Summer Theatre Institute faculty (from left) Dan Friedman, Robyn Simpson, Brian Mullin, Zenobia Shroff, Amy Choi

Youth Onstage!, the All Stars Project’s newest program, will have a busy fall season. Two productions will open, the rehearsals for a third will begin, and the Youth Onstage! Community Performance School will offer a full schedule of classes.

Youth Onstage! kicks off the 2004-05 season with its second All Stars Hip-Hop Cabaret, co-produced with the All Stars Talent Show Network. Bringing together the energy and creativity of hip-hop with the political cutting-edge of European cabaret, the Hip-Hop Cabaret will run on selected Friday and Saturday nights from September 10 through October 1. (For dates and times, click on http://www.allstars.org/calendar.asp).

Next on the docket is the Youth Onstage! Experimental Theatre Workshop, scheduled to run for three weeks (October 29 through November 20). The Workshop involves young actors from the cast of last season’s Youth Onstage! production of Crown Heights, this summer’s Youth Onstage! Summer Theatre Institute, the Youth Onstage! play-reading series, “New Voices,” and other productions directed by Youth Onstage! artistic director Dan Friedman. A team of experimental theatre artists headed up by Friedman will direct the Workshop.  “While the theme of the production is still to be determined, it is sure to be provocative and experimental,” says Friedman. 

At the end of November, rehearsals will begin for Robin Hood: A Political Romance written and directed by Friedman. Robin Hood, which includes song, puppets, swordplay, politics and romance, will feature a cast of 20 young performers. It opens February 25 for a five-week run.

The Youth Onstage! Community Performance School’s fall semester will consist of a wide range of performance and theatre classes and workshops, once again taught by volunteer theatre professionals. The classes will be held Wednesday evenings and Saturday afternoons for eight weeks, from September 29  through November 20.  The school is free to performers between the ages of 14 and 21, but students must audition to be admitted.  For more information on the school or any of YO!’s productions, contact Dan Friedman at 212-941-9400 ext. 350 or dfriedman@allstars.org.