NBYT Announces Spring And Summer Performances And Programs

Looking toward warmer days and school vacations, No Boundaries Youth Theater has announced programs and performances for April through July. Spring classes in acting (ages 5-14) and improv (ages 10-16) begin on Saturday, April 6. Eight-week terms end with a class performance open to family and friends. Younger children will learn about Japanese theater and stage folk tales from Japan that will teach the basics of theatrical story telling, character development, voice, and movement.

Older actors will go "back to the basics" in a Stage Performance Skills class that will challenge new and returning students. The theater's popular Improv class also welcomes new students and challenges returning students to build new skills. In May, a cast of over thirty children will perform Charlotte's Web. Based on E.B. White's classic story of friendship between a radiant pig and the spider who proves to be both a true friend and a good writer, the play will be staged in the book's original setting New England in the early 1950s and a chorus of storytellers will bring to life the famous barn cellar and the country fair that changes a pig's life.

Charlotte's Web will be performed at Holmes Elementary School at 2150 Stanley Street in New Britain. Performances are Friday, May 3 at 7:00 p.m.; Saturday, May 4, at 7:00 p.m.; and Sunday, May 5 at 2:00 p.m. Tickets may be reserved by calling New Britain Youth Theater at 860-515-8115 or may be purchased online at www.nbyt.org. June will bring NBYT's Teen Company performance of The Tempest.

Shakespeare's last play is a maritime romance of shipwrecks, sorcery, and spirits. Set at sea and on a remote island, the NBYT production will be inspired by the Connecticut whaling industry of the nineteenth century. Free public performances will be on the grounds of the New Britain Museum of American Art on June 20, 21, 22 and 23. The theater's summer musical theater production will be Disney's Mary Poppins Jr. Rehearsals will be held over a four-week half-day program on Mondays through Fridays from July 1 through 26 (except July 4). Program hours are 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Although the full program is limited to ages 7 to 16, a limited number of children ages 5 and 6 will join the program during the final week to be part of the cast.

All children who register will be cast in the show, and performances will be held on July 26, 27 and 28. Rehearsals and performances will be held at Plainville High School. With new classes in April, Charlotte's Web in May, The Tempest in June, and on through Mary Poppins in July, there are programs and fun for all ages at NBYT in the next few months, said Darren Farrington, Executive and Artistic Director.

For more program and performance details, registration links, and general information about No Boundaries Youth Theater, please visit the company's website at www.nbyt.org, email info@nbyt.org, or call 860-515-8115.