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| (From left): Peter Graham (Casper), Nelly Fishenzon (ensemble), Alisha Purcell (ensemble) in the Youth Onstage! workshop production of Casper Hauser: A Language Game. |
The Youth Onstage! Community Performance School's Summer Theatre Institute, a free theatre training program for young people between the ages of 14 and 21, capped off a successful seven-week semester on August 13 with the public performance of Anything Can Happen, a completely improvised performance based on audience suggestions. A crowd of 80 spectators was on hand at the All Stars Project's performing arts and learning center on 42nd Street to cheer on the young performers. Following the performance, a graduation ceremony and reception was held to honor the 13 students who completed the vigorous training program.
Over the course of the summer, the YO! students were taught by a group of skilled volunteer theatre professionals including: Deborah Kronenberg (improvisation), a graduate student in educational theatre at New York University and seven-year improvisation stage veteran; Tom Vasiliades (Alexander Technique), who is also on the faculty at NYU, the New School and Julliard; Lian-Maire Holmes (movement), a former member of the Boston Ballet and a graduate of the Trinity Repertory Conservatory; Michael LiDondici (voice), recently returned from a production of A Mid-Summer Night's Dream with the Philadelphia Light and Power Company; Elise Hanley (stage management), a graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and a member of the Spamalot! production team; and Brian Mullin (character development), actor, director, Yale graduate and former Rhodes Scholar. The fall semester of the YO! Community Performance School begins on October 1.
The fourth All Stars Hip-Hop Cabaret, a joint production of Youth Onstage! and the All Stars Talent Show Network, kicked off the fall season of Theatre for the Whole City on September 9th! The cast included the dance troupe 24/7 from Brownsville, Brooklyn, singer-songwriter Caleb Farmer, Serge Velez, and the young actress/singer Kimberly Nichole. The popular rap group The Dead returned to the Hip-Hop Cabaret, as did International DJ Tommy Lee and emcee Antoine "RL"Joyce, who co-directed the cabaret with Youth Onstage! artistic director Dan Friedman.
Inspired by Thorton Wilder's Our Town, the Youth Onstage! Experimental Theatre Workshop will create a new play called Our City about life in New York City at the turn of the 21st Century. Using the structure of Our Town, Our City will be created through a process of improvisation and experimentation under the direction of Dan Friedman and Brian Mullin. Featuring a cast of 14 young actors, most of them graduates of the Youth Onstage! Community Performance School, Our City opens on November 11. On February 17, 2006, YO! will open Left of the Moon, written by Fred Newman, the artistic director of the Castillo Theatre.
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