Starlight Stage's 40th Anniversary Season Kicks Off This Month

Starlight Stage Youth Theatre still has a few slots open for young thespians ages 8-18 for its 40th anniversary season, June 22-July 26, 2015.

Founded in 1976, Starlight offers a hands-on theatre experience for young people ages 8-18. The tuition-based program operates from 8:30 a.m-12:30 p.m. Monday through Friday at the First Congregational Church on Main Street (Rt. 2) in Williamstown. The church is right on the BRTA route and is handicap accessible. Over the course of five weeks of rehearsal the company will stage a full production of a new adaptation of L. Frank Baum's "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" which is open to the general public for four evening performances July 22-25.

The Starlight production of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz", directed by Brandon S. Burns, will be a new adaptation of L. Frank Baum's 1900 classic, not the 1939 MGM musical film. While the film is a fine adaptation of the book, many important elements were omitted or altered suit the requirements of film. Baum was a feminist and he created Dorothy Gale as a very young and resourceful American girl who leads her new friends on a quest for knowledge, empathy, and courage in a fantastical land.

Starlight has been directed by Robert Y. Burns and the Burns family of Williamstown since its inception. Starlight is the third oldest continuously operating summer theatre in Berkshire County, after the Berkshire Theatre Festival and the Williamstown Theatre Festival. Over the past 39 years hundreds of local youngsters have received their introduction to theatre with Starlight. Some have gone on to careers in the performing arts and the technical aspects of theatre and film, but all, whatever path they have chosen in life, have come away with a deep love and respect for the theatre, and happy memories of their Starlight experience.

For further information on tuition costs and to register visit our Web site www.StarlightStageYouthTheatre.com, call 413-458-4246 or e-mail ssyt@roadrunner.com.