The DAVE Project

Welcome to The DAVE Project’s tumblr blog! This is our first real public announcement of any sort, so this is exciting! 

Thanks to our friend Jeff David who suggested we try out a blog to see if we can get some people interested in what we’re doing… with that being said, here goes!

Let me start by saying thank you to all of you who supported our family through these difficult times. My father would be speechless at the outpouring of kindness and selflessness that all of you have shown us, and there is nothing that we can say to adequately thank you enough for all that you have done. Despite the setbacks we as a family have encountered as of late, we have also been hard at work to make sure that Dad’s passion will inspire not only us, but hopefully also many other kids and teens that have an interest in the performing arts.

As you may know,  my Dad made the performing arts an integral part of his life from the start. At Smithfield High School, he was fortunate enough to be a part of an outstanding performing arts program and while he was a brother of Phi Kappa Psi at The University of Rhode Island, he molded a group of rag-tag fraternity boys into award-winning singers. Some thirty years after college, the focus of his encouragement shifted to Matthew and I, and eventually he projected his magnificent energy to a community of performers, with whom he performed and directed on several occasions.

After my Dad passed away on October 3rd, we wanted to create something in his honor, in order to carry on his legacy and attempt to transform his death into something positive. Without any specific direction, we decided to create a memorial fund, asking that money which would otherwise be spent on floral arrangements be channeled into the fund: The Dave Gorgone Memorial Fund for Musical Arts. Our biggest hope at the time was that we could make a small donation to some sort of arts organization or possibly give a scholarship to a graduating senior continuing on in theater or music. However, when the donations surpassed any amount we could have possibly expected, we realized that we needed to take our idea to the next level. 

If we were to make a donation to, say a public school arts department, we felt it could possibly go to waste, as, with public budget cuts, there aren’t many opportunities available to the students to experience the performing arts. When we thought about giving a scholarship, we realized we just wouldn’t be influencing enough people’s lives by giving a single scholarship, and we really just wanted to do something bigger. 

Therefore, it was not a “memorial fund” that we wanted to create in Dad’s memory, but rather, we wanted to start what we saw as a lifelong project for us. Why not find a way to supplement what public schools should be able to provide for their students in terms of arts education, but are unable to? Thus “The DAVE Project: Dedicated Artists for the Vitality of arts Education” was born. True, it’s a bit of a mouthful when you use the entire name, but, “DAVE” or “The DAVE Project” seemed all too perfect, and we finally knew how our memorial fund should evolve.

Our initial idea is that The DAVE Project will consist of a little-to-no cost performing arts school for kids and teens who have the desire to get involved with the arts, but not the opportunity. These kids will now have the means to learn within the walls of a fully functional, non-profit, professional theater. 

Our current hope is to start with a relatively small and professionally-trained staff that would double as paid performers and teachers for the performing arts school. The school would operate like an after school program, with classes in the afternoon each weekday. Under the supervision of a Director of Education, the staff would create a three-month long curriculum that would give kids and teens an age-appropriate education in all concentrations of the performing arts, including acting, singing, dancing/movement, music, and technical theatre.

We would hopefully be able to work with various school districts that are currently unable to offer enough opportunities to their students, perhaps even getting the districts to sponsor bussing to the theater after school. If a child attends a public school district that does not have performing arts opportunities for its students, our aim is to provide classes to them free of charge. If the school district does have performing opportunities, or the students attend a private school, there would be a minimal session fee, which we would hope to gradually phase out as our project became more self-sufficient.

To start, the children would be broken up into three age groups: elementary school, middle school, and high school. The older students (middle and high school age) would follow a rotating class schedule for the first part of their day, and finish with a rehearsal period for the end-of-session final performance, allowing them to showcase their hard work for all to see. The younger children would follow a simpler schedule, with a more introductory curriculum, culminating in an age-appropriate performance on the same evening.

Now, in order to make this project self-sufficient, we intend to have our professional company of actors and instructors performing in repertory, to support the functionality of the school. The actors would rehearse daily in addition to their instructional duties, and would perform nightly. These productions will also provide students of the school audition opportunities, giving them the experience to perform professionally. We would also hope to hold regular cabaret shows after the main stage performances and on dark nights, where the audience could enjoy drinks, appetizers, and good music, experiencing the talent both from the professional company, and possibly showcased from the performing arts school.

As this schedule will require a lot of hard work and dedication from our resident company, we are currently seeking very special individuals who are interested in getting involved. 

When we are not using one of our performance spaces, we hope to hold music-promoting activities, such as local band concerts, a “Battle of the Bands,” or even different arts workshops. Of course, we are still working out the specific details of this plan, and none of it is set in stone.

Currently, we are days away from submitting our 501(c)3 application and launching our website. Please join our Facebook group and help us get this show on the road and gain support! We are currently very open to hearing your ideas and are looking for experienced individuals excited about a project like this!

Be sure to stay tuned in the upcoming weeks, we will try to keep you as updated as possible with any exciting breakthroughs and progress. We are very excited about what the future holds for us and DAVE, and we hope that you are as well; with the knowledge that your support will help us to carry on Dad’s memory, we know we can make something happen!

Thanks, 

Alex & Alyssa