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Moments in the Woods...

4/28/2018

"The Woods are just trees. The trees are just wood." sings Little Red as she prepares to head down the path to Grandmother's house. But of course, they are more than that in Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's masterful Into the Woods.

Brooke Verbois as Little Red (photo by Ginny Warden)

The ominous woods from the musical's title represent all the moments: good, bad, exciting, dreadful, delirious and astonishing, that occur in our lives and change us from who we were before, into who we are after. It's no wonder actors love this masterpiece and term it an "actor's musical"; because it is just so deliciously actable; with crystal clear stakes, obstacles and ramifications to work with. This makes Into the Woods Jr. a great choice for our first licensed property to perform in our Summer Musical Workshop. As per our mission, we work to bring out the artist in every child we work with and this musical in particular provides outstanding material to inspire and push young actors as they develop their own sense of artistry. The Into the Woods Jr. Workshop rehearsals June 4-24
5pm - 9pm with performances on June 22, 23, & 24 @ 7pm. Sign up here.

Photos from INTO THE WOODS JR. directed by Joe Sturgeon at Casa Mañana courtsey of Ginny Warden

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Down the Rabbit Hole (again)

4/12/2018

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-This Summer we are excited to be offering out first day-camp for children ages 7-12. The camp will center around the staging of ALICE IN WONDERLAND from a script created for TTYP last year.

This script of ALICE is a musical and makes use of several pieces of music from the early 20th century. Most of the tunes, involved are from Hal Roach films of the 1920's involving LAUREL AND HARDY and OUR GANG shorts. The music is charming and whimsical and I'm excited to have another chance to visit with Alice and her mad and zany friends.such as: The Cheshire Cat, The March Hare, The Mad Hatter, The White Rabbit and of course, The Queen of Hearts!

The camp runs June 4-22 (9am - Noon) Monday - Friday with one performance on the last class day (June 22) at Noon. The script will be specifically adapted to match the children who are enrolled in the camp with the aim that every child is successful (with the special care that only TTYP provides!) Our goal is always to foster confidence and bring out the artist and creator in every child! Click the button below to learn more.

(pictured above: Mayce Armstrong as ALICE; Jordan Hanes and The Caterpillar; and
Sam Sturgeon as The Mad Hatter, from the 2017 TTYP production of ALICE IN WONDERLAND.)

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Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust

7/31/2017

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Faith, trust and pixie dust are the three ingredients needed to fly, according to the famous J.M Barrie story about a boy from Neverland who visits three 'darling' children from London and takes them on an adventure. Peter Pan has never been more popular than it is now. Innumerable versions of the "Boy who will never grow up" story and all his associated characters, settings, and lore abound on book shelves, in films and on the stage. Texas Theatre for Young People adds it's own take on the beloved J.M. Barrie tale this summer, with the upcoming performance of our Summer Musical Intensive program for 9-14 year olds.

An exploration of the themes of Peter Pan is particularly well-suited to the mission of TTYP and our approach to theatre with young people. Peter represents a spirit unafraid to question, a fierce imagination, and soaring creativity; qualities that too often seem to get squashed and pushed aside as the adult world takes over and demands conformity, and no-nonsense rigidity. However, the truth is; those who cultivate creativity, hold onto their questioning spirit and harness their imaginations are best equipped to handle whatever challenges the adult world has to throw at them; regardless of whatever "Neverland" their adult life takes them to.

Texas Theatre for Young People focuses on nurturing our young artists as creators and imaginative, inquisitive, thinkers above everything else we do. During the three weeks of our intensive, I will work with our young artists on our script; taking their input regarding character, dialogue, plot and music and fashioning the final product to reflect our collaborative vision. My favorite moment so far has been when the cast chose a fun, humorous, and imaginative way to let me know one of the songs in the show was not working, and so we tossed it out! The new song is much better and in fact I'm sure it will be a favorite moment in the show for our audience. We had a terrific discussion about why the first song just wasn't working and I got to model giving up my initial idea for a collaborative idea that was stronger. This kind of process exemplifies our goal of not just offering classes or putting on productions for their own sake, but all towards the goal of nurturing young artists and fostering imaginations that can be put into practice as creators. The spirit to question what is at hand, the imagination to see what is possible and the creativity to use both in practice are the faith, trust, and pixie dust of TTYP.

Come see what we have created! Peter Pan Opens August 13 and runs till the 15. ticket information is available here on our website. -JOE

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Moments in the Woods...

Down the Rabbit Hole (again)

Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust

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