CRT Offers Summer Theatre Workshops for Youth, Kicks Off 6/28

The Cortland Repertory Theatre "CRT Kids" Programs offer two theatrical workshops for young aspiring thespians and technicians. The purpose of both programs is to provide a positive theatrical experience for the child's development. No experience is necessary; just an interest in theatre, whether onstage or backstage is required!

Applications for both workshops are available on the CRT website at www.cortlandrep.org under the "For Kids" link.

The first program, called "Stars of Tomorrow", is a fou week program beginning on June 28th and will be held at the Little York Pavilion, in Dwyer Park - summer home to CRT.
· The program runs from 9:00 - 2:00, Monday - Friday and will consist of morning workshops in various aspects of theatre (acting, improvisation, make-up, technical design, theatre games, etc.) The afternoon session will be rehearsals for a children's theatre production to be presented in a free performance to the community on the final day, Saturday, July 24th.
· Students will also have discussions with CRT actors, directors and designers, will be given tours of the theatre and shown the set designs of the currently running play.
· All sessions and rehearsals will be supervised by Bill Coughlin, a Central New York actor, director and drama instructor at Mexico High School. Guest workshops will be held by some of the CRT interns and technicians. Mr. Coughlin holds an MFA in Theatre from Brooklyn College and his work ranges from Shakespeare to children's theatre. He appeared opposite "The Wonder Year's" Dan Lauria in "Whenever Summer's Gone" at the George Raft Theatre and appeared on "The Guiding Light" and "Ryan's Hope". His CRT directing credits include "The King and I", "The Sound of Music" and "The Wizard of Oz", and acting credits include "Over The River and Through the Woods" (for which he won Best Actor at the Syracuse Area Live Theatre Awards), "Annie Get Your Gun", and "South Pacific" to name a few.
· The program is open to any 5th-12th graders in the 2009-10 school year. Students have the option of attending full-time or part-time. A minimal fee is required and payments may be made by the day ($15.00), week ($50.00) or for the entire program ($175.00). There is a maximum cost of 2 fees per immediate family. All proceeds will go directly to the program to help defray the costs.
· Deadline for sign up is June 25th.

The second program, called "Showstoppers and Superstars" runs for two separate weeks, July 12th - 17th and July 19th - 24th . Students may sign up for either or both weeks. The program will be held at the Homer Center for the Arts, 72 South Main Street in Homer.
· Each day will have two sessions: "Showstoppers" will be for students in K - 2nd grade in the 2009-10 year, and will meet from 10:00 - 1:00. "Superstars" are students in grades 3 - 5 in the 2009-10 school year and will meet from 2:00 - 5:00.
· The workshops focus on building self esteem, teamwork, cooperation, and creative problem solving thru the theatre arts of acting, improv, singing, and dancing. Each day focuses on a specific element of musical theatre in a 20-30 minute small group intensive. During the week these elements will be applied at the end of the day in the rehearsal process. A theme for the week is selected and students learn songs from standard music theatre rep that support that theme. Songs are also choreographed and scenes are written by the students to convey the theme.
· All sessions and rehearsals will be supervised by Tammy Holder, a New York City musical teaching artist and Arts Educator, a field she has worked in for the past 17 years. Most recently, she was the Resident Musical Director for TADA!, NYC's leading youth development theatre. While there, Tammy music directed all main stage productions as well as taught private voice and music theatre classes. She continues to work for TADA! as a teaching artist in NYC public schools and composed an original bilingual musical for PS/IS 311 in NYC. Tammy has been a guest teaching artist, having done residencies for the Wake County Public School System in Raleigh, NC, Performing Arts for Children in Madison, WI, the Our Gang Players in New Jersey and the French Woods Festival for Performing Arts in upstate NY. She is also an accomplished music director in NYC and beyond with CRT credits including "You're a Good Man Charlie Brown".
· A minimal fee of $125 per week is required. There is a maximum cost of 2 fees per immediate family. All proceeds go directly to the program to help defray the costs.
· Deadline to sign up for Showstoppers and Superstars in July 9th.

For more information or to obtain an application form for either workshop, call the CRT office at 607-753-6161 or visit the office at 37 Franklin Street in Cortland during regular business hours. Class space is limited so call today!