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The All Stars Talent Show Network (ASTSN), the flagship program of the All Stars Project, Inc., is undergoing some exciting changes for 2004-05. Like the All Stars Project itself, the ASTSN is continuing to grow into its new home at 543 West 42nd Street, and with that growing, comes a renewed sense of opportunity to build and expand the All Stars’ community.

“Throughout the years, the structure of the ASTSN has been basically the same. The three-part cycle of events starts with an audition, followed by a development workshop, and finishing with a talent show,” says Antoine “RL” Joyce, the ASTSN’s new National Producer. “Up to now, we’ve allowed youth participants to audition with a group of, say, five young people, and, if they wanted, they could add-on one or more youth to their group for the workshop, and so on. Our new policy is that everyone who ends up participating in the workshop and talent show with a particular group must also be part of that group at the audition.”

ASTSN's Small Wonders in Brownsville, Brooklyn

“Another new wrinkle is that, previously, we’ve always held ASTSN events in inner city school auditoriums. Now that the All Stars has its home on 42nd Street, we want to introduce young people to our fabulous facility and to the All Stars Project’s other youth programs like Youth Onstage! and the Development School for Youth (DSY) — and make it part of the program.

“Since we see over 400 kids at a typical audition,” says Joyce, “we can’t have all 400 kids coming together at one shot for the workshop. So, the challenge is creating a workshop that remains true to the All Stars’ goals of building an ensemble for the show. An important element of this ensemble building is helping the young performers become acquainted with each other. At the workshop, we ask the young people ‘What is performance?’ and then, through a series of performance exercises and games, we begin to explore the question. A lot of people think that performance is limited to the stage. What we strive to teach the young people is that performance is an everyday activity.”

After focusing almost exclusively on various Brooklyn neighborhoods for the past two and a half years, the ASTSN is returning to East Harlem. This is an area that has the second-largest portion of the ASTSN’s youth base. On August 21, the ASTSN launched community outreach on the streets of East Harlem for the Fall ‘04 cycle. The first Talent Show audition will be held at the All Stars Project’s 42nd Street performing arts center, Saturday, October 16. Workshops will take place on Saturday, October 30 (our first anniversary on 42nd Street!) and Saturday, November 6, culminating in two Talent Shows scheduled for Saturday, November 20 and Saturday, December 4, 2004.

The ASTSN faces new challenges when venturing into communities for the first time. “When you visit a new neighborhood, town or city, you don’t automatically have a turnout of four hundred people, like we typically have in New York,” Joyce says. “So, for new areas, we created special “one-day events.” The day starts with an audition, moves right into a workshop and then culminates with a talent show in the afternoon.

The All Stars Project New Jersey is conducting similar building and outreach work in Newark as well as in neighboring cities, such as Plainfield and Irvington. (See the report from the New Jersey All Stars in this newsletter for more details of the recent one-day event in Irvington).

Recently, the ASTSN Atlanta completed a one-day event based on a slightly different model, one that included the audience as performers. Additionally, Atlanta hosted a one-day rock concert/fundraiser afterwards! Plans for the next one-day Atlanta event are in the works.

ASTSN Boston boasts an ever-expanding, enthusiastic group of adults and young people who are now conducting community outreach in advance of its own one-day event, tentatively scheduled for early 2005.

Now in its third year of operation, ASTSN Oakland is hosting its second annual Gala Fundraiser in October 2004 and planning more one-day events.

And, last but not least, ASTSN Amsterdam is putting the finishing touches on its own annual event, called Kwakoe, with official programming beginning in November.

Meanwhile, the Phat Friends Committee is building for the annual Phyllis Hyman Phat Friend Awards, scheduled for October 13th. Ten “unsung” adult heroes will be honored at the tenth annual Phyllis Hyman Phat Friend Awards dinner. The Phat Friend Awards benefits the youth programs of the All Stars and WB11 Care for Kids, a fund of the McCormick Tribune Foundation. 250 guests will be in attendance including Wall Street executives, youth hosts and performers, volunteers, supporters and friends. The Phat (youth) Committee is gearing up for its Host Training Workshops, which introduce young people to the fundamentals of performing as hosts at all Phat Friend-related events and will continue its year-round work of identifying and nominating remarkable adults who are involved with their communities, ranging from community activists to high school guidance counselors to deli owners.

The 2004 Young Leaders for Change awards will kick off at a reception on Thursday, October 14, 2004. The reception also marks the launch of the program.

If you’d like to know more about (or get involved with) the All Stars Talent Show Network in New York City — or with any of its national or international operations around the globe — call Antoine at 212-941-9400 ext. 347 or ajoyce@allstars.org.