along with challenges for the future. Last spring, CMT learned this would be our final season at 1401 Parkmoor Ave. Knowing we had less than a year to plan, our board of directors formed a site relocation task force to search for a new home. In December of 2019, CMT announced to its community that we would not only be staying in the same neighborhood but that we had signed a lease on what would become CMT’s new Creative Arts Center. The new 23,000 sq foot center will be the home of CMT’s rehearsal hall, office, set and costume shop. With the start of the new-year, CMT was working hand in hand with designers and the City of San Jose to push forward on construction for our new home.
While COVID-19 has slowed this process, we still have our eyes on the future and working behind the scenes in preparation to begin construction when it’s safe to do so and funds are raised. As we move past the pandemic’s challenges, using creative arts to help us heal as individuals and as a community will be paramount.
An active campaign cabinet continues to raise funds to support construction of the new space which will house the following:
- 10,000 ft2 for education and training including
- 5 rehearsal studios with hardwood springform floors, and state-of- the-art SMART sound system
- 10,000 ft2 for employees & families to create together sets, costumes, and props
- Storage for 2,000 props and 10,000 costumes
- 5,000 ft2 for a diverse & collaborative staff
- 15 FTE work spaces
To learn more about how you can help support our move and new facility, please contact CMT Managing Director Dana Zell at dana@cmtsj.org
WHY FUNDRAISE?
Revenues from ticket sales and registrations only cover about 60% of our overall operating budget. The rest is covered through the support from foundations, corporations, and individuals such as yourself.
OPERATING REVENUE:
2017 | $2,659,715
2018 | $2,871,905
2019 | $2,895,775
2019 Total Revenue: $2,895,775
Contributed
Earned
Corporate
Individual
Foundation
Government
Contributed Revenue Breakdown
In 2019, we raised $1,190,659 through all of our fundraising initiatives.
“We give to CMT because the organization is like family to us and many others. The experiences of learning, creating, and performing serve the thousands of children who take part in CMT all their lives. We believe exposing young audiences as well as performers to the arts is important. CMT provides invaluable opportunities to our community.”
– Phil and Katherine Costanza
“It’s incredible to think about the amount of creativity, positivity and pure joy CMT has brought to our family. Show by show we are watching our daughter challenge herself and grow in the safe, professional environment that is the legacy of CMT. We are so grateful for everyone who makes it possible.”
– Julz & Phil Arney