A shot from the original Youth Onstage! production of Our City, which will now be touring to community venues all over the five boroughs of New York City."

With the All Stars Project's headquarters on 42nd St. temporarily closed for renovation, Youth Onstage! (YO!) has decided to take its version of Theatre for the Whole City out into the whole city!  On October 10, YO! will launch its first ever touring production, a revival of its 2005 hit Our City.  Inspired by Thornton Wilder's classic play Our Town, Our City is a vibrant portrait of New York City, created by the young actors of Youth Onstage!  It features stories and characters from all five boroughs – ranging from high school students and immigrant shopkeepers to police officers and college professors.

The touring production features an all new cast of 13 talented YO! actors who range in age from 16 to 22, and come from Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan and Queens.  They have been rehearsing over the past three and a half months to prepare for this challenging production, in which they all take on multiple roles, many of which are different ages, races, or genders from themselves.  The cast will travel to venues all over the city – including public high schools, churches, and community centers – to perform the play.  They’ll also lead a discussion after each performance, exploring the way the play was developed and the issues it raises about the city. 

This exciting and challenging project is opening up new opportunities for Youth Onstage! and helping us build stronger ties with all of the communities of New York City.  Hopefully, it will be the first of many tours that will continue long after we’ve returned to 42nd Street!

Meanwhile, Youth Onstage!'s Community Performance School continues to grow! Our free theatre training program offers an intensive course of performance classes taught by professionally trained actors, directors, and choreographers who volunteer their time.  The school will continue to operate this fall, despite the temporary closure of the All Stars headquarters, due to generous donations of space by Covenant House and the Middle Collegiate Church. Twenty-four young people from all five boroughs were accepted into the School for fall 2007.  In addition, YO! has launched an apprenticeship program with students from Barnard College and Columbia University who are trained in performance and will be working in the school this fall to assist YO!’s teachers.

For more information about Our City, the Youth Onstage! Community Performance School, or other Youth Onstage! projects, contact program manager Brian Mullin at bmullin@allstars.org  or call 212-356-8452.