Moscow Art Theatre Study Abroad '18

Greetings! I am a young professional actor based in Louisville KY, and I am facing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I need help financing. I have been accepted to a six-week summer intensive at the prestigious Moscow Art Theatre School, where Stanislavsky developed the foundations of modern acting and Chekhov wrote his classic plays.

The trip is organized through the International Foundation for Theatre Education and Research (IFTER), the only company offering a six-week study opportunity at the Moscow Art Theatre. They keep their ensemble small, usually 12-20, in the tradition of Stanislavsky's original company and in an effort to maximize the opportunities for each student, so believe me, I know how lucky I am to have been selected.

And no, I am not asking for donations to help me live in a posh hotel and go sightseeing on other peoples' money. This will be six weeks of very hard work, with the bulk of my time spent in six-day-a-week scene study classes with the plays of Anton Chekhov, supplemented by twice-weekly classes in movement, ballet, Russian folk dance, stage combat, history of Russian cinema and theatre, etc., and during the evenings, we will be going to see theatre, ballet, opera, etc. at the Bolshoi and other palaces of Russian art and culture, then going home to the MATS dorms to sleep and do it all again the next day.

I have just finished a year-long apprenticeship at the Commonweal Theatre (check them out if you're near Lanesboro, Minnesota) and don't have that much left in the bank. I have managed to pay off my $5500.00 tuition independently, but there is still a lot of fundraising to do, and no donation is too large or too small.

Here are some examples of the day-to-day expenses your generous donations can help me pay for, if you choose to join this campaign (and my thanks to IFTER for these statistics):

$5.00 - one day's lunch in the school cafeteria
$2.00 - one round-trip Metro ticket
$35.00 - a week of groceries
$250.00 - the cost of my Russian visa
$20.00 - one night at the theatre, which I am required to attend
$1000.00 - round-trip airfare from NYC
$30.00 - one acting class
$500.00 - one week of school
$150.00 - round-trip train fare to St. Petersburg 

Applying these amounts over the 42 days of my stay, here is the amount I need to raise to cover my basic needs in Russia:

$210 for the lunchroom
$126 for transportation, figuring 3 round-trip Metro tickets a day
$210 for total groceries
$250 for visa
$720 for theatre
$1000 for airfare
$3000 for school
$150 for our St. Petersburg excursion

That brings the total up to $5,666.00. To that I'm adding an additional$1,834 to be set aside for the purchase of equipment needed for classes, such as textbooks and dance attire, and a little security money in case of emergencies. That brings my Total Fundraising Goal for this campaign up to an even $7,500, to be raised by May 15th, one week before my classmates and I depart the U.S.

So why should you donate to this campaign?

Not only will you be helping an early-career professional artist take the next step in his education, you will also be contributing to a peaceful cultural exchange between Americans and Russians at a time when our two nations need it the most. When I asked the organizers of the trip if it was safe to travel to Russia at this time, they assured me that the Russian people, by and large, are not the Russian government, and many Americans now abroad are faced with assuring people of other countries that the same is true of our own people. What a perfect time for our two countries to come together and learn from one another through art and culture!

I will be documenting my experiences in Russia on my Instagram account, so that I can bring a bit of Russia to each of you. In addition, I will take advantage of my one day off each week (Sunday) to film a personal video message to my contributors, which will be posted on this campaign page as well as on my professional website.

And if that's not enough for you, I am willing to sing for it, and I take requests. I invite you to go to my website at the link above and leave me a message with your name and a song you'd like to hear me sing, and as long as YouTube has a karaoke track for it, I will make a video with your song and a personal shout-out to you by name in exchange for your donation. Seriously.

Thank you for your consideration, and Best Wishes!

Patrick