5.b. Staff Report
Staff Report
Date of Meeting: May 3, 2021
To: Parks and Recreation Committee
From: Brenda “Bee” Stignani, Office Assistant
Re: Staff Report
Open Eye Theater
Staff investigated Open Eye Theater information per Ray’s suggestion.
From their website, http://www.openeyetheatre.org/ :
THE AMAZING COWBOAT
For summer 2021, we celebrate the return of a beloved show—with a new cast!
Time for Binh to take a bath! Binh’s imagination comes alive as he pretends h e is the captain of a boat that is
part cow, part boat, and totally amazing! Together Binh and his Cow Boat set sail on a high seas adventure to
search for the lost crown of Lac Long Quân, the Dragon Lord of Vietnam, making friends as they go, all before
sailing home to his bathtub before bed time!
THE AMAZING COWBOAT is one of most popular shows in the Driveway Tour repertory, and have an exciting
new cast for 2021 as puppetry artists Liz Howls and Oanh Vu redevelop the script and the design of the main
character puppet to reflect the image and experience of a young Vietnamese -American child.
Puppeteers Tri Vo and Ty Chapman will perform in THE AMAZING COWBOAT this summer.
Open Eye Theater requires a 10’ x 12’ outdoor space for their puppet stage and performers with space for 50+
attendees for this Driveway Tour. They offer three options for this event that the City could consider as a one-
day event:
1. Top Hat Show – private show for a fee of $400
2. Producer Hat Show – host commits to supplementing donations
received at the event when they “pass the hat” to make their
minimum requirement of $300.
3. Pass the Hat Show – free to neighborhoods under-served by arts
events. They will “pass the hat” after their performance, but there is
no requirement to supplement donations for any minimum amount.
They only do 8 of these shows per year.
• Driveway Tours shows will always be performed out-of-doors, with
social distancing.
• Driveway tours puppeteers and musicians will always perform in masks,
and the team will complete a pre-show health check before each show.
• In return, they ask that audience members above the age of two wear
masks and that family viewing groups observe social distancing.