Archive: Arts & Entertainment

March 30, 2006 (ITHACA, NY)—The next generation of theatre professionals will have thrilling new ways to learn their craft this summer at the Hangar Theatre! From July 10th to August 20th, the Hangar Theatre’s popular Next Generation School of Theatre opens its doors with brand new programs and features designed to better suit the needs of kids and young adults from grades 3 through 12. Working side by side with professional actors, directors, playwrights and designers, this year’s Next Generation participants will take part in one of three separate, day-long programs specially crafted for Elementary, Middle, and High School students.

Theatre Camp, the Next Generation elementary program, runs from 9 am to 5 pm, Monday through Friday, and gives kids completing grades 3 through 5 the opportunity to take group theatre classes, attend Hangar KIDDSTUFF productions, and prepare, produce and star in KIDDStars!, a talent showcase being performed as part of the KIDDSTUFF season on August 12th. Theatre School -— another 9 to 5 program -— provides students completing grades 6 through 8 with the chance to choose elective theatre courses, attend the Hangar’s Mainstage and KIDDSTUFF productions, and rehearse and perform in the musical Bugsy Malone, Jr. as part of the KIDDSTUFF season from August 17th through the 19th. High School students looking for an advanced, intensive theatrical experience can audition to be part of Theatre Lab, the three-week immersion program in theatre. From July 30th to August 20th, Theatre Lab students will take classes day and night with professional artists, attend all Hangar Theatre performances, and produce and star in a new production of Tartuffe in the Hangar’s experimental space known as the Wedge.

Artistic Director Kevin Moriarty and the Hangar Staff have spent the past year asking students and parents what they would want in a “dream program” for Next Gen. Education Coordinator Pete Rush says it was that feedback that “prompted a radical re-envisioning of the school for the coming year.” According to Moriarty, a unique feature of the newly revised program is the opportunity for local youth to collaborate with the Hangar’s professional theater artists. “This program will provide kids with the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see professional theater productions at the Hangar and then learn from, and work side by side with, the actors, directors and writers whose work they’ve seen,” he says. “Throughout the summer we’ll have kids dancing alongside the waiters from Hello, Dolly, acting with the stars of Bloodline, and creating plays and scenes with me and the rest of the Hangar’s family of artists.” As another part of the re-envisioning process, the camp is moving to a new location. Students will still be rehearsing and performing at the Hangar, but the bulk of their course work will take place at Ithaca High School. Parents’ needs were also addressed by extending the hours of study to the new 9 am to 5 pm schedule. Rush says he’s “confident that our students will be excited and thrilled by the new changes in store for them this year.”